Online Psychotherapy in Toronto

Reviewed by Dr. Marie Paquette, C.Psych. (CPBAO #7136). Written and edited by the Belleisle Clinics care team. Last updated: 7 September 2026.

Toronto does not have a shortage of therapy. It has a shortage of legible therapy. Search for a therapist here and you get hundreds of results in a few minutes — directories, group practices, apps, coaches, wellness platforms — presented in a uniform layout that makes a doctoral-level psychologist and someone with a weekend certificate look like adjacent options. The volume is the problem. It is easy to scroll for an hour, learn nothing that helps you decide, and close the tab.

This page is written to solve that specific problem rather than to add to it. It explains who is actually allowed to practise psychotherapy in Ontario, how to verify anyone in under a minute, and how to tell which regulated profession fits your situation. Then it tells you what we do and, just as importantly, what we do not.

Belleisle Clinics connects people in Toronto with independent, regulated clinicians — Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO) and Psychologists (CPBAO) — for therapy delivered entirely online.

We have no Toronto office, and that is the point

Some clinics list a Toronto address they use twice a month. We do not have one, so we will not imply otherwise. Every session with a Toronto client is online.

That is a genuine limitation in a few situations, and we say which ones further down. For many people it is the opposite of a limitation. It means you are not choosing from the handful of clinicians within reach of your subway line, which in a region running from Oakville to Pickering is a real constraint. It means a session at 8 a.m. or 7 p.m. costs you fifty minutes rather than two hours. And it means a move within the GTA — the ordinary churn of a city this expensive — does not end your treatment.

Where you are physically sitting during the session determines which regulator applies. Our Toronto clients are seen by clinicians registered in Ontario.

Who is actually allowed to call themselves what

This is the most useful thing on this page, and almost nobody publishes it plainly. In Ontario, some titles are protected by law and some are not.

Protected titles

Registered Psychotherapist (RP) — regulated by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. Master’s-level qualification in psychotherapy or a related field, supervised practice hours, a registration examination, and mandatory continuing professional development. Using the title without registration is an offence.

Psychologist / Psychological Associate (C.Psych., C.Psych.Assoc.) — regulated by the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario. Doctoral-level for psychologists, plus supervised practice and examination. Uniquely authorized to conduct formal psychological assessment and to communicate a diagnosis.

Social workers, occupational therapists, nurses and physicians can also perform the controlled act of psychotherapy under their own colleges, within their scope.

How to check a professional’s title

Coach. Therapist. Counsellor. Wellness practitioner. Psychotherapy practitioner. None of these are protected in Ontario. On their own, these are not regulated professional titles, so training, supervision and complaints mechanisms can vary. Some people using them are excellent and experienced. Someone using one of them may well hold a relevant qualification, or belong to another regulated profession. The title alone does not tell you, which is why it is worth checking the exact title, the qualifications, and any registration with a professional college.

How to check anyone, in under a minute

Both colleges publish a free public register. Search the name; you will see the registration status, the class of registration, any practice restrictions, and any discipline history. Do this for anyone you are considering, including our clinicians. If a name does not appear on either register and the person is offering psychotherapy, that is the whole answer.

We publish each clinician’s registration number for exactly this reason.

Psychologist or psychotherapist: which one do you need?

Both are regulated, both provide psychotherapy, and for most presentations both are effective. The differences that matter in practice are these.

A Registered Psychotherapist is usually the right starting point for anxiety, depression, stress and burnout, grief, relationship difficulties, self-esteem, life transitions and adjustment. This is the bulk of what brings people to therapy. Fees are generally more accessible, which matters when the work is weekly and open-ended.

A psychologist is the right starting point when you need formal assessment or a diagnosis — structured testing for ADHD or a learning disability, a report for an employer, a school, an insurer or a physician — or when the clinical picture is complex, unclear, or involves several conditions at once that need to be disentangled before treatment is chosen.

If you are unsure, start with the concern rather than the credential. Describe the problem on the intake form and let the matching resolve it. The most consistent finding in outcome research is that the quality of the working relationship predicts results better than the modality or the professional category does. The right person matters more than the right acronym.

