Depression Therapy · Virtual · Serving Ontario

Depression Therapy Online in Ontario

Online depression therapy, by video, anywhere in Ontario, with Mohamad Shabib, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO, or Rola Shbib, RSW (Ontario). Appointments at TEO run 3:00 pm to midnight Eastern, seven days a week, so getting help does not depend on getting time off work.

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Free initial consultation · No referral needed · Seven days a week

Every registration above can be checked on its public register — the links go straight there.

$150 individual · $175 couples · 60 minutes · direct billing with Pacific Blue Cross and TELUS eClaims plans (Canada Life, Manulife); an insurance-ready receipt for every other plan. Fees & insurance · Direct billing

Depression therapy online in Ontario, at a glance. TEO Counselling provides therapy for depression and low mood across Ontario by video, with two Ontario-registered clinicians: Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO (#14298), who works in English or Arabic, and Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW (Ontario), OCSWSSW #866715, who works in English. With Mohamad the work draws on CBT, behavioural activation, Internal Family Systems and, where depression follows trauma, EMDR; with Rola it is person-centred counselling with a crisis-intervention and stabilization background. Appointments at TEO run 3:00 pm to midnight Eastern, seven days a week. Individual sessions are $150 and couples sessions (with Mohamad) $175, each 60 minutes, with no intake or assessment fee. OHIP does not cover psychotherapy in private practice; every session comes with an insurance-ready receipt, and direct billing is available with Mohamad Shabib for plans on the TELUS eClaims network (Canada Life, Manulife); with Rola you pay per session and submit the receipt. The first step is a free 15-minute consultation by video or a scheduled phone call, no referral needed.

Depression therapy online in Ontario, in plain terms

TEO Counselling provides therapy for depression and low mood to adults anywhere in Ontario, by video only — there is no clinic to travel to, and the person in Kenora or Cornwall books the same way as the person in Toronto. Two clinicians are registered in Ontario. Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO #14298) and works in English or Arabic. Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW #866715), written here as RSW (Ontario) because that is where the registration is held, and works in English.

The approach depends on who you are matched with. With Mohamad, depression work draws on cognitive behavioural therapy — thought records and behavioural activation — on Internal Family Systems for the parts of you that turn inward and go quiet, and, where the low mood sits on top of something that happened, on EMDR, which he trained in through an EMDRIA-approved programme. With Rola, it is person-centred counselling built on a crisis-intervention and stabilization background: steadying the week you are in before anything else is asked of you.

This page is about the Ontario practicalities — who you would see, what a session costs, where OHIP stands, when appointments run, and how to start. What depression can look like and how therapy for it works is on our depression therapy page; how the process unfolds from first message to first session is in our guide to how online depression counselling works in Ontario. Where low mood alternates with stretches of unusually high energy, the mood disorders page covers what is different about that work.

When to reach out, and the free public options first

There is no threshold you have to cross before therapy is allowed. People usually get in touch when a low stretch has gone on for weeks rather than days, when things they used to care about have stopped registering, when sleep or appetite has shifted and stayed shifted, when they have pulled back from people without quite deciding to, or when they have been telling themselves it will pass and it has not. In men it can show up as irritability, overwork or withdrawal rather than sadness, which is why depression in men has its own article. None of this is a diagnosis — TEO does not diagnose — it is a description of the point at which a conversation tends to help.

If you are having thoughts of ending your life, that is not a wait-for-an-appointment situation: call or text 9-8-8, any hour, or 911 if you are in immediate danger. The Ontario lines are listed further down this page.

Before you pay anyone, it is worth knowing what Ontario provides at no cost, because for some people it is the right door. None of these programmes is run by TEO.

  • · Ontario Structured Psychotherapy (OSP) offers free, publicly funded cognitive-behavioural therapy to Ontario adults aged 18 and over with symptoms related to depression or an anxiety-related disorder; it is not suitable for everyone, and you can ask your doctor or health care team about a referral or self-refer through the regional network for your area.
  • · BounceBack Ontario, run by the Canadian Mental Health Association, is a free phone-coaching and workbook program for people 15 and up experiencing low mood, stress, or worry.
  • · ConnexOntario, 1-866-531-2600, answers around the clock and finds mental health and addiction services in your region at no charge.

What a private practice adds here comes down to three things: appointments that run into the late evening and across the weekend, no waitlist at present, and a choice between two named clinicians you can check on a public register before you book. The trade is that you pay for it, and the fee section below is plain about what that costs. More free and low-cost Ontario routes are listed on our resources page.

