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Question: What’s the difference between a Clinical Counsellor and a Psychotherapist?

Answer: Nothing. There the same thing. If your insurance has the term, counseling, Clinical Counsellor, or Psychotherapist; you should be covered under your insurance.

You see, all insurance companies cover Psychologists and Social Workers and at New Life Counselling, the therapist named Jeremiah La Follette is an example of a therapist who is in between the world of social workers and psychologists. Unfortunately, the insurance industry who claims to support mental health has not quite caught onto this issue of terminology which is the reason every insurance Ryder can be completely different. Some have the term Clinical Counsellor and/or Psychotherapy and others do not.

The only thing on your end that you can do, if fired up by this wrongness, is to contact your Human Resources department and request that next time insurance renegotiation takes place (which is around every 2 years for most companies) is to make sure your company puts the term counselling, clinical counselling or psychotherapy in it.

At New Life Counselling, we recognize that it is unfair psychotherapists and clinical counsellors are sometimes not included with much needed coverage for emotional and mental health challenges which is the reason we support The Association of Counselling Therapy Alberta (A.C.T.A.)  https://www.acta-alberta.ca/ who is in the process of having a regulated counselling college in Alberta.

Keep in mind that if you have a health spending account, this can also be used to support your mental and emotional health.

Knowledge of what your covered for is also important. You might find out you only have something like $300 to $600 for insurance which is basically saying hello in the therapeutic world and often not enough if long term care is required.

Therapy is quite often a personal or relational investment so it important to also remember your investment in therapy for what you pay out of pocket is also tax deductible under the health section of your taxes. So, make sure you keep all receipts, especially if you decide you really like the therapist you want to see and it turns out they will not be covered by insurance (You can always decide to pay out of pocket).

If your unsure if you will be covered or not, you are more than welcome to call New Life Counselling and they will support you in finding out if you will be covered or not. Either way, it is always New Life Counseling hope that you and your loved ones can get the quality therapy and support you deserve and begin to walk in New Life.