Nature of service provided:

Clients have access to free short-term counselling, generally between 8-10 sessions. If the needs of the client cannot be met within the allotted sessions, the client will be referred to services in the community that can provide mid to long-term counselling. Clients may use their insurance or self-fund. In addition, clients may be provided with applications and online psycho-education tools in conjunction with one-on-one counselling. Faculty Wellness Program therapists are registered psychotherapists under the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO).

Confidentiality Policy:

Psychotherapy/Counselling services offered at the Faculty Wellness Program are confidential. Your health information cannot be released without your permission. Below are the limitations of confidentiality.

• Information indicating that you may pose serious danger to yourself or identified others (including patient safety);
• Information indicating that a child, under 16 years of age or a person living in care or in a retirement home is in need of protection from abuse or neglect;
  
• If a client reports sexual abuse by a Registered Health Professional in Ontario;
  
• If your file is subpoenaed by a court of law or if your clinician is ordered to testify in a court of law;
  
• If we are audited by our college; the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO);

Therapists work collaboratively and consult on clinical issues to provide you with the best quality of care. Your information will continue to be treated as confidential and will only be shared on a need to know basis. Therapists also consult a clinical supervisor; however, no identifiable information is shared. For other situations where collaboration with others could be beneficial your informed consent will be required.

Correspondence:

For added security, the Faculty Wellness Program recommends the use of your University of Ottawa email account when signing into your sessions as well as for any correspondence with the Faculty Wellness Program. Your University of Ottawa email address offers the highest degree of security as it is encrypted on a closed network. Nonetheless, it is preferred to keep the content of email exchanges as succinct as possible.

Conflicts of Interest:

Should you be aware that someone close to you (current or former partner, family member, best friend, etc.) is already seeing one of our therapists, we ask that you request to work with the other therapist.

Counselling records:

We use the Telus CHR Electronic Medical Record system to document and store your PHI. For more information about Telus CHR, please review the Telus CHR Privacy Policy Only your therapist can read or update any clinical notes. Administrative staff at the Faculty Wellness Program will have access to some personal information (name, address, field of study etc.) in order to manage appointments and to process forms. Files are kept for ten years from the date you completed counselling before they are securely destroyed.

Virtual Therapy:

• Please ensure you have a space that is private and free of interruption
• Neither party will record the session
• You will be asked to confirm your identity at your first session, follow-up sessions will not require this extra step.
• Reminder of importance of using
  • Strong passwords on all devices
  • 2 step verification (when possible)
  • Using private and strong password protected WIFI
  • Ensure up to date antivirus and antimalware software

Cancellations:

As with any other professional services, counselling appointments are a valuable commodity. If you cannot attend the appointment you have made, please notify us as soon as possible. You can contact us directly via email, at [email protected] or call our front desk at 613.562.5211.

Please note that the FWP is not an emergency service. In case of emergency, please direct yourself to the nearest emergency room.