Psychological assessments in Ontario

A mental health diagnosis is a formal name for a disorder characterized by a significant disturbance in how a person thinks, feels, or manages their emotions or behaviours. For an individual to receive a diagnosis, the symptoms they are experiencing must cause difficulties in important areas of functioning, like school, work, or social activities. For example, if someone is chronically absent at work and has stopped going to social commitments, they may be doing so because they are experiencing feelings of sadness and hopelessness.

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Similarly, someone may be struggling at school because they have been sleeping too much, and have no motivation to do any of their previous activities. This person may meet the diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder. Other types of mental health diagnoses include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and many others.

We require a minimum of 24-hour notice for any appointment cancellation or rescheduling in order to avoid a full cancellation fee. If you cancel or reschedule your appointment less than 24 hours before it is scheduled to take place, you will be subjected to a full cancellation fee equal to 100% of the session fee (the full cost of the session).

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To cancel or reschedule, please contact your therapist directly by phone or email. You can find their contact information within your appointment confirmation email.

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The time to first appointment varies but we do not have a waitlist so you will see the next availability when booking. Typically, we are booking anywhere from 1-3 weeks out from the date of filling out an intake form.

The total cost of our assessment service is $1,550, paid in three instalments:

• $375 is due at the time of booking your assessment interview
• $925 is due after the assessment interview has been completed
• $250 is due after your debrief session

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After each appointment, you’ll receive a payment receipt.For insurance purposes, you’ll receive two official receipts:

• The first insurance receipt is sent after your first session (total = $500)
• The second insurance receipt is sent after your final appointment (total = $1,050)

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These official receipts include a detailed breakdown of the total psychologist time involved in your assessment, including both direct hours (sessions with your Layla psychologist) and indirect hours (such as psychometric interpretation and report writing). Together, these make up the full cost of the service.You may submit these official receipts to your insurance provider for reimbursement, if applicable.

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Reminder: The payment receipts and the insurance receipts do not match, as the insurance receipts (required for benefit reimbursement) must reflect the fully billed psychologist hours

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The time required for an assessment depends on the type of assessment. Mental health assessments for diagnostic purposes generally take between 1-2 sessions, and may involve a history and background interview with your provider so they can better understand your symptoms and needs. This type of assessment might also include completing some standardized questionnaires (either in-office or virtually) to help your provider gauge the nature and severity of your symptoms.

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If you are seeking a diagnosis for a more complex issue, the process may require more time, so that the professional can gather the right information to ensure an accurate diagnosis. Before you commit to the process, your Layla provider will outline what is involved at every step and how long the process will take.

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Layla takes your privacy and the security of your information seriously. Electronic personal information shared with Layla is stored in a secure and encrypted way. Video sessions are not recorded. You can learn more about our privacy practices here.

Most of the time, a diagnosis or several diagnoses are provided in an assessment. However, sometimes there are no diagnoses provided, or a specific diagnosis is not given. There are several possible reasons for this:

• Your symptoms do not fully meet the criteria for a diagnosis at this time.
• Test results suggest exaggeration of symptoms. Accurate assessments rely on valid and reliable information. Without valid data, it may not be possible to give a diagnosis.

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Sometimes, you might receive a "provisional" diagnosis. This means there is enough evidence to suggest a certain diagnosis, but not enough to be sure. A provisional diagnosis allows treatment to begin while keeping the door open for the diagnoses to be updated as more information becomes available.

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Some reasons for a provisional diagnosis include:

• More time is needed to observe symptoms (e.g., are the attention-deficit issues a long-term problem or a temporary reaction to stress?)
• Overlapping symptoms: Different conditions can cause similar symptoms. For example, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and trauma can all lead to issues like trouble focusing, forgetfulness, and restlessness. Treating symptoms of anxiety or depression first can help us see whether the attention-related symptoms are explained by these issues, or warrant a separate diagnosis of ADHD.
• Even if a diagnosis isn’t provided assessments can still provide valuable insights about your challenges and next steps to support your well-being.