Who you would be working with

Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, founded the practice and is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario — CRPO #14298, which you can look up on the CRPO public register. As a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) he practises with clinical supervision, an added layer of professional oversight built into your care. His training relevant to depression is CBT for Trauma Levels 1 and 2, Internal Family Systems Levels 1 and 2, and EMDR through an EMDRIA-approved programme, alongside Motivational Interviewing and CBT for Addictions for the cases where drinking or use has become part of the picture. He is also a Canadian Certified Counsellor with the CCPA (#11249205), works in English or Arabic, and is the clinician with whom couples sessions and direct billing are available.

Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW (Ontario), is a Registered Social Worker with the OCSWSSW — #866715, on the OCSWSSW online register — and is based in London, Ontario. She came to counselling from crisis intervention and community mental health and addictions work, is ASIST-trained and a Mental Health First Aid facilitator, and holds an honours degree in thanatology, which matters when a low period has followed a loss. Her sessions are person-centred and paced, in English, and are paid per session with an insurance-ready receipt rather than direct billed.

The consultation decides who you see. You describe what is going on, and you get a straight answer about which of the two fits it — and, where that is the honest answer, that another kind of help would serve you better.

What sessions look like by video

Sessions run on Jane, the same Canadian platform the booking goes through, with Zoom or Google Meet as a backup. You need a private room, a device that can hold still, and an hour nobody will walk in on; a fallback for a dropped connection, such as a phone call, is agreed at the start so it never has to be improvised in the middle of something difficult.

With Mohamad, depression work is practical from early on. A behavioural activation plan gets built on the shared screen — small, scheduled, specific things to do between sessions, chosen because they are possible in a bad week rather than because they would be good for you in a better one. Thought records are worked through the same way, on screen, so you leave with the sheet and the method rather than a memory of a conversation. Sleep and routine get attention early because they are load-bearing. Where the low mood is anchored to something that happened, IFS or EMDR are added to the plan with Mohamad once there is enough stability to make that work worth doing.

With Rola, the first job is to find out how much room you have. When things are acute, the early sessions are about steadying — safety, the coming week, what is actually holding you up — and the deeper material waits until the ground is firm enough to stand on while you look at it.

Medication questions go to your family doctor or nurse practitioner. Nobody at TEO prescribes, and nobody here will tell you to start or stop anything; therapy runs alongside whatever a prescriber decides, and it helps if your clinician knows what you are taking.

What you say in a session is confidential, with four legal limits that every clinician here works under and explains before anything sensitive is discussed: a risk of serious harm to you or to someone else, a child in need of protection, a court order or subpoena, and the reporting obligations a regulator can impose.

There is no fixed number of sessions and no package. Some people come weekly for a few months and stop; others move to every other week for longer. That gets decided with you, out loud, as you go — not set in advance by anyone.

What it costs, and where OHIP stands

Individual sessions are $150 per 60-minute session; couples sessions, which are with Mohamad, are $175. There is no intake or assessment fee, and the 15-minute consultation is free and needs no referral.

OHIP does not cover psychotherapy in private practice — not for depression, not for any concern, anywhere in Ontario. The publicly funded routes are physician-delivered care and programmes such as Ontario Structured Psychotherapy, described above. What can cover part of a private fee is an extended health plan through work or school: coverage depends on the credentials your plan recognizes — check for Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) or RSW. Read the booklet's wording rather than its summary page. Mohamad's registration is in the Qualifying category, and plans differ on whether that category is included, so if your booklet names only Registered Psychotherapist without the qualifier, ask the insurer whether a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) is reimbursable under your plan before your first paid session.

Direct billing is available with Mohamad Shabib for plans on the TELUS eClaims network (Canada Life, Manulife); where your plan is one we can bill, you pay only the portion it does not cover. Direct billing is not available with Rola — with her, you pay per session and submit the receipt yourself. Either way an insurance-ready receipt follows every session, and payment is by Interac e-Transfer or credit card through Jane. Cancellation is free with 24 hours' notice; inside 24 hours, or a missed session, the full fee is charged. A small number of reduced-fee spots are held — if cost is the thing standing in the way, say so at the consultation. The full fee table is on the fees page, and which plans can be billed on your behalf is set out on direct billing.

Hours — appointments at TEO run 3:00 pm to midnight Eastern

Appointments at TEO run 3:00 pm to midnight Eastern, seven days a week. The practice keeps Pacific hours, and Ontario sits three hours ahead, which is what turns an ordinary afternoon-to-evening schedule on the coast into a late-evening one here. An appointment starting at nine or ten at night is a normal booking, not a favour.

