Red Chair Psychology FAQ

Who knew when you started searching ‘psychologists near me’ that you’d end up with more questions than answers?!

Are you accepting new clients?

We are accepting new clients for our waitlist. To be added to the waitlist, please email admin@RedChairPsychology.com

Who will I work with at Red Chair Psychology?

We’re a small group practice of psychologists who have their PhDs in clinical psychology. We have all graduated from nationally accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs and specialize in various areas, including adult and child/adolescent mental health. We know our stuff and we look forward to getting to know you. You can read more about each of us and the services we offer under the Psychologists tab.

What hours do you offer appointments?

There is some variation depending on the psychologist with whom you work - check out our schedules under the Psychologists tab.
The office is open Monday - Friday and we offer appointments in the morning, afternoon, and select evening. Our evening appointments are popular and so we can’t guarantee specific time slots; however, booking ahead and discussing this with your psychologist allows us to do everything we can to accommodate your schedule. Because we can’t make promises about exact times, some flexibility on your end is helpful to ensure you’re able to attend appointments.

Location, Location, Location

In-person services are offered at 35 Bloom Lane, Larry Uteck, NS. Look for a giant “35” along the roof line — then you can let yourself into the building and hangout in our reception area next to our office.
We have two offices: Suites 217 and 220.
Please arrive no more than 5 minutes before your appointment and wait in the reception area. Your psychologist will come get you from the waiting room at the time of your appointment.

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Fees & Billing

Initial Intake Psychological Session: $335/session: 75-90 minutes of face-to-face time to review Informed Consent documentation, gather important information. Additional time is protected to review your documentation in preparation for the appointment.
Psychological Sessions: $230/session: This follow-up appointment includes 50 minutes face-to-face. Administrative time is protected for preparation and documentation.
Fees are consistent for in-person and telehealth appointments: Please ensure your insurance provider reimburses for telehealth services.
Red Chair Psychology Inc. does not offer direct billing at this time. Payment is required at each appointment via credit card. Upon payment, you will receive an electronic receipt (PDF) that you may submit for insurance purposes.

Additional fees may be incurred for special requests related to your psychological wellbeing (e.g., Disability Tax forms, documents for work/school, phone calls, attending school meetings, etc.)

Insurance & Reimbursement: Fees for private psychological services at Red Chair Psychology Inc. are not covered under Nova Scotia’s Medical Services Insurance (MSI). If you do not have a private health insurance plan (e.g., Blue Cross, SunLife, etc.), you may claim psychological services provided on your taxes because they’re tax-deductible under medical expenses (so keep your receipts!). If you do have private health insurance, many health insurance plans include partial coverage for psychological services. Before your first appointment, please speak with your health insurance provider to verify whether you have coverage for psychological services. Red Chair Psychology Inc. does not have access to information about what your specific plan covers.

What We Do

Red Chair Psychology Inc. provides tailored, research-backed psychological services for children, adolescents, parents, adults, and families.
Telehoo?: Red Chair Psychology Inc. is pleased to offer both in-person and healthcare compliant telehealth (virtual/online) psychological services at this time. Telehealth psychological services refer to psychological services provided online, or ‘virtually’ using video conferencing on a device with a camera (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.). You may book telehealth psychological services all the time, or just occasionally for convenience and/or when it’s not possible to attend an appointment in-person (e.g., illness, severe weather conditions, emergencies, etc.). Telehealth psychological services do not include phone calls, texting, other types of “messaging” on online platforms (e.g., social media), or other forms of interactions. Your psychologist may determine that telehealth appointments are not appropriate due to certain circumstances.
Telehealth services are available to clients in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick during their appointment. Unfortunately, if you’re in a more exotic locale like PEI, Newfoundland, or elsewhere, you aren’t eligible for NS telehealth services at this time. Ugh, we know - we’re sorry: didn’t make these rules!

What We Don’t Do

Red Chair Psychology Inc. does not provide:

Comprehensive psycho-educational assessments or formal mental health assessments. (Please feel free to ask us about this.)
Emergency psychological services, such as: in-the-moment crisis appointments or “on-call” crisis support
Parental capacity assessment, custody evaluations, or work with parental alienation concerns
Court-related work including, legal opinions, workplace injury claims, divorce or custody proceedings
Mental health “check-ins”: we work “actively” with clients - meaning we see them 2-4x/month to help them achieve their goals, live a fuller and more meaningful life, and/or navigate a challenging period of time. We generally don’t work with clients on a monthly (or less frequent) basis unless they’ve already completed “active” therapy with their psychologist and they’re continuing to benefit from occasional mental health ‘tune-ups’ to keep them on track with the progress they’ve made. (Questions about this? Please ask!)

Contact Info

Email is the best way to contact us (followed by pigeon carrier, and then phone calls) :)
If you need to contact your psychologist outside of session, please email them directly at their professional email address, or contact the office (admin@redchairpsychology.com)
Office: 902-517-1057: this number does not accept text messages
Email and phone calls are only for non-urgent, administrative purposes
Office email and phone lines are typically checked daily, Mon-Fri (up-to-date information can be found in the email signature of admin@redchairpsychology.com). Emails and phone are not checked outside of regular working hours, on holidays, or during vacation
Please allow several days for a response

Scheduling

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I BOOK?

Research shows that the frequency of sessions plays an important factor in better therapeutic outcomes.
It’s generally recommended that sessions are booked weekly or every other week to support your therapeutic progress. Generally, we work more intensively with clients (meeting with them weekly, or every other week) rather than booking spread-out appointments as this slows therapeutic progress.
With your psychologist, you’ll develop a plan that works for you and takes into account your specific considerations, as well as your and your psychologist’s availability.

