Calgary Counselling Centre will soon offer virtual sessions to all Albertans

A stock photo of a young woman receiving counselling in a virtual session. (Getty Images)

The Calgary Counselling Centre (CCC) is expanding to offer virtual counselling sessions to all Albertans, thanks to funding from the province.

The organization announced the launch of Counselling Alberta on Thursday, saying the new division will allow all Albertans, even those in rural areas, to have access to highly effective and affordable counselling from anywhere in the province with no waitlist.

The facility pivoted to virtual counselling at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Since that time, the CCC says it has delivered over 100,000 hours of counselling to individuals, couples, families, children, and youth.

"When we began virtual counselling, we expected clients would do well, but there were no studies to tell us whether client results would be the same, better, or worse than in person counselling," CCC CEO says Dr. Robbie Babins-Wagner said.

"Our outcome data tells us that client results were at minimum the same as with in person care and in the majority of times were in fact better than with in person counselling."

Babins-Wagner says the expansion of their virtual sessions, which will move to include all Albertans in summer 2022, comes at a time when mental health is still significantly impacted by the pandemic.

"Every Albertan deserves an opportunity to improve their mental health and pursue recovery," said Alberta's Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Mike Ellis.

"Not everyone needs the support of a counsellor to improve their mental health but for many Albertans it can be a tremendous asset in their pursuit of wellness," said Alberta's Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Mike Ellis.

"We have heard from many rural communities that we need to do things better and we need to provide more access to affordable counselling options. This is what we’re doing in partnership with Counselling Alberta."

The province is providing the CCC $6.75 million over the next two years to expand access to virtual and in-person counselling throughout Alberta, including in rural areas.