A fuller comparison, including fees, insurance treatment and how to decide: Psychologist vs. Psychotherapist in Ontario

What people bring to us

Nobody arrives with a tidy category. People arrive saying they are tired all the time, or snapping at people they love, or unable to sleep before Monday. The common threads:

• Anxiety — generalized worry, panic attacks, social anxiety, performance and health anxiety
• Depression and low mood: flatness, loss of interest, withdrawal, fatigue that rest does not resolve
• Burnout, work stress, and the specific exhaustion of jobs with no boundary between on and off
• Trauma and post-traumatic stress
• Grief and loss, including non-death losses — a relationship, a career, a diagnosis, an expected future
• Relationship and couple difficulties, and communication patterns that repeat
• Life transitions: separation, immigration, a new baby, a career change, retirement
• Self-criticism and perfectionism, particularly the high-functioning kind that is rewarded at work and corrosive everywhere else
• Identity, including LGBTQ2+ experience
• Substance use, disordered eating, and difficulties with emotional regulation
• Adolescent difficulties: mood, school pressure, friendships, confidence

How the work is done

The approach follows the problem. Clinicians in the network draw on cognitive behavioural therapy for the relationship between thought, feeling and behaviour; acceptance and commitment therapy for psychological flexibility and values-based action; emotion-focused therapy where the difficulty is relational or attachment-based; dialectical behaviour therapy skills for distress tolerance and regulation; compassion-focused therapy for entrenched shame; psychodynamic work where a pattern keeps returning in new forms; and solution-focused or narrative approaches for circumscribed goals.

Most clinicians work integratively. What you should expect is not a brand name but a rationale: your clinician should be able to tell you why this approach for this problem, and should change it if it is not working. Sessions are typically fifty minutes, weekly at first, spacing out as things improve.

The first appointment serves mainly to understand what you need, and it can also begin the therapeutic work. You describe what is happening; the clinician builds a picture and discusses a possible direction. It is also where fit is tested — if online is not right for you, or if you need expertise the network does not have, that is said then rather than three months in.

Children, teens and families

Adolescents often do well online. They are already at ease in the medium, and the small distance a screen provides can make hard subjects easier to raise. Sessions address mood, anxiety, school pressure, friendships, identity and confidence.

With younger children it depends on the child and the reason for referral, and the work typically involves the parents substantially — sometimes more than the child, since what changes at home changes more than one hour a week can. Where a child needs in-person work, the clinician says so at assessment and helps you find it. Because we have no Toronto premises, that means a referral elsewhere, and we would rather be direct about it than keep a family in a format that is not serving them.

Who you’ll work with

Clinicians in the network practise independently, each within their own areas of competence. Belleisle provides the scheduling, the secure platform and the administration. It does not deliver clinical services and does not direct clinical decisions.

The clinicians serving Toronto

ZONE CLINICIENS — bloc visuel alimenté par les données de la clinique. Pour chaque clinicien autorisé en Ontario : photo, nom, profession, ordre et numéro de permis, langues, groupes d’âge, lien vers le profil.

Every clinician’s registration number is published next to their name, precisely so you can run the check described above before you book. Some hold a “Qualifying” class of registration with the CRPO — a registration category, not a trainee designation. A Qualifying member is registered, holds the required education, and practises under clinical supervision while completing the college’s remaining requirements, which means a second experienced clinician is involved in the case.

Psychological assessment, where it is needed, is provided by psychologists registered with the CPBAO.

What we are not the right fit for

Being matched with the wrong clinician costs you weeks, so we would rather rule things out early.

Individual clinicians do not take certain presentations as a primary concern — OCD, personality disorders, ADHD management, anger management, bipolar disorder, severe substance use, psychosis, and forensic or court-ordered work are the recurring ones. Sometimes another clinician in the network is a good match; sometimes none is, and intake will tell you so.

Online therapy is also the wrong format for some situations: acute risk, circumstances requiring urgent in-person care, and cases where a genuinely private space cannot be arranged. And because we have no Toronto office, we cannot offer in-person as a fallback. If that is what you need, we will say so rather than let you find out slowly.

Fees, insurance and receipts

We do not publish set figures, because fees vary by clinician and change over time. Intake confirms the exact fee with you before your first session. As a general pattern, sessions with a Registered Psychotherapist are more accessible than sessions with a Psychologist, reflecting the difference in training.

• OHIP does not cover private psychotherapy, with either profession.
• Coverage under extended health plans varies by contract and by the provider’s profession — typically a percentage of the fee up to an annual cap. Check the wording of your own plan.
• Read which profession your plan names. Some cover psychologists only, some psychotherapists only, some both at different limits. Plans listing “Registered Psychotherapist” generally cover an RP (Qualifying) as well — confirm with your insurer before you begin.
• Employee assistance programs often fund a fixed number of sessions, and many large Toronto employers have one. Check before paying out of pocket.
• Tax credit. Depending on the provider’s profession and your own situation, some fees may qualify as a medical expense for the federal Medical Expense Tax Credit. Keep your receipts and check the Canada Revenue Agency’s current criteria.

