Victoria has plenty of counsellors — and six-week waits to see them. Online sessions with BC-registered clinical counsellors, no waitlist, direct billing to 40+ insurers.
Online counselling · Victoria & Greater Victoria
Counselling for Victoria and the south Island, online
Openings this week — no waitlist
No downtown parking, no calling around
UVic and Camosun plans typically cover RCCs
Master’s-level Registered Clinical Counsellors
Video or phone, anywhere in BC
Free 20-minute match call
Master’s-level RCCs
Registered Clinical Counsellors, online across BC
This week
Openings while downtown quotes six weeks
No waitlist
Free match call, usually within a day or two
40+ insurers
Direct billing where your plan allows it
The local reality
Victoria’s problem isn’t finding a counsellor — it’s finding one with an opening
Greater Victoria has real counselling provision: established clinics, plenty of registered names, directories full of profiles. What it doesn’t have is availability. First appointments at established practices commonly run four to six weeks out, the counsellors everyone recommends aren’t taking new clients, and “I’ll call around” turns into an unpaid part-time job.
This page exists because we can usually offer what Victoria’s clinics can’t: a matched counsellor with an opening this week. The match call replaces the calling around — twenty minutes, then two names that fit, not two hundred profiles.
Every clinic you call quotes four to six weeks
The counsellor a friend recommended isn’t taking anyone
You’ve got a directory tab open with forty profiles and no idea
Calling around is starting to feel like a part-time job
Your student plan year ends before the waitlists open
You’d go this week if anywhere actually had this week
Victoria doesn’t need more counsellors. It needs openings.
Greater Victoria has real provision — established clinics, plenty of registered names, directories full of profiles. What it doesn’t have is availability: first appointments commonly run four to six weeks out, and “I’ll call around” becomes an unpaid part-time job.
This page exists because we can usually offer what the downtown clinics can’t: a matched counsellor with an opening this week. The match call replaces the calling around — twenty minutes, then two names that fit, not two hundred profiles.
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
Who you’d work with
Just a few of the 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. A real person, on the phone, who answers you.
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 Victoria
Student plans, federal coverage and extended health do more here than most people realise.
UVic and Camosun students: student extended health plans typically cover RCC sessions
CFB Esquimalt members, veterans and families: VAC coverage is accepted for eligible clients
First responders: CISM program coverage is accepted
Direct billing to 40+ insurers — 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
Serving all of Greater Victoria
Sessions are by video — so Langford traffic, downtown parking and the Colwood crawl stop being part of your mental health care.
Victoria
Saanich
Langford
Sidney
Esquimalt
Oak Bay
Frequently asked questions.
Every clinic I’ve called quotes four to six weeks. What’s your actual wait?
The free match call is usually available within a day or two, and a first session with a matched counsellor is normally available the same week. That’s the whole reason this page exists.
I’m a UVic student — does my plan cover this?
UVic and Camosun student extended health plans typically include coverage for Registered Clinical Counsellors. Bring your plan details to the match call and we can help you confirm before you book anything.
I’m at CFB Esquimalt. Is this covered, and is it confidential?
VAC coverage is accepted for eligible clients, CISM for first responders — and sessions are confidential. Nothing is reported to an employer or a chain of command.
Why online, when Victoria has clinics on every second street?
Because the clinics are full. Online sessions draw on counsellors across the whole practice, which is why openings exist here when downtown is booked out.
What does it cost?
Sessions are $175 for 50 minutes with a Master’s-level Registered Clinical Counsellor. The 20-minute match call is free, with no obligation to book.
Why would I go online when Victoria has clinics on every second street?
Because the clinics are full. Online sessions draw on counsellors across the whole practice, which is why openings exist here when downtown is booked out — and the appointment costs you fifty minutes, not a parking spot.
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.
Stop calling around. Talk to one person who knows who’s available.
The free 20-minute match call ends with a counsellor’s name and an opening — usually this week.
The match consultation is free. No cost, and no obligation to book anything after.
