No. Private psychological services are not covered by MSI, but services are often covered in part by most insurance companies.

No, although your insurance company may require one for coverage, so you should check with them first.

Fees for services that are not covered by insurance (e.g., Behaviour Interventionist services) may be able to be claimed as medical expenses at tax time.

Not all fees are covered, such as report writing, phone or video consultations, scoring and interpretation of assessment tools. Each client is responsible for checking with their insurance company first to be clear on what services will be covered.

Yes, we direct bill where possible.

For assessment services, we can direct bill a portion of each assessment, and for the remaining balance, payment can be scheduled in instalments or paid at the end of the service provision (i.e., when the assessment results are shared). Most often, our clients choose to pay in total after an assessment is completed for ease of billing and reimbursement.

Most individuals self-refer to our practice; however, some insurers require a physician’s note before engaging our services. Please clarify your insurance coverage and appropriate documentation before making an appointment with us.

Fees for services that are not covered by insurance (e.g., Behaviour Interventionist services) may be able to be claimed as medical expenses at tax time.

No, but we do provide free 30-minute phone intake appointments.

As part of the Canadian government’s efforts to respond to the mental health needs of individuals, couples and families of COVID-19, RCTs in Nova Scotia are now temporarily covered at 100% through the Public Services Health Care Plan (PSHCP). The PSHCP is the plan provided to both provincial and federal employees, their families and dependents. At Spirit Psychological, we are able to provide you an immediate paid invoice to support to your submission for 100% reimbursement.

We provide a fee estimate of the cost of services in advance.

Counselling and consultation services are billed on a professional hour which is 50 minutes in duration (10 minutes are provided for documentation of the service). Both services are HST-exempt since they are considered health-related services. 

Other services, such as assessment or career counselling, require an estimate of hours needed/approximate cost in advance.

If you come to Spirit seeking assessment for yourself or for your child/teen, an estimate will be provided for you.

A typical comprehensive Psycho-Educational Assessment in our practice for School-Aged children (P-12) is 15 hours billed at $210/hour (total of $3150). For Post-Secondary students (College/University/Training Program), is 13.5 hours billed at $210/hour (total of $2835).

A Career Assessment involves 8-10 hours billed at $175/hour (total of $1400-1750).