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Information About Our Services

For information on how to become a client, please visit our Get Help page.

Catholic Family Services of Durham is a non-profit agency that provides an accredited family counselling service to anyone in Durham Region.

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Mission Statement

We exist to provide help, hope and healing to individuals, couples and families, regardless of beliefs, through evidence-based clinical therapy, psycho-educational counselling and support.


Values

In its work with the community, Catholic Family Services will respect the following values:

  • Provide services with regard for the dignity, freedom and equality of all persons
  • Serve with a spirit of compassion
  • Serve with a commitment to excellence

Confidentiality

All information discussed during your therapy sessions will be kept in the strictest confidence unless written permission is given by you to release such information to other agencies, professionals, or the courts. Exceptions may be made in life-threatening situations or where child abuse or neglect is indicated. Agencies are also subject as a matter of law, to a subpoena and so in some circumstances, a client record or a clinical therapist’s evidence may be required by a court of law.


Fees

The agency primarily receives funds from the Province of Ontario. In order to make the best use of these dollars and to enable us to provide service to those who are in financial need, we have a fee policy. Your therapist will discuss the fee schedule with you during the first interview and the two of you will arrive at a mutually agreed upon fee. We realize that a family’s financial situation varies and we may modify the fee according to your circumstances. We ask that you pay your fee after each interview if at all possible. Services will never be denied because of an inability to pay.

 Cancellations

There are many people on our waiting list who are anxious for an appointment. We ask you to be responsible about keeping your appointments.


Cancellation Policy

Cancellation of scheduled appointments must be made at least 24hours in advance. Otherwise, except where unusual circumstances have made that impossible, you will be charged one-half of the set fee. If two appointments are missed without adequate notice, the agency reserves the right to terminate your therapy for the time being. You must re-apply for therapy and you will be offered an appointment when your name comes up on the waiting list.


Complaints / Concerns

It is our intent to provide you with a high quality, ethical, professional service. If you have a complaint or concern about your service, please talk to your clinical therapist or you may enquire at the office about our complaints policy.


Therapy Services

Therapy services will commence with a brief period of assessment at the end of which time the agency reserves the right to refer to an outside of Catholic Family Services if it appears that your needs would be best met elsewhere in the community. The agency offers a maximum of 10-12 counselling sessions, the details of which will be determined between yourself and your caseworker.


Counselling with Children under the age of 12

It is an agency expectation that parents or legal guardians remain on agency premises while minors (under 12) are at the agency for counselling. Therapists may require parental input or support at anytime during the session and parents are to be available to children as needed. In exceptional circumstances where this may not be possible, any parent or legal guardian who chooses to leave a child on site without a guardian present is required to sign a waiver releasing Catholic Family Services of any liability while their child is on the premises.


Crisis Situations

Please note that we are not a crisis service. Please ask your therapist for applicable crisis numbers. In addition, please note that email is not an appropriate way to manage a crisis.


Students

We are a teaching agency; therefore, the clinician who meets with you may be working towards a Master’s degree and is being supervised by a Master’s level staff person. Additionally, this may mean that more than one clinician could be present for your session, for learning purposes.


Request for Reports

The agency requires that clients provide a notice of five business days when requesting letters, reports, or similar correspondences. Any request for written reports beyond basic attendance at a program will be charged at the rate of $100.00 per page. This may be prorated on a sliding scale consistent with the agency’s sliding fee schedule.