Frequently Asked Questions
General Counselling Questions
Counselling invites you to delve deeper into creating and finding personal meaning in your own life. Studies show that engaging in effective therapy requires three things:
1.) Goals
2.) Positive Relationship with Therapist
3.) Approach
Sessions are process-orientated and geared toward what you want to get out of it.
I use Feedback-Informed Treatment approach (FIT) which allows greater value and effectiveness in each and every session.
Acceptance & Commitment Training (ACT) as well as Expressive Art can be woven through the session to gain insight and offer greater effectiveness.
Learning is part of the counselling process. New life begins to grow in our dismal places as we intentionally engage in this process of discovery.
Life is not a problem to be solved but rather an experiment to be lived. Let’s live it with joy and as comfortably, peacefully and abundantly as we can.
Anxiety, PTSD, Social issues, Depression, Family situations, Personal wellness, Stress management.
Therapy focuses on cultivating your internal locus of control. This means, what can you do to support yourself, and learn more about yourself in order to optimize your life and heal your relationships (with yourself & others).
Therapy is for anyone who wants to learn about themselves and tap into their greatest potential.
You already know what you need, therapy simply helps you unearth your own knowing and supports in creating actionable steps toward embodying your potential and purpose in this world.
My therapeutic approach is simple. I come from a humanistic, transpersonal perspective, where we work together to reveal and ultimately boost your own personal resources in order to grow and better your life.
I am trained in ACT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which is an empirically studied and evidence-based approach. It is well researched and is particularly effective with generalized anxiety disorders. How is ACT different than CBT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
CBT is shown to be effective but ACT not only delves into thought processes like CBT but it also adds other elements like mindfulness practice, and value-based living.
A: Yes, I offer both family and individual sessions.
Cost and Insurance Questions
- If you are a UBCO or UBC Vancouver student scroll to the bottom of the pay for cost and insurance info.
- We follow our association’s fee schedule.
- Prices are lower when you book with an Intern.
- Initial Intake is $160 with Intern and $170 with Shauna.
- Individual Sessions are 55 minutes: $105 with Intern and $150 with Shauna.
- Individual Expressive Art Sessions are 55 minutes and $170 with Shauna.
- Family Sessions are 55 minutes and $170.
- Direct Billing for Autism, PHP, CVAP, ICBC, FNHA clients.
- UBCO Students are fully covered but will need to submit their paid receipt into their BlueCross Health Portal to be reimbursed for sessions.
UBCO + UBC Students sessions are fully covered through their extended benefits plan.
If your employer offers extended coverage it is important to ask your HR department for a full list of coverage. Look specifically to see if “Registered Clinical Counsellor” is covered.
Yes if you or a family member is diagnosed with Autism and is between the ages of 7-19 then all individual and family sessions are covered.
If you are a UBCO or UBC Vancouver student, then YES your sessions are covered up to $1100 per school year (Sept to April 30).
Yes, we offer CVAP services and do direct billing.
Staff Questions
An Intern counsellor is a student who is finishing off their Master degree by doing a supervised practicum. Your sessions with an Intern are fully confidential and are overseen by a fully qualified supervisor who is also bound to confidentiality.
Seeing an Intern counsellor has many benefits including high level of care.
a.) Your cost is lower, which means that you will be able to have more sessions and
b.) The Intern is overseen by their supervisor to ensure quality of care.
Note: The supervisor does NOT sit in on your sessions with the Intern unless you agree. Supervision is done outside the session time, where the Intern meets regularly with the supervisor for case review and consultation.
Yes Intern counsellors receive weekly supervision for all clients in their case load.
UBCO Student Questions
- If you opted into the Extended Health Benefits as a student you receive up to $1100 per school year for mental health support with a Registered Clinical Counsellor.
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As a UBCO Student you have $1100 available per school year.
This means you can book your initial intake ($160) and then approx. 9 sessions with an Intern. For a total of 10 fully covered sessions.
You can book directly through our online system. The information you will be asked for is:
Full Name
Address
Age
Credit Card Info (NOTE: your credit card WILL NOT BE CHARGED) this is simply a security feature that allows you to do online booking.
After your sessions, your payment is processed and a paid receipt will be emailed to you.
You will need to then UPLOAD this paid receipt into your BLUE CROSS PORTAL for reimbursement.
No one will know that you have seen a counsellor. Our ethics are such that confidentiality is paramount.