Therapy for Veterans
Psychotherapy for veterans, serving members and RCMP members living in Ontario or Quebec, in English or in French, delivered online.
Where your sessions are approved under a federal benefit we are registered to bill, they are billed directly: you do not pay up front and you do not file the claim yourself.
Reviewed by the Belleisle Clinics clinical team. Last updated: 29 October 2026.
Who this page is for
- Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, whether you released last year or decades ago.
- Serving members and reservists, for care you arrange yourself rather than through your unit.
- RCMP members and former members.
- Family members, where their own coverage allows it.
You do not need a diagnosis to send a request. If you are not sure whether your sessions are covered, say so in your request.
What people come in for
Military and policing careers leave their own marks, and people arrive for very different reasons.
After an incident, or after years of them
Some people come in because of one event they can name. Others come in because nothing in particular happened, and twenty years of exposure added up quietly: calls, deployments, accidents, recoveries, the ones that stayed.
Sleep, alertness and the body
Sleep that will not settle. Waking at the same hour, every night. Scanning a restaurant for exits without deciding to. Irritability that lands on the people least responsible for it.
Release, retirement and what follows
A release removes a structure, a rank, a trade and a community in one step. Some people describe the loss of purpose as heavier than anything they saw in service. The civilian job that follows can feel small, or unserious, in a way that is hard to explain to anyone who was not there.
Moral injury
Carrying something you did, saw, or could not prevent, and which sits outside the usual categories of fear and danger. It is often the hardest thing to raise.
Relationships and family
Deployments, postings and absences shape a household. So does coming home different from the person who left. Partners and children carry part of this, and often have less support than the member.
Pain, injury and substances
Chronic pain, an injury that redefined daily life, medication that changes how you feel, alcohol or substances that started as a way to sleep or to stop thinking.
How the fees work, in plain terms
Some clients arrive holding an approval from a federal program that sets a number of covered sessions and the period they cover. Where that applies and we are registered to bill that program, those sessions are billed directly, so you are not out of pocket and you do not submit anything yourself.
What is covered, and for how many sessions, is decided by the program that administers your benefits. A clinic does not make that decision, and no web page can make it in its place. If you are unsure where you stand, say so in your request and bring whatever documentation you have.
If you are not covered, or an approval has run out, sessions can continue privately, billed to you or to a private plan. The fee is confirmed with you before that point.
If no benefit has ever been opened in your name, the first step is with the program rather than with us.
Who you will work with
The professionals in the Belleisle network are independent and regulated: each belongs to a professional order or college in the province where they practise and works within their own areas of competence. In Ontario, several regulated professions may provide psychotherapy within their scope of practice; at Belleisle you are most likely to work with a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO) or a Psychologist (CPBAO).
In Quebec, the practice of psychotherapy is reserved. Psychologists, physicians and couple and family therapists practise it without a separate psychotherapist permit; members of certain other professional orders may practise it while holding the psychotherapist’s permit issued by the Ordre des psychologues du Québec.
A title on its own does not tell you who will suit you. Experience with military and policing populations matters here, and not every professional has it. Say in your request that this is the context, and the request is directed accordingly.
For more on professional titles and what is worth checking before you begin, see our page on psychotherapy.
What the work looks like
The first session is mainly about understanding what brings you in, what you have already tried, and what you want to be different. It is also where you find out whether this professional and this format fit.
From there, the work depends on what you came for and on the approaches your professional is trained in. Some people want to deal with one thing and stop. Others stay longer. Both are normal, and the pace is set with you rather than for you.
The length of therapy varies with the nature and duration of the difficulties, their impact and your goals. After a few initial sessions, your professional can usually offer a first estimate and a direction, which is adjusted as the work goes on.
What you are not asked to do
You are not asked to recount an incident in detail in a first session. You are not asked to justify the benefit you hold. And you are not asked to use a particular approach because it is the one the clinic favours.
Working online, from wherever you are
Sessions take place by video, which matters in this population. Postings move people. Injuries make travel hard. A small town may have no one with the right training.
It does require a space where you can speak freely, and it does not suit every situation.
For remote services, authorization requirements can vary depending on the jurisdictions involved and on where you and the professional are located during the session. The professional has to make sure they comply with the rules that apply to their situation. If you are posted or living outside Ontario and Quebec, say so in your request: coverage depends on where the professional is authorized to practise.
Confidentiality
What you say in session is protected by your professional’s regulatory obligations and by the privacy legislation that applies to the service, with the limits the law sets.
The clinical record stays with your professional. Billing transmits what a claim requires, which is not the content of your sessions. Your professional will go through the limits of confidentiality in the first session, and you can ask any question about it before you book.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a referral?
No. You can send a request directly. What you do need, for sessions to be billed rather than paid by you, is an approval that covers them from the program that administers your benefits.
What if my approved sessions run out?
The work can continue privately. Fees are confirmed with you before that happens, and many extended health plans cover psychotherapy, subject to your contract and the provider’s professional title.
Can I be seen in French?
Yes, depending on availability. Mention your language preference in your request.
Is this trauma treatment?
It can be, and it is not only that. Professionals use the approaches they are trained in, and the work starts from what brings you in rather than from an assumption about what a veteran needs.
Can my partner or my children be seen?
Couples and family work is available. Whether a benefit covers it depends on the benefit, which is worth checking before you begin.
I am still serving. Is this for me?
Yes. Serving members arrange private psychotherapy for reasons that are theirs. See also our page on therapy for military members and DND employees.
What if I tried therapy before and it did not help?
That is common, and worth saying in the first session. A different professional, a different approach or a different moment can produce a different result, and nobody will ask you to repeat something that did not work.
In a crisis
The services described on this page are not a substitute for crisis or emergency services.
If you are thinking about suicide or are in crisis, you can call or text 9-8-8 anywhere in Canada. If there is immediate danger, call 911.
In Quebec, you can also call 1-866-APPELLE (1-866-277-3553) or dial 811, option 2, for Info-Social.
Getting started
Tell us briefly what brings you in, whether you hold an approval that covers your sessions, your province and your language preference.
The content on this page is provided for information only. It is not individualized professional advice, does not create a therapeutic relationship, and does not replace a consultation with a qualified health professional.