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A psychological assessment is often recommended for individuals who show signs (i.e., behavioural changes that others might see) and symptoms (i.e., thoughts and feelings that the individual experiences) of a mental health issue, but don’t have a diagnosis.  More specifically, if an individual feels their mental health symptoms are getting in the way of aspects of their life (e.g., work, school, relationships), a psychological assessment can help clarify why, as well as offer strategies for help going forward.  Whether someone needs a psychological assessment depends on the person, and they must agree to the process. Once they do, the psychologist will tailor the assessment to the person’s needs, and share clear information about how the process unfolds.

Our services are not covered by OHIP/AHCIP/MSP/MSI, but most extended health plans cover some of the professional designations registered to conduct therapy. Each plan is unique. If you’re planning on using your extended health benefits, we highly recommend you check your coverage in advance of the call so that we can connect you to the right provider.

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Here’s what to look for: In your benefits booklet, insurance portal, or when you speak to an insurance representative specifically look for coverage for either

1. ‍Registered Social Workers
2. Registered Psychotherapists (RP) or Registered Counselling Therapist (RCT)
3. Psychologists

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If you need our help in checking benefits, please let us know on the phone and we’ll gladly do what we can.

You will receive two separate receipts, one after each appointment, with a cost breakdown of the direct and indirect (e.g., psychometric interpretation, report-writing) hours with your Layla psychologist, which make up the full cost of the service. You may submit each of these receipts to insurance (if applicable) for reimbursement.

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Insurance Receipt #1 (sent after first session)

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Insuarance Receipt #2: (sent after last session) 

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In terms of payment, the total cost of $1550 is split into three separate payments. The first payment of $375 is made at the time of booking the assessment interview. This serves as a deposit. The second payment of $925 is made once the assessment interview has been completed. This is when we send the first receipt. The third payment of $250 is made once the debrief has been completed. This is when we send the second receipt.

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Yes! Layla Care assessments are all done by Registered Psychologists located in Alberta or Ontario. If you have extended health benefits, typically, they will cover part or the full cost of a Psychological Assessment.

Here is the receipt breakdown which you can submit to insurance for a coverage estimate:

Please reach out by emailing assessments@layla.care if you need any more information to figure out your benefits coverage.

Anyone can be referred to our assessment service, and you don’t need a formal referral from another provider. Sometimes, however, extended health insurers require a referral from a family physician to reimburse for psychological assessment services. We recommend you check with your insurer to see what is required for reimbursement for psychological services.

Psychologists are unable to prescribe medication. However, assessment results may be used by a medical doctor (e.g., your family physician) to guide prescription decisions.

At Layla, we understand that navigating psychological assessment options can be challenging, with a broad spectrum of pricing and service levels in the market. On one end, there are lower-cost assessments that might involve less comprehensive testing or are conducted by healthcare providers who are not specialized psychologists. These options may appear cost-effective but may not offer the depth of insight required for certain diagnostic purposes.
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On the other end, there are assessments priced much higher (1.5-3 times Layla's cost), offering extensive reports and covering a wider range of needs, such as Medical-Legal assessments, Capacity Evaluations, and Applications for Benefits. While these services provide thorough documentation, they might go beyond what is necessary for clients seeking clarity on treatment options or accommodations.

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Layla's psychological assessment service is priced to reflect the high quality of our diagnostic assessments, comparable to the more expensive options in terms of quality. Our reports, while more concise, are sufficient for the intended purposes —covering diagnosis, key history, and personalized recommendations. This makes Layla an appropriate choice for individuals looking for treatment clarification or seeking accommodations, who prefer a brief yet thorough analysis without the additional costs for extended reports or services that go beyond their needs.

