In a town of 12,000, the local counsellor is somebody you already know. Online sessions give you a registered counsellor outside your community — by video, or by phone.
Online counselling · Terrace · Kitimat · Prince Rupert · Smithers · Haida Gwaii
Counselling for northwest BC, online and private
A counsellor outside your community
Phone sessions for low bandwidth
Direct billing available
Video or phone, anywhere in BC
Free 20-minute match call
Master’s-level Registered Clinical Counsellors
Master’s-level RCCs
Registered Clinical Counsellors, online across BC
Private
A counsellor nobody in your town knows
No waitlist
Free match call, usually within a day or two
40+ insurers
Direct billing where your plan allows it
The local reality
In a small town, the waiting room is the least private room there is
In Terrace, Kitimat, Smithers or Prince Rupert, the counsellors in town sit in the same rinks, schools and grocery lines you do. The person taking notes might be your kid’s coach’s wife; the truck parked outside the office gets recognised. For a lot of people in the northwest, that — not cost, not motivation — is the reason counselling never happens.
An online session with a counsellor who lives nowhere near your community removes the problem completely. Nobody sees you go in. Your counsellor has no other role in your life and never will. And where bandwidth is thin — camp housing, the coast, Haida Gwaii — sessions run by phone, which needs nothing but a phone line.
The counsellor in town knows your family — everyone does
You’d rather drive to Terrace than be seen walking in at home
Your truck parked outside an office says more than you want
The internet holds until everyone gets home at six
Camp rotation eats every standing appointment
You’ve been carrying it because carrying it felt safer than telling it
Your counsellor won’t live in your town. That’s the point.
In a town of 12,000 the local counsellor sits in the same rinks, schools and grocery lines you do. An online session with a counsellor who lives nowhere near your community removes the problem completely: nobody sees you go in, and your counsellor has no other role in your life — and never will.
For FNHA clients across Nisga’a, Haida, Tsimshian and Gitxsan territories, we bill First Nations Health Authority directly — no up-front payment, no receipts, no forms.
What online sessions are like
A secure link, a private space, and fifty minutes — that’s the whole setup
At the scheduled time, your counsellor emails you a secure link. You open it on a laptop, or through a free app on your phone or tablet, and you’re in the session — no account to create, no software to buy.
A private space for the length of the session — that’s the only real requirement
Any phone, tablet or computer with a camera works
An ordinary connection is enough — or just a phone line, for full phone sessions
Standard sessions are 50 minutes
Video or phone is your choice, and it can change day to day
If the connection drops, your counsellor phones you and the session carries on
A SMALL SLICE OF OUR HANDPICKED TEAM
Counsellors taking new online clients
Master’s-level Registered Clinical Counsellors, online across BC.
Isabelle Hochban
MACP, RCC · Online across BC
Registered Clinical Counsellor working with adults by video and phone across BC.
Sarah Jetha
MACP, RCC · Online across BC
Registered Clinical Counsellor working with anxiety, by video and phone across BC.
Dixie Wong
MACP, RCC, CCC · Online across BC
Registered Clinical Counsellor working with individuals and couples, by video and phone across BC.
How to start
Start with a conversation, not a process.
Free 20-minute counsellor-match consultation
If you’d rather talk it through first — or you’re not sure who would be right — our counsellor-match team will help you decide. It’s free, by phone, and there’s no obligation to book anything after.
Step 01
Tell us what’s going on
A confidential 20-minute phone call with our counsellor-match team. Guided questions about what brought you here, what you’ve tried, what matters to you, and what a good fit would look like.
Step 02
We find your counsellor — and tell you why
Our coordinators interview every counsellor about their style, training, strengths and limits — the things that never make it onto a website. They stay neutral; no counsellor takes part in their own matching.
Step 03
Arrive without having to introduce yourself
You start your first session without repeating your story, already knowing your counsellor’s background and how they work. Afterwards we check in by email to confirm the choice was right — and if it wasn’t, we rematch you.
To be clear
What the match consultation is not.
Finding a counsellor is stressful enough without a process that makes it worse. So, to be clear:
Not a form. We’re real people, on the phone, here to support.
Not a paid service, or a step you have to pay for before you can continue.
Not an endless questionnaire you fill out alone, hoping something comes of it.
Not matching by photograph. Picking a face from a grid is not a clinical decision.
Not counsellors choosing their own clients. Our coordinators are a neutral third party.
Not a waitlist — and you will never be seen by anyone without a Master’s degree and professional registration.
Not a sales call. Nobody will pressure you to book a session.
We believe we have an ethical obligation to help you find the right counsellor, because we’re the ones with the clinical experience. The therapeutic relationship is the single biggest factor in whether therapy works. It’s too important to leave to a search page.
Cost and coverage
Paying for it in the northwest
FNHA direct billing matters more here than anywhere else in the province, and industrial plans carry much of the rest.
FNHA clients across Nisga’a, Haida, Tsimshian and Gitxsan territories: we bill First Nations Health Authority directly — no up-front payment, no receipts, no forms
LNG, port and camp workers: employer extended health plans typically cover Registered Clinical Counsellors
Direct billing to 40+ insurers — you pay only your portion
$175
50 minutes · Online session
Standard session, video or phone.
Free
20 minutes · Match consultation
By phone, no obligation to book anything after.
Most extended health plans in BC cover counselling with a Registered Clinical Counsellor, and we bill more than 40 insurers directly where the plan allows it. Counselling with an RCC is generally tax-deductible as a medical expense. If you don’t have benefits, say so when you call and we’ll tell you exactly what you’d pay — no surprises.
Where we serve
Communities we serve across the northwest
Phone sessions reach every one of these communities — including the ones where video doesn’t.
Terrace
Kitimat
Prince Rupert
Smithers
Haida Gwaii
Frequently asked questions.
Honestly — will anyone here know I’m doing this?
No. Your counsellor lives outside your community, sessions happen from wherever you have privacy, and nothing is visible to anyone local. Confidentiality also binds your counsellor professionally — what you say stays in the session.
Our internet drops constantly. Does that rule this out?
No — phone sessions are a full alternative, not a lesser one. Same counsellor, same 50 minutes, same confidentiality, over any phone line.
Can you bill FNHA directly?
Yes. We bill First Nations Health Authority directly for covered clients, so there is no up-front payment and no paperwork to claim back.
I’m in camp two weeks at a time. When would sessions even happen?
Around your rotation. Evening slots exist, session times can move with your schedule, and phone sessions work from camp where wi-fi won’t hold video.
Is a phone session really counselling, or just a check-in call?
It’s a full session — 50 minutes with a Master’s-level Registered Clinical Counsellor, structured exactly the way a video session is.
What about Haida Gwaii — does the connection out here rule video out?
Often, yes — which is why phone sessions are a full alternative, not a lesser one. Any phone line is enough for a complete 50-minute session, and plenty of coastal clients run their counselling entirely by phone.
For partners and family
If you’re here looking for help for someone else.
Seeking counselling for someone you love isn’t interfering. It’s one of the most caring things you can do.
You’re not failing them by worrying — you’re paying attention. You can call us yourself and ask questions before anyone commits to anything; plenty of people do, especially where getting help has never been easy to arrange.
We are not a crisis line. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 9-8-8 — the Suicide Crisis Helpline, 24 hours a day — or 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) anywhere in BC. If someone is in immediate physical danger, call 9-1-1.
A counsellor nobody in town knows you’re seeing
Book the free 20-minute match call — video or phone, from wherever you actually have privacy.
connect@skylarkclinic.ca
The match consultation is free. No cost, and no obligation to book anything after.
