Virtual Therapy · Serving London, Ontario
Online Therapist & Counsellor for London, Ontario
Work with Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW — a Registered Social Worker who lives right here in London, Ontario. Sessions happen over video, so you get a counsellor who knows this city without adding another drive across it. Support for grief, anxiety, addictions, and moments of crisis — in English or Arabic.
Free 15-minute consultation · No referral needed · Seven days a week
A counsellor based in London, Ontario — sessions wherever you are
Sessions are held by video, and the clinician you would work with lives in London, Ontario: Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW is a Registered Social Worker with the OCSWSSW who lives in London itself. Her background spans crisis intervention and suicide-prevention work, addictions and mental health, and grief and loss — she holds an honours degree in thanatology, the study of death, dying, and bereavement.
Every appointment takes place by video through the Jane platform, with Zoom or Google Meet as a backup. TEO Counselling is a fully virtual practice — there is no office in London, Ontario to visit — which means no waiting room, no clinic parking, and no crosstown drive. From Byron to Masonville, Old East Village to White Oaks, or out in St. Thomas and Strathroy, your session starts the moment you open your laptop.
Rola is joined by Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC — a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO, EMDRIA-trained in EMDR and trained in Gottman Method Levels 1 & 2 for couples work. Mohamad offers sessions in English and Arabic (Rola works in English) — a real strength for London’s Arabic-speaking community.
Counselling services for London, Ontario
Grief, Crisis & Addictions — with Rola
Rola’s path into counselling ran through crisis lines and suicide-prevention work, and her honours degree in thanatology gives her rare depth with death, dying, and bereavement. If you’re carrying a loss, supporting someone through a crisis, or rethinking your relationship with alcohol or other substances, she works gently, at your pace, from a trauma-informed lens.
Marriage & Couples Counselling — with Mohamad
Finding marriage counselling in London, Ontario usually means squeezing two work schedules into one clinic’s daytime hours. Evening and weekend video sessions remove that barrier. Mohamad, trained in Gottman Method Levels 1 & 2, helps couples interrupt conflict cycles, repair trust after betrayal, and work on rebuilding closeness — from your own living room.
Serving London, Ontario and beyond
Virtual sessions reach every corner of the Forest City — and the rest of the province too.
London · Byron · Masonville · Old East Village · White Oaks · Westmount · Lambeth · Hyde Park · St. Thomas · Strathroy · Woodstock · Sarnia — and everywhere else in the province through our Ontario therapy page
Common questions about counselling in London, Ontario
How do I find a therapist in London, Ontario without a long waitlist?
You can book directly with TEO Counselling — no referral needed. Start with a free 15-minute video consultation, and a first full session is booked straight from that call, without a waitlist.
Is my counsellor actually local to London, Ontario?
Yes. Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW, lives in London, Ontario and is registered with the OCSWSSW. Sessions are held by video — TEO Counselling is a virtual practice, so there is no physical office to visit — but you will be working with someone who genuinely