Official receipts in the format insurers require are issued for every session.

How to start

1. Describe what brings you in. A short form; a few sentences is plenty. No referral required.

2. A person reviews it. Not an algorithm. You are matched on your concern, language, format and availability. If there is no good match in the network, we tell you instead of offering the nearest thing.

3. Your clinician contacts you to arrange the first session and explain how to connect.

Request an appointment in Toronto

If you need help right now

This is not an emergency service and requests are not monitored around the clock. If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8, the Suicide Crisis Helpline, available across Canada 24/7 in English and French. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department. In Toronto, the Gerstein Crisis Centre also operates a 24-hour line.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychotherapist? Training and scope. Psychologists hold a doctorate, are registered with the CPBAO, and are uniquely authorized to conduct formal psychological assessment and communicate a diagnosis. Registered Psychotherapists hold a master’s-level qualification, are registered with the CRPO, and provide psychotherapy. For the most common presentations both are effective; the psychologist’s additional scope matters when you need assessment, a diagnosis, or a report. Fees generally differ accordingly.

Is online therapy as effective as in-person therapy? In the populations and contexts studied, research reports comparable results. A 2021 meta-analysis covering more than 5,000 participants reported comparable outcomes between live video therapy and the same therapy in person (Fernandez et al., 2021), and a 2024 review of eighteen studies reported comparable ratings of the therapeutic relationship, whether rated by clients or clinicians (Seuling et al., 2024). Both are cited below. It is not equally suitable for everyone, which is what the first session establishes.

Do you have an office in Toronto? No. All sessions with Toronto clients are online. We would rather say that plainly than list an address we rarely use.

Are the sessions private and secure? Sessions run on a secure video platform, and clinicians are bound by their college’s confidentiality obligations and by the privacy legislation applicable to the service, with the usual legal exceptions where there is a risk of serious harm. The variable we cannot control is your end — arrange a room where you will not be overheard before the first session.

Can I use my extended health benefits? In most cases, yes, though plans differ in which profession they name and how much they reimburse. Check your plan’s wording before you start. OHIP does not cover private psychotherapy with either profession.

Do I need a referral? No. You can request an appointment directly. Some insurers require a physician’s note for reimbursement — that is your plan’s rule, not ours.

Are services available in French, or other languages? Yes. Clinicians in the network practise in French, English and Arabic. Note your preference on the form; it is used in the matching.

How do I verify that a clinician is who they say they are? Search their name on the CRPO or CPBAO public register — both are free and take under a minute. You will see registration status, class of registration, any restrictions and any discipline history. We publish our clinicians’ registration numbers so you can do exactly this.

How long does therapy usually last? It varies with the difficulty and the goal. Some people come for a short, focused series of sessions; others work for a year or more on something long-standing. The goal is set at the outset and revisited as you go.

Can you assess my child for ADHD or a learning disability? Formal psychoeducational and neuropsychological assessment requires standardized testing administered in person, at our Ottawa or Gatineau offices. For Toronto families, that means travelling, and for most it will make more sense to seek assessment locally. Therapy, however, is fully available online.

Sources

The statements on this page about the effectiveness of online therapy and about what predicts outcome are supported by peer-reviewed research, including:

• Fernandez, E., Woldgabreal, Y., Day, A., Pham, T., Gleich, B., & Aboujaoude, E. (2021). Live psychotherapy by video versus in-person: a meta-analysis of efficacy and its relationship to types and targets of treatment. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28(6), 1535–1549.
• Seuling, P. D., Fendel, J. C., Spille, L., Göritz, A. S., & Schmidt, S. (2024). Therapeutic alliance in videoconferencing psychotherapy compared to psychotherapy in person: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 30(10), 1521–1531.
• Flückiger, C., Del Re, A. C., Wampold, B. E., & Horvath, A. O. (2018). The alliance in adult psychotherapy: a meta-analytic synthesis. Psychotherapy, 55(4), 316–340.
• Kelber, M. S., et al. (2024). Evidence-based telehealth interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare.
• Spence, S. H., Donovan, C. L., March, S., et al. (2011). A randomized controlled trial of online versus clinic-based CBT for adolescent anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(5), 629–642.

Start with a conversation

If you have been scrolling through directories for a while without getting anywhere, this is the shortcut: describe the problem, and let someone who knows the network do the matching. A first session commits you to nothing beyond it.

Request an appointment

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The content on this page is for general information and does not replace a consultation with a qualified health professional. It does not constitute a diagnosis or a treatment recommendation.