All fees must be paid in full before the commencement of any psychological counselling appointment, therapeutic program, workshop, retreat or class unless otherwise arranged by the Centre. The payment schedule for Assessment Services will depend on the type of assessment conducted and will be provided before commencing the assessment. Payment can be made by credit card, e-transfer (admin@breathemindfulness.com), debit and/or cash. In circumstances that allow, direct billing to your insurance company is available. You must arrange with the Centre payment by cash or direct billing through your insurance. Payments must be processed before your spot is reserved in an event. Cheques are not accepted. Please see below for information specific to the service or event you are interested in.
Please note, all psychological counselling and assessment clients are required to have a credit card on file. This allows for efficiency in administration as well as contactless payments to be processed for appointments not covered by direct insurance billing, client portion deductibles, unpaid balances, no shows or late cancellations. The credit card information collected will be held privately and securely through the PCI-Compliant Jane management system and will be managed with the utmost integrity. Please let the administration know if this presents an obstacle for you.
You can register and pay for programs, workshops, retreats and classes online. Online booking is also available for psychological counselling and assessment sessions for existing clients only. New clients must contact the Centre by email (admin@breathemindfulness.com) or call (902) 499-0089 prior to booking their first appointment. If you wish to register and pay for an event in person, please call in advance to arrange payment and to ensure spots are still available.
Private psychological/mental health services are not covered by MSI. Many personal health insurance plans cover the full or partial cost of services. Some government agencies (e.g., Veterans Affairs, RCMP, Indigenous–First Nations and Inuit Health Services) may also cover the cost of services. We encourage you to check with your agency or insurance provider to determine if you have coverage. We directly bill insurance companies and third-party agencies where possible. A detailed invoice is provided on the day of your appointment; where direct payment is required, cash, Debit, Visa, MasterCard, Amex and e-transfer are accepted.
For Psychological Counselling, fees are based on a 50-minute session (+10-minute administration time) and are guided by recommendations of our provincial psychology association (APNS.ca). Currently, fees for a Psychologist are $210 (HST included) for individual counselling sessions (50 min.) and $220 (HST included) for couples or family counselling sessions (50 min). Fees for a Clinical Social Worker are $180 (HST included) for individual counselling sessions (50 min.) and $190 (HST included) for a couples or family session (50 min.). These fees also apply to paperwork (letters, forms, reports), consultations, and external meetings requested on your behalf, with the exception of legal reports which are billed at $225 (HST included) per hour.
Fees for Assessment Services range in cost ($1890 – $3360, HST included) and are determined by the assessment type. The fee for the particular assessment and corresponding payment schedule will be provided before an assessment is scheduled.
For regular 50-minute scheduled appointments, if you need to change or cancel your appointment, please provide a minimum of 24 hours’ notice or by 12 noon on Friday for Monday appointments. For appointments longer than 50-minutes, 48 hours’ notice is required for cancellation to avoid a charge. This allows us to offer the appointment to someone on our waiting list and respects the time of the practitioner who has reserved that time for you. If an appointment is missed or cancelled without sufficient notice, it will be billed in full and cannot be billed directly to insurance or third-party providers. For extenuating circumstances, such as a medical emergency or power outage in the city, we require you to contact us at your earliest possibility.
Please note that most insurance companies and EAP’s do not accept receipts for missed appointments so please give sufficient notice to avoid unnecessary costs to you.
Fees will vary depending on the type and duration of the therapeutic group programs and will be displayed when scheduled. In order to make our 4- 8-week therapeutic group programs more accessible to everyone, payment plans are available for those who require them. A valid credit card is required for this option with the first payment being charged when you reserve your spot in a program. Subsequent payments will be charged either weekly or monthly thereafter for the duration of the payment plan chosen. The cancellation, refund and exchange policy (below) continues to apply to those accounts choosing the payment plan option.
If you give at least seven (7) days’ notice before the program’s start date you will be refunded the fee minus a $40 administration fee. Please note orientation sessions for the therapeutic programs qualify as the start date.
Refunds are not available if you give less than seven (7) days’ notice before the start date of a program, however, the fee minus a $40 administration fee can be applied as a credit towards a future program on a one-time basis.
After the program has begun no refunds, exchanges, or transfers will be available.
Missed sessions will not be refunded.
Fees will vary depending on the type and duration of the workshop and will be displayed when scheduled. MSI and most personal health insurance benefits do not cover the cost of workshops.
For 2-hour workshops, should the fee be an obstacle for you, we have a “Pay What You Can (PWYC)” option available. Please contact the Centre should you wish to choose this option. Registration for the workshop is still required as space is limited.
Refunds are not available for workshops or retreats, only exchanges (see below).
If you provide at least five (5) days’ notice of cancellation before the workshop or retreat’s start date you can choose to apply the fee to a future workshop or retreat. You may only make an exchange once.
Exchanges are not available if you give less than five (5) days’ notice prior to the start date of a workshop or retreat.
If your program, workshop, retreat or class is cancelled by the Centre, you are entitled to a full refund. Wherever possible, you will be contacted at least three business days’ prior to the start date of the program if a cancellation is made. This excludes cancellations due to snow storms or other inclement weather, in these instances please see our Cancellation Due to Inclement Weather Policy below.
Late cancellations due to inclement weather will not be subject to the cancellation fee only if: universities, the majority of businesses, and government offices are closed; there are extended power outages; buses are not running; and/or there is a state of emergency declared. Otherwise, the cancellation policy (above) will apply. In the event the centre is closed due to inclement weather, a message will be left on our phone system by 8:00 am for morning and afternoon events and by 1 pm for evening events. Psychological Counselling clients may contact the clinic to switch to a phone or virtual session, if feasible for both client and clinician if there are concerns about driving in inclement weather that does not meet the stated guidelines and/or should the centre close due to inclement weather.
In the event of a cancellation of therapeutic program sessions or workshops:
For Therapeutic Programs, the weekly sessions will be extended to accommodate a session that may need to be cancelled due to inclement weather.
For Workshops and Retreats, an alternate date will be offered. Should the alternative date not be possible to attend, a credit will be issued to be used towards any future workshops or retreats
For Classes, no cancellation charge will apply or a full refund will be granted.