Frequently Asked Wellness Questions

Office Policy for Social Work, Psychotherapists

Please take a moment to thoroughly review this document, as it is our informed consent for services. Maternal Health Niagara provides Social Worker and Psychotherapy services. We are regulated providers with our respective colleges. The Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers regulates registered Social Workers. The College of Registered Psychotherapists Ontario regulates RPs and RP (Qualifying)

Jurisdictions: Each therapist is a Registered Provider with their respective college to provide services in Ontario (some may be able to provide services in other jurisdictions). If you are not physically in Ontario, please advise your therapist so you can rebook your appointment. 

Payment: We accept credit card payments through Jane's strip integration, or you may e-transfer your therapist directly. Please note that for services with our MSW students, e-transfer admin@maternalniagara.ca

Your therapist will issue a receipt upon payment.

We require full payment at the end of your session. 

Maternal Health Niagara will pause sessions if you have an outstanding balance until you pay it in full. (During exceptional circumstances, please speak with your therapist.)

We prorate our service fee for administrative tasks (such as letters) at 15-minute intervals.

Records requests will be subject to the therapist's clinical fee and other fees, such as printing, registered mail, etc.

Fees are annually reviewed and subject to change.

Attendance: Please arrive on time for your appointment. If you are running late, please let your therapist know. If you have not arrived within 10 minutes of your appointment time, the therapist will no longer be available, and your session will be billed as a no-show. Please note that if you attend late, your therapist will charge the full session fee and will need to end the appointment on time. 

Cancellation/ No-Show Fees: We require a 24-hour cancellation notice.

You are subject to the following fees if you provide less than 24 hours of notice.

First late cancellation- there will be a fee of $25.

Second late cancellation- the fee will be 50% of your session.

Any cancellations of no-shows beyond will be subject to the therapist's full fee.

*Please note that most extended benefits do not reimburse for no-show/ late cancellations.

Therapists will charge the Credit Card on file as per the cancellation/no-show policy.

Extended Benefits: If you have extended benefits that you intend to use, it is your responsibility to confirm your service coverage, including professional designations and allotted funds. 

Therapists will provide a receipt at time of payment, then you can submit the claim to your extended benefits. 

Some therapists on the team can provide direct billing subject to the extended benefits policy. Please speak with our client care coordinator for more information. 

Booking: Active clients have access to their therapist's schedule. We encourage you to pre-book your appointments in one-month intervals to ensure your preferred time is available.

If you opt-in for appointment reminders, Jane will send you an email and/or text based on your settings.

We require a credit card on file to hold your appointment. You can subsequently use the credit card on file, or if you wish to pay by another method, please let your therapist know. 

If you require an appointment and your therapist is unavailable, you can add yourself to the waitlist. We do our best to offer cancelled appointments to clients on the waitlist. You will receive an email notification if a space becomes available. The system is live, so there is no guarantee that the spot will remain open.

Therapeutic Process: At Maternal Health Niagara, participation in services is voluntary. Therapy can be a space for healing and self-discovery; however, no one can promise a specific result from the therapeutic process.

At your intake session, you will share your strengths and needs with your therapist and evaluate your goals in Therapy. You may hope to enhance functioning and strengthen your capacity to adapt to change. With the support and resources from your therapists, you get to decide what feels suitable for you, as we value self-determination. 

Varied factors may impact your therapy process, including the frequency of your appointments and evolving circumstances. In some cases, you may not achieve your desired goals. If this is the case, your therapist may discuss other treatment options, change the clinical intervention, readjust goals, discontinue treatment, or refer you to a different service provider.

During Therapy, you may experience increased distress as you process through experiences. There may be times when you experience a change in your feelings or behaviours. If you notice any changes, please discuss this with your therapist so they can offer guidance. 

In Therapy, your therapist may provide you with psychoeducation and discuss recommendations. However, as we believe in self-determination, it is your choice to make decisions in your best interest. 

Please note that social workers and psychotherapists do not provide diagnoses. If you have medical concerns, please consult your primary care provider, walk-in clinic, or emergency department. 

Our team aims to provide professional, ethical, and respectful services. If you have concerns, please discuss them openly and honestly with your therapist, or you may contact our client care coordinator or clinic owner.  

Maternal Health Niagara: Maternal Health Niagara utilizes Jane for our electronic records, including your personal information, dates of service, billing, credit card numbers, case notes, assessment, and other clinical documentation. Emily Pollak owns the account. Your therapist will complete documentation by their regulatory body and the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). Maternal Health Niagara is the Health Custodian of your Personal Health Records. It will store your records in compliance with the respective regulatory bodies and PHIPA. 

Jane provides integration programs such as Stripe, E-TELUS Claims, 

Please ensure that your personal information, including your address, phone number, date of birth, and emergency contact, remains current.

Our client care coordinator has access to your administrative record, billing information, appointment scheduling, and information you provided during your brief consultation. She also assists with sending letters and faxes. 

Our client care coordinator keeps records per Maternal Health Niagara's office policy, including uploading emails and making notes for client contact.

The team may see your profile in Jane, which includes your name; however, strict privacy settings limit access to your clinical records.

If you have concerns, please speak with your therapist or the clinic owner, Emily Pollak.

We use other third-party programs at Maternal Health Niagara to manage our practice, including SR FAX, Godaddy, Microsoft Office 365, Ooma, Zoom, Doxy, Psychology Today, Trello, and insurance provider platforms. These are subject to change based on the clinic's needs.

Confidentiality: Maternal Health Niagara recognizes the importance of confidentiality by following our ethical guidelines and standards of practice. 

Consents: Your therapist requires permission to release information about you unless legal and professional obligations exist. 

Sometimes, you may request that your therapist share information about you. Your therapist will discuss the risks and benefits of sharing your personal information in these situations. We like a collaborative process regarding the information released. You have a right to limit the information shared about you and revoke consent. If you wish to withdraw consent, please notify your therapist in writing; the therapist will then document in your chart that you have withdrawn consent to release information about you.

If someone sees a therapist at Maternal Health Niagara for individual and couples Therapy, we will require internal consent to share information between the providers. 

There may be times when other family members seek services at Maternal Health Niagara. If we are aware, we match clients with a different therapist. Our internal process is to denote on the file that it is a conflict for your therapist. 

Best-practice standards include utilizing consultations/supervision. Your therapist may provide information about your sessions for professional development. It is your right to withhold or withdraw consent or place conditions on the information shared about you. If there is a conflict of interest between the clinical supervisor and therapist, the therapist will seek supervision elsewhere.

If you have any requirements for clinical supervision, please share them with your therapist. 

Maternal Health Niagara has internal team meetings where case discussions may occur without identifying information when appropriate. 

Limits of Confidentiality: There are exceptional circumstances where your consent to release information about you may not be required.

A) Legal obligations that require the release of information about you.

B) If your therapist assesses that you are at imminent risk of suicide, which may include having a plan, intention, and means, then your therapist will take appropriate actions to keep you alive, which may consist of contacting emergency services, crisis services, and your emergency contact. In these circumstances, your therapist would release pertinent information about you, such as your address, phone number, medications, disclosure of the situation regarding the risk, or other information. 

C) If your therapist receives information that you or someone else poses a severe threat of bodily harm to yourself or others, including groups of people, which may result in severe injury or death. Your therapist will contact appropriate services, including emergency services, and release the information required. 

D) If there is information that there is/ was a past, present or future risk of harm to any child, we have a professional duty to report these concerns to the appropriate agency. 

Child protection risks may include physical abuse, threats of harm to a child, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, severe mental health/ substance abuse concerns that impair the caregiver's ability to meet the child(ren's) needs, capacity or judgement concerns for the caregiver that would pose a risk to the child(ren) and exposure to adult conflict and domestic violence. Regulated professionals must adhere to the Children and Family Services Act.

The duty to report includes if there was historical abuse and if there is information to suggest that the offender may have access to another child (ren), which would put that child (ren) at risk of harm.

E) Social Workers are bound by law to report a colleague (another social worker or social service worker) to the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers for professional misconduct, including having sexual relations with a client. Registered Psychotherapists with the College of Registered Psychotherapists Ontario (CRPO) are required to report professional misconduct, including if they believe a client may have been or is actively experiencing sexual boundary violations by any regulated healthcare professional. 

F) If the college investigates concerns related to your therapists, your records may be subject to review.

G) If a medical emergency occurs during your session, your therapist will call 911 for a paramedic and provide any pertinent health information.

Please note that we do not provide court-appointed services or reports to the court or become involved in legal proceedings. We want to ensure the focus of your session remains on your goals; court involvement shifts the intentions of Therapy. If you are looking for a therapist to provide reports to the court, please advise, and we can refer you to other community providers.

Community Confidentiality: If you see your therapist in the community, they will not approach you to ensure your privacy. Your therapist will not discuss your personal information or therapeutic work outside of sessions.

Therapeutic fit: We recognize how personal Therapy is and the importance of connecting with your therapist. If you find your therapist not the right fit for you, please feel free to reach out, and we can work together to find the right fit for your needs. Our client care coordinator's email is hello@maternalniagara.ca.

Communication/ Virtual Therapy: Therapists do their best to return calls and emails within business hours. However, each therapist's availability at Maternal Health Niagara may impact the response time. 

Team members call from a private number unless it is our client care coordinator.

Our therapists use cell phones, and our client care coordinator uses VOIP, which is less secure than landlines. If you are concerned, please speak with your therapist or our client care coordinator. 

For virtual therapy sessions, please find a space where you feel comfortable and safe talking. If you have concerns about privacy or safety, please communicate with your therapist.

In-Person: If you arrive for your appointment and the door is locked, your therapist will greet you shortly. For security reasons, Maternal Health Niagara has cameras; however, these are not in the treatment rooms. 

Our office is in a house on the second floor, which requires stairs. If you have mobility concerns, please speak with your therapist. 

Parking: We have four on-site parking spots in front of our space. Please do not park in the neighbouring driveway, as you risk having your vehicle towed. There is also on-street parking available.

Illness: If you are ill and need to cancel your appointment, please get in touch with your therapist. Your therapist may also need to cancel at other times. It is important that we extend compassion during these times. 

Please do not attend the office if you are unwell; we can shift to a virtual session or rebook for another time. 

Service Evaluation: Jane App allows clients to provide a review/rating after appointments. The reviews are private and utilized by Emily Pollak to evaluate clinical services. Providing feedback is voluntary.

It is unethical for Registered Social Workers or Psychotherapists to ask clients to write a review or testimonials. We cannot respond to reviews on public websites. If you have any concerns, please reach out.

File Closure: If you have not attended Therapy in 2 months, your therapist will attempt to contact you via email to offer you a follow-up visit before file closure. If there is no response, we will recognize this as an indicator that you no longer need service.

If we notice that you repeatedly have, and without adequate explanation, cancelled or changed appointments, resulting in a service disruption, we will discuss file closure.

Each therapist has a professional skill set and scope of practice. If your clinical needs fall outside your therapist's scope of practice or clinical skills, your therapist will discuss this with you and develop a plan together. Care options may include professional consultations, transfer services to another provider, referrals, or file closure.

Other circumstances may deem file closure, including legal, ethical/boundary issues, the services no longer benefit you.

Return to Services: If you wish to return to services after file closure, please get in touch with our client care coordinator. At that time, we will review our team's availability for services. We do our best to honour requests for specific therapists; however, there are times when they may not be accepting referrals. 

Texting/ Emails/ Social Media: Therapists may use texting and emails to communicate about appointment times or changes. 

Please remember that emails, texts, cell phones, and social media are not secure means of communication.

Any form of communication may become part of your clinical file per our standards of practice.

Social media is a forum for networking and sharing information that may be relevant to the public. 

Therapists will not share any information about their clients on social media. It is important to remember that posts and comments are not private. Your therapist may see your posts if you are an active member of the same groups. If you comment on Maternal Health Niagara's social media page, we cannot respond to those comments. Our team cannot accept friend requests from our clients.

Crisis Services: Maternal Health Niagara does not provide crisis services. 

If you feel at imminent risk of harming yourself or others, please call 911 or go to the nearest Emergency Room. 

Ontario Crisis Services: Provincial Abuse Support Lines- Assaulted Women's Helpline 1 (866) 863-0511

Distress/Support Line- Canada Suicide Prevention Service 1 (833) 456-4566 

Kids Help Line- 1 (800) 668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868

Local Niagara Services: 

Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST) Niagara: 1(866) 550-5205 ext. 1 

Niagara Region Sexual Assault Centre (CARSA): 1(905) 682-4584 

Pathstone Mental Health Services: 1(800) 263-4944 

Gillians Place 1(905) 684-8331 

Niagara Children and Family Services 1(888) 937-7731

Contact information:

Adrianna, Client Care Coordinator: hello@maternalniagara.ca

Emily Pollak, MSW, RSW, Clinical Director & Owner- Admin@maternalniagara.ca