If you are trying to figure out which therapy format works best for you, we offer both in-person sessions at our Midtown Toronto clinic and virtual sessions available to anyone across Ontario. The format you choose does not change who you work with or the quality of care you receive. It just changes how you show up. This guide walks through what each format actually involves so you can make a decision that fits your life before booking your first session.
Key Takeaways
- We offer in-person therapy at 20 Eglinton Avenue West in Midtown Toronto and virtual sessions for clients anywhere across Ontario through a secure, PHIPA-compliant portal.
- Virtual and in-person sessions are delivered by the same team of registered psychologists, psychotherapists, psychological associates, and supervised doctoral interns.
- The format you attend in does not change the evidence-based approaches used in your sessions or the clinical matching process you go through before your first appointment.
- Our free phone intake is available to all new clients regardless of which format they choose and is the first step for all new clients.
- If you are unsure which format suits you, our clinical coordinator can help you think through it during the intake call at no cost.
Table of Contents
- What therapy formats do we offer at CITC?
- What does attending in person look like?
- What does virtual therapy involve and how does it work?
- Is phone therapy available as a format?
- Does format affect the type of therapy or approaches used?
- Does private insurance cover therapy sessions in Ontario?
- How do you decide which format is right for your situation?
What therapy formats do we offer at CITC?
We offer therapy in two formats at the Cognitive and Interpersonal Therapy Centre. The first is in-person sessions at our office at 20 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 1007 in Midtown Toronto, steps from the Eglinton TTC station. The second is online therapy delivered through a secure, encrypted, PHIPA-compliant portal for clients anywhere in Ontario.
Both formats give you access to the same team and the same standard of care. Whether you are sitting across from your therapist at our Eglinton clinic or connecting from your living room in another part of Ontario, the clinical relationship, the treatment approach, and the intake and matching process are identical.
The full range of services we offer is available across both formats, including individual therapy for adults, children, and adolescents, couples counselling, family counselling, parent consultation, DBT group therapy, and psychological assessments. If you are unsure which services are available virtually versus in person for your specific situation, our clinical coordinator can clarify that during the intake call.
What does attending in person look like?
In-person sessions at our Midtown Toronto clinic take place in a private, dedicated clinical space at 20 Eglinton Avenue West. The clinic is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm and is accessible via the TTC’s Eglinton station.
Attending in person means arriving at a space that exists specifically for therapeutic work, separate from your home, workplace, and daily routine. For some people, that physical separation is meaningful. Walking into a clinical environment can help create a mental and emotional boundary around the work, making it easier to focus fully on what you are there to do.
In-person sessions also suit clients who do not have a private or quiet space at home to speak openly, who find face-to-face conversation more natural than video, or who prefer not to manage the technical requirements of a virtual session. If you are based in Toronto and your schedule allows for weekday appointments, in-person attendance is straightforward from most parts of the city.
What does virtual therapy involve and how does it work?
Our online therapy is delivered through a secure, encrypted portal that is PHIPA-compliant, meaning it meets Ontario’s health privacy legislation requirements for the transmission of personal health information. You can connect with your therapist from wherever you are in Ontario without needing to travel to the Eglinton clinic.
Virtual therapy at CITC is not a reduced version of in-person care. The same clinicians, the same evidence-based treatment approaches, and the same structured intake and matching process apply regardless of format. Therapists on the CITC team who offer virtual sessions include practitioners across the full credential range, from clinical psychologists to registered psychotherapists and supervised doctoral interns.
For clients who live outside of Toronto, have scheduling constraints that make commuting difficult, manage a disability or chronic illness that limits travel, or simply find the flexibility of attending from home more sustainable for consistent attendance, virtual therapy removes a meaningful logistical barrier to getting support. Our couples counselling page also notes that many couples find virtual sessions just as effective as attending in person and more practical for coordinating two schedules.
Is phone therapy available as a format?
Our couples counselling page references phone as an option alongside video for attending sessions. Beyond that, we do not provide detailed information distinguishing phone sessions as a formally separate service category from video sessions.
If phone-based sessions are something you specifically need or prefer, the most accurate path is to raise this during the free phone intake with our clinical coordinator, who can confirm what is available for your situation before you book. The intake call itself is conducted by phone, which also gives you an early sense of how comfortable you are discussing your concerns in an audio-only format before committing to a specific session structure.
Does format affect the type of therapy or approaches used?
No. The evidence-based treatment approaches we use at CITC are not format-dependent. CBT, IPT, ACT, EFT, DBT, EMDR, psychodynamic therapy, and the other modalities practiced by our team are delivered across both in-person and virtual settings. A therapist who uses CBT in person uses the same approach with virtual clients.
This matters because there is a common assumption that in-person therapy is better suited to more serious presentations and that virtual sessions are for lighter concerns. That is not how we approach it. Virtual therapy at CITC is available for the full range of treatment areas we address, including anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma and PTSD, grief, relationship difficulties, disordered eating, ADHD, and others.
The one area where format carries a practical difference is psychological assessments, where some components may require in-person attendance depending on the assessment type. If assessment is part of what you are looking for, this is worth confirming during your intake call.
Does private insurance cover therapy sessions in Ontario?
Therapy at private psychology clinics like ours is not covered by OHIP. This applies to both in-person and virtual sessions and has nothing to do with format. OHIP covers services delivered by physicians, including psychiatrists. Psychologists, registered psychotherapists, and psychological associates working in private practice fall outside of OHIP coverage regardless of how sessions are delivered.
Most extended health benefit plans in Ontario, however, include coverage for psychological services and treat in-person and virtual sessions the same way, provided the clinician holds the credentials your plan specifies. Our team of registered psychologists, psychological associates, and registered psychotherapists hold the licensing that most benefit plans require for reimbursement eligibility.
We provide official receipts after each session that include the clinician’s registration credentials, which you submit to your insurer for reimbursement. We recommend confirming your specific coverage details with your insurer before your first session, including your annual maximum, reimbursement rate, and which provider credentials your plan covers.
How do you decide which format is right for your situation?
Choosing between in-person and virtual sessions comes down to your practical circumstances and personal preferences. Neither format is clinically superior, and the decision does not have to be permanent. If you start virtually and later want to transition to in-person, or the other way around, that flexibility exists within our practice.
In-person suits clients in or near Midtown Toronto who are available during our Monday to Friday operating hours and prefer a dedicated clinical space outside their home environment. Virtual suits clients anywhere in Ontario, including those with scheduling demands, travel limitations, or a preference for the convenience of attending from home.
What stays the same across both is access to our full team, the intake and matching process, the evidence-based approaches used in sessions, and the standard of care you receive. Reach out today and our clinical coordinator will help you figure out which format makes the most sense before you book your first appointment.
Conclusion
Whether you attend sessions in person at our Midtown Toronto clinic or connect virtually from anywhere in Ontario, you are accessing the same team and the same evidence-based care.