For depression that shape can matter more than it looks. If mornings are the hardest part of your day, a session you have to be presentable for at eight in the morning is a session you are likely to cancel; one at eight in the evening, from your own room, is easier to keep. It also means therapy does not have to be explained to an employer or squeezed into a lunch hour.

The limit: nothing starts before 3:00 pm Eastern, and there are no morning appointments. If the only hour you can protect is before lunch, this is not the right practice for you, and it is better to know that before you book than after.

Common questions

Can I get depression therapy online in Ontario?

Yes. TEO Counselling is virtual only, so therapy for depression is delivered entirely by video to adults anywhere in Ontario — a city, a northern town, or a community with no therapist within driving distance. Two Ontario-registered clinicians provide it: Mohamad Shabib, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO, in English or Arabic, and Rola Shbib, RSW (Ontario), in English. The first step is a free 15-minute consultation by video or a scheduled phone call, and no referral is needed.

Is depression therapy covered by OHIP?

No. OHIP does not cover psychotherapy in private practice anywhere in Ontario, for depression or for anything else. OHIP does cover care from a physician, and Ontario funds free programmes such as Ontario Structured Psychotherapy for adults with symptoms related to depression, which you can self-refer to. At TEO an individual session is $150 per 60-minute session, with no intake or assessment fee. For a private session, an extended health plan through work or school may reimburse part of the fee: coverage depends on the credentials your plan recognizes — check for Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) or RSW — and you receive an insurance-ready receipt after every session.

Do I need a referral or a diagnosis to start?

Neither. You can book the free consultation yourself, and you do not need to have been told you have depression to talk about a low stretch that will not lift. TEO does not diagnose, so if you want a formal diagnosis for a workplace, an insurer or a school, that comes from your family doctor, a psychiatrist or a psychologist, and therapy here can run alongside it. One caution: a few extended health plans want a physician's referral before they reimburse, which is a rule of the plan rather than of the practice, so check your booklet if reimbursement matters to you.

Do I need therapy or medication for depression?

That is not a decision a therapist makes for you, and it is not an either-or. Prescribing is a physician's or nurse practitioner's decision; nobody at TEO prescribes, and nobody here will advise you to start, stop or change a medication. Many people do therapy on its own, some combine it with something a prescriber recommends, and some arrive already taking something — all three are workable, and it helps if your clinician knows which applies to you. If you are unsure whether to see your doctor first, say so at the consultation and you will get a plain answer.

Who would I be working with?

One of two Ontario-registered clinicians. Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO (#14298) who works in English or Arabic; with him, depression work draws on CBT, behavioural activation, Internal Family Systems and, where the low mood follows trauma, EMDR, which he trained in through an EMDRIA-approved programme. Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW (Ontario), OCSWSSW #866715, is based in London, Ontario, works in English, and brings a crisis-intervention and stabilization background to person-centred counselling. Which of them you see is settled at the free consultation, based on what you are bringing and who has room.

How do I start?

Book a free 15-minute consultation online through Jane, or text (519) 760-5211 and we will set one up — no referral needed. The consultation is by video or a scheduled phone call, at a time that works in Eastern time. You describe what is going on, ask whatever you want to ask about fees, insurance or the two clinicians, and hear a straight answer about whether this looks like the right kind of help. If you go ahead, the first full session is booked from there; if another route would serve you better, you will be told so.

Ontario mental health resources

Therapy is not a crisis service. If it cannot wait for an appointment, these lines answer around the clock:

  • · 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 9-8-8 (Canada, 24/7)
  • · ConnexOntario — mental health & addictions navigation: 1-866-531-2600 (24/7)
  • · Kids Help Phone (for young people): 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868
  • · Hope for Wellness Help Line (for Indigenous callers): 1-855-242-3310 (24/7)

More Ontario crisis lines and free programmes, with links, are on our resources page.

In immediate danger, call 911.

Related pages

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Where we work in Ontario

Depression therapy here is by video, so where you are in Ontario changes nothing about access — all you need is to be in Ontario when the session happens. People book from Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Mississauga, Burlington, Oakville, Guelph, London, Windsor and Sudbury, and from the towns and rural communities between them where the nearest therapist is a long drive away.

The wider Ontario picture — both clinicians, the public registers, and how the province's titles work — is on the Ontario therapy page, and which plans can be billed on your behalf is on direct billing.

Page information last updated September 2026.

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