• Experience change and agency to make positive changes in your life
• Communicate with others in ways that make you feel more heard and make you better able to understand them
• Make a healthy transition through difficult times due to broken relationships, grief, job loss and/or health challenges
• Live a more balanced, healthier and happier life
• Reduce stress and distress
• Become aware of all the choices available to you
• Become skilled at managing your mood, anxiety and emotions
• Achieve a stronger sense of self
• Discover practical strategies to solve the challenges you experience
• Overcome negative thoughts, feelings and behaviors that interfere with your happiness
• Become self reflective and to trust yourself as well as others
• Reach the goals you set out for yourself
• Engage in living a more meaningful life and make meaningful connections with others
• Become aware of your triggers and recover from trauma
• Experience relief from the emotional aspects of illness or trauma
• Abstain from hurtful, harmful or self destructive behaviour
• Become trained at understanding your emotions and becoming more mindful and able to live in the present moment

We offer a 15 minute free phone consultation for new clients. There is no obligation for further services and we will never pressure  you to do so.  We can talk generally about the issues you might want to explore in counselling. You can ask basic questions and discuss whether we might be a good fit.  If there isn’t a good fit, we are happy to offer referrals to other excellent mental health professionals.

The first session is an opportunity for you to share a bit about yourself and what has brought you to seek counselling support.  We will do our very best to put you at ease and convey the genuine warmth we feel when we are working with our clients.  We specialize in working with clients who have never worked with a counsellor before!

Our first session will also provide an opportunity for us to explain how we might work together through the counselling process.  We can each ask questions, and we will encourage you to express any concerns you might have.  We will also discuss things like informed consent/confidentiality, fees and scheduling.

Priority for appointment times is given to existing clients, however we currently have availability for new clients Please contact the us directly to inquire about our availability.

Fees for Registered Clinical Counsellors and Registered Psychologist at The Change Agency are in line with the recommended fee guidelines set forth by the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors and the College of Psychologists of British Columbia.

http://bc-counsellors.org/choose-a-counsellor/fee-schedule/

Session Fees for Registered Clinical Counsellors

Fees For Colin Chow

Individual Therapy $133.00* for a 50 minute session

Couples/Family Therapy $143.33* for a 50 minute session

* Plus 5% GST

Fees For Tanya Heal

Individual Therapy $130* + GST for a 50 minute session

Couples/Family Therapy $140* + GST 50 minute session

* Plus 5% GST

Fees For Elle Mah

Individual Coaching $100* for a 50 minute session

* Plus 5% GST

We do not want our clients to forgo the opportunity to make positive steps towards mental health due to financial hardship.  If finances are or become a hindrance to you continuing with counselling, please let us know. Based on availability, we reserve a portion of our practice for clients with financial limitations (Eg. students, seniors, under-employed individuals). Fees for these clients can be negotiated and set on a sliding scale.

Some extended health benefit plans may reimburse all or a portion of the fees for Registered Clinical Counsellor Services. UBC’s AMS/GSS student Health Plan and SFU’s SFSS Health Plan does cover RCC (Registered Clinical Counsellor) services as well as some Sun Life, Manulife, Green Shield and Pacific Blue Cross plans.  The Change Agency does not have the ability to do direct billing to your extended health benefit insurer.

Please check with your extended health care service provider as you may be eligible for coverage. If your extended health benefits plan does not currently include RCC’s, some clients have been successful in expanding their coverage to include RCC’s by asking their human resources department to contact their group insurance provider and request that their plan be changed to cover the services of a RCC at no additional cost.

Payment in full is expected on the day of your session, payable by cash, debit, cheque, Interac E-Transfer, American Express, Visa or MasterCard. If you would like to cancel or change your appointment time, please contact The Change Agency at least 48hours in advance. For all cancellations with less than 48 hours advance notice, clients may be charged the full session fee.

Payment in the form of CASH, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Check or Debit Card is required immediately following the session and Interac e-Transfers are also accepted.

*With COVID-19, e-Transfers are preferred for a touchless transaction. An invoice can also be sent for credit card payments ahead of time as well. In addition, in order to keep us safe, I will be instituting the following practices:

• Sanitizing all surfaces and pens/clip boards before and between sessions
• I will provide mandatory hand sanitizer for clients and myself to use prior to starting sessions
• In person sessions can be cancelled without penalty up to 1 hour before the session start time if the client or someone in the household is experiencing cold/flu symptoms
• If a client arrives demonstrating cold/flu symptoms, the session will be cancelled without penalty
• If I am experiencing cold/flu symptoms I will immediately inform you to cancel an in person session, but if you wish, we can continue with the session virtually
• Clients are welcome if they wish to wear masks or any other PPE, but are not required to do so. In order to communicate clearly and for you to be able to see my non verbal expressions, I will not be wearing a mask in our sessions
• The Central Park Business Park has requested clients not arrive more than 5 min before their session time to limit the number of individuals in the waiting area.
• The seating area has been altered to maintain appropriate social distancing which really limits the space available. While you are in the waiting/common areas of the office, masks are required but may be removed once you come into my office space.