When someone talks about “doing sessions” with a psychologist or other type of therapy provider, they are typically referring to a psychotherapy treatment session. Psychologists are trained to offer different types of services, including psychotherapy, assessment, and diagnosis of mental health issues. A psychologist determines what information to use based on the specific question(s) being asked. For example, if it is important to understand if you suffer from a diagnosed mental health issue, a psychologist can help! They will meet with you for a structured interview and ask you to complete some questionnaires to better understand the nature of the issue (e.g., a mood disorder, anxiety disorder, ADHD). Once they have a better understanding of your needs, they can outline a treatment plan (which may include, for example, doing some psychotherapy sessions to learn some new strategies and/or talking to your family physician about medications). If you’re unsure about your needs, contact us at info@layla.care and we’ll help guide you in the right direction.

Your Layla psychologist will receive your intake form (with main presenting concern) and detailed history questionnaire before assigning your psychometric tests. Each Layla assessing psychologist chooses which psychometric tests to assign to each client based on the information they have received about clinical areas of interest. Psychometrics will also help to rule out other disorders that may be impacting symptoms (e.g., trauma or anxiety affecting symptoms that may present like ADHD).

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Your clinical interview will feel quite structured as there is a lot of specific information your psychologist needs to gather in order to make a proper diagnosis. That being said, their lines of questioning will be tailored to the information they have about you from the forms and psychometric tests you have completed.

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Your Assessment Report is written for you, explaining what information was gathered, how the psychologist determined your diagnosis or diagnoses (if relevant), and treatment and accommodation recommendations (if relevant).

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Step 1: Fill out our brief intake form and book your Assessment Interview

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Step 2: Set up your Layla Profile and complete your Health Questionnaire. This Questionnaire will give your Psychologist the information they need to be able to assign to you Psychometric Testing (assessments).

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Step 3: Complete Psychometric Testing (assessments) this should be done before your assessment interview (typically takes 1-2 hours to complete)

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Step 4: Login to your Layla Profile and join your Virtual assessment interview. You will meet with your Psychologist at this time. The Assessment Interview is 1.5 hours.

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Step 5: Login to your Layla Profile and meet with your Psychologist to complete the debrief, this is when you will receive any diagnosis along with a Psychological Report.

Your assessment report will include information such as what psychometric tests were used and any relevant interpretations from those psychometrics, relevant background information gathered during the assessment, any diagnosis made, recommendations for treatment, and if relevant, recommendations for accommodations regarding school or work.  

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Typically, these reports are able to be used to help support a family doctor in prescribing medication for any diagnoses you may receive, helping an employer or school to come up with a supportive accommodation plan, and helping you understand any diagnoses made and any follow-up treatment recommendations.

For someone to identify an accurate diagnosis from a wide range of possible mental disorders, they must have extensive training and experience. There are specific processes that guide how clinicians narrow in on the true cause of an individual’s symptoms. Trained professionals also have the expertise to identify when multiple disorders occur together. Finally, qualified professionals can make a mental health diagnosis, as well as suggest what treatment options may be appropriate. Only certain types of professionals have this required experience and training.

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In most provinces, only psychologists and physicians (like family doctors and psychiatrists) can make a mental health diagnosis. However, in some provinces, such as Alberta and British Columbia, social workers and nurse practitioners with specialized training can make some mental health diagnoses.

Our psychologists administer psychometric testing (not just screening tools). The specific tests used vary depending on the presenting concerns and age of the client. Administering and interpreting psychometric tests must be done by a registered psychologist or another qualified healthcare practitioner for whom this is in scope and who has the prerequisite training and experience (this can vary by province).

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The tests used are typically comprehensive, looking not just at what symptoms are present, but ruling out certain diagnoses. This is important because certain presenting issues can look like others. For example, you may have symptoms that present like ADHD, but they may be caused by a reaction to a traumatic incident or by a different mental health disorder.Understanding this is crucial to receiving the right treatment for your symptoms.

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In order to get an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis, it is important to have psychometric testing be part of your psychological assessment.

Our psychologists provide virtual assessment services to clients in Ontario and Alberta, with limited availability in British Columia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Yukon. We are continuously building our community and hope to expand soon to serve clients in other provinces.

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