Ghosted?

Cancellations & Rescheduling

Red Chair Psychology Inc. requires at least 24-hours' notice to cancel or reschedule an appointment.
If you need to cancel, we’d appreciate as much advanced notice as possible so our waitlist clients can be offered services.
If a late-notice, extenuating circumstance arises (e.g., illness, inclement weather, etc.), your psychologist may offer to convert face-to-face appointments to online appointments so you can keep your appointment without incurring a cancellation fee.
You’re Trending: Unless otherwise discussed (e.g., vacation), Red Chair Psychology Inc. aims to offer regular and consistent appointments in order to provide active treatment. Therapeutic progress is hindered when appointments are cancelled, rescheduled, or no-showed. Therefore, if cancellations, rescheduling, or no-shows happen a few times, your psychologist will discuss options with you.

Cancellation Fees Policy

Because your appointment times are protected for you, appointments that are cancelled or rescheduled with less than 24 hours'-notice or “no show” appointments will be charged the full appointment rate ($335 for initial appointments; $230 for subsequent appointments). Receipts issued for cancelled and no-showed appointments will state “Missed Appointment”, and these are usually not covered by private health insurance plans.

Confidentiality

We’re often talking about sensitive topics, so we get it: keep those cards close to the chest.

We do our absolute best to maintain your privacy and confidentiality.

Privacy: For booking, billing, and charting purposes, Red Chair Psychology Inc. uses “Jane App”, a secure, Canadian, online practice management software program that encrypts information using bank-level encryption, and stores information in a cloud system on secured Canadian-based data storage servers. Jane is Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) compliant.

Confidentiality (and its limits)

I’m a youth/under the age of 19: what do you tell my parents? Great question - and it depends. Check out the Services>> Teen tab for info!
Discussions with your psychologist are confidential except where your psychologist is ethically and/or legally required to disclose information to others without your consent (e.g., Child & Family Services Act, etc.). There are various limits of confidentiality, such as when a client discloses current, potential, or threatened harm to themselves or to others, current or previous child abuse (if reported by a client under the age of 19 years), risk of, or suspicion of current or previous vulnerable adult/elder abuse, if subpoenaed by a judge or court of law in the case of legal proceedings, etc. We know: it’s a lot to consider.
Confidentiality in the Wild: If you run into your psychologist from Red Chair Psychology Inc. outside of the office, your psychologist will not indicate they know you. To acknowledge you could violate your privacy and confidentiality.

Social Media

Our social media accounts are intended to share general information and resources related to mental health, wellness, and our practice. The content we post is not therapy, not clinical advice, and not tailored to individual needs.
Psychologists at Red Chair Psychology do not provide therapeutic services or interact with clients or potential clients over social media. Socials may be maintained by administrative staff or a third party - they are not monitored in real time and private messages will not receive a response.
Clients and non-clients are welcome to follow our pages.

What should I expect in therapy?

First timer? Welcome!
First things first: expect us to be very, very nice. This isn’t our first rodeo: we understand that folks need a welcoming and nonjudgmental psychologist. (We also know that some of our younger clients need fidgets and to talk in creative ways.) Deep breath - you’re in good hands.
You don’t have to prepare anything special or know what to say. We’ll ask you questions (a lot of ‘em). If these’s something specific you want to discuss, let us know. Otherwise: come as you are. (As we work together more, we will probably ask you to practise things between our sessions, but you’ll be fully in-the-loop about how to be prepared for your sessions.)
Brass Tacks: when you come to Red Chair Psychology, you can expect us to work hard to help you live a fuller life with greater ease. For many of our clients, this means learning about themselves, finding strategies that work for them, and after some time and practise - deciding that life is so great, they no longer need our services. We’re often trying to work our way out of a job, though some clients prefer ongoing contact. We’ll chat about how to best support you, in a way that works for you.
You should know: in therapy, we do talk about sensitive topics. This can be emotionally taxing and if a clients stops attending therapy mid-way through the process, they are at risk of feeling worse. It’s common for things to be difficult before they improve: kinda like how you hobble after that first day at the gym before your rippling abs start…rippling. These things take time, and your psychologist is here to help you through it and work at your pace.
How many appointments will I need? It depends. Many of the treatment protocols we use are in the 10-16 session range. Some clients need less, and some want more. We will try hard to work within the limits of your insurance coverage, but it’s important for you to know that most clients benefit from having more than only a few appointments. Clients who attend consistently, book weekly/biweekly appointments, and practise between sessions tend to feel better faster, whereas clients who reschedule or book infrequently tend to book more appointments as it usually takes them longer to achieve their goals.
PS: Your first appointment is long (~1.5 hours); then your follow-ups are 50 minutes. You’re welcome to come for in-person appointments or book telehealth, or a combo!

Telehealth Questions?

Please ensure you have a quiet, private space, free of distractions for your appointment.
Please use a secure internet connection - not public/free WIFI.
To help limit risks associated with telehealth, your session link will be sent out 30-60 minutes in advance of your appointment, and the link will only be active an hour before and after your scheduled appointment time. Telehealth is offered through our healthcare-compliant software program, Jane.
Clients may download the Jane mobile app for Apple & Android. With one login, you can manage all of your appointments and join telehealth appointments across any clinic using Jane.

Download on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1590241313 or
Get it on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.jane.mobile&pli=1

Learn About Easy Booking & Log-Ins for Telehealth