In order to limit the use of my phone to process payments, I am requesting clients use Interac e-Transfers for session payment, or I can send an invoice using the Square Reader if you wish to use a credit card. If this is problematic, the square reader can be used in the session, and I will use a UV Sanitizer on it and my phone between sessions, but it may cut into our session time.

• At present, the underground parking area for the building is being closed at 6pm for security reasons and on weekends. The reduced business traffic in the area has meant cars in the parkade have been broken into at a high rate. If you are driving, I would recommend parking on Ormindale Street or Kingsway west of the office building.
• The Central Park business park has also closed the use of the kitchen/ dish- washer, so I will not be able to offer tea/water at this time as well as I normally would.

What is coaching?

International Coaching Federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Coaching is a client-driven process. The coach’s responsibility is to:

• Discover, clarify, and align with what the client wants to achieve
• Encourage client self-discovery
• Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies
• Hold the client responsible and accountable

The coaching process helps clients improve their outlook on work and life, while improving their leadership skills and unlocking their potential.

What is coaching (REALLY)?

Is coaching a good fit for you?

Since coaching is a partnership, ask yourself whether collaboration, other viewpoints and new perspectives are valued. Also, are you ready to engage and be brave? Are you willing to let go of belief systems that don’t serve you? The world around us is changing faster than ever before. Are you rethinking your skills with ease and optimism? If the answer is yes, then coaching may be a beneficial way to develop and grow.

How is coaching distinct from other service professions?

Executive coaching focuses on setting goals, creating outcomes, and managing personal change. Sometimes it’s helpful to understand coaching by distinguishing it from other personal or organizational support professions.

• Therapy: Therapy deals with healing pain, dysfunction, and conflict within an individual or in relationships. The focus is often on resolving difficulties arising from the past that hamper an individual’s emotional functioning in the present, improving overall psychological functioning, and dealing with the present in more emotionally healthy ways. Coaching, on the other hand, supports personal and professional growth based on self-initiated change in pursuit of specific actionable outcomes. Coaching is future-focused, and the coaching relationship emphasizes action, accountability, and follow-through.

• Consulting: Individuals or organizations retain consultants for their expertise. While consulting approaches vary widely, the assumption is the consultant will diagnose problems and prescribe and, sometimes, implement solutions. With coaching, the assumption is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks.

• Mentoring: A mentor is an expert who provides wisdom and guidance based on his or her own experience. Mentoring may include advising, counseling, and coaching. The coaching process does not include advising or counseling and focuses instead on individuals or groups setting and reaching their own objectives.

• Training: Training programs are based on objectives set out by the trainer or instructor. Though objectives are clarified in the coaching process, they are set by the individual or team being coached, with guidance provided by the coach. Training also assumes a linear learning path that coincides with an established curriculum. Coaching is less linear, without a set curriculum. Additionally, coaching does not focus on behaviors that are being executed poorly or incorrectly. Instead, the focus is on identifying opportunity for development based on individual strengths and capabilities.

What’s in it for me?

Coaching clients who responded to the 2017 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study reported positive coaching impacts including:

• Improved communication skills
• Increased self-esteem/self-confidence
• Increased productivity
• Optimized individual/teamwork performance
• Improved work/life balance
• Increased well-being
• Improved business management strategies
• Expanded professional career opportunities
• Accelerated on-boarding into a new professional role

What can I expect?

Life is journey and our patterns, habits, and emotions to events in our personal and professional lives have been formed along the way. Take the time to acknowledge this work can be challenging – give yourself time to reflect. Some clients experience dynamic changes quickly and many clients make significant changes in 3 to 6 sessions.

Connect

Everything begins with just a conversation. Book a complimentary 30-minute discovery session via zoom or phone call. There is no obligation for further services, and I will never pressure you to do so. If you decide to book a complimentary session, I
will email or text you a confirmation and provide a few details to start you thinking. You can also take this opportunity to ask questions and discuss whether we might be a good fit. If not, I am happy to offer referrals to other capable coaching professionals.