Often, yes. Most extended health plans do not have a separate category for couples counselling, but sessions with an eligible clinician are usually claimable as psychological services under one partner's plan. What you can claim depends on your plan's annual maximum and which designations it covers, so a short call to your insurer before the first session is worth making.
A couples session is one appointment, billed once. It is not charged to each partner separately. For insurance, the session is usually claimed under the plan of one partner, who is recorded as the client, and the receipt is issued in that person's name.
If both partners have benefits, coordination of benefits can help. After the first plan pays its share, the second plan may cover some of the remainder, particularly where each partner is listed as a dependant on the other's plan. Your insurers can tell you how they coordinate.
At Supporting Wellness, a couples session costs the same as a regular 50-minute session: $235 with a psychologist or $220 with a Canadian Certified Counsellor, at all three of our clinics. Some clinicians charge less or offer a sliding scale. Because couples often meet weekly or every second week at first, a plan's annual maximum can go faster than expected, so it helps to know the numbers at the start.
It varies with what brings you in. Many couples notice a change in how they talk to each other within a handful of sessions, while long-standing patterns, affairs or major transitions usually take longer. A good counsellor sets goals with you early and reviews them as you go, so you can see whether the work is moving.
Yes. If your partner will not attend, individual sessions about your relationship are billed like any other individual therapy. Many people start that way, and it can still change how a relationship works, because changing your own side of a pattern changes the pattern.
Our clinicians see couples in Calgary, Red Deer and Cold Lake, and online. Couples come to us about communication, conflict, trust, intimacy and big transitions such as a new baby, a move or a health crisis.
We direct bill many insurers, including Alberta Blue Cross, Canada Life, Sun Life, Manulife, Greenshield and Desjardins, so you pay only the part your plan does not cover. Tell us whose plan you will use when you book, and we will check coverage for the clinician you choose. See direct billing and insurance or call 1-888-622-8350.
Related reading: Does Blue Cross cover therapy?, How couples counselling helps and Is it too late for couples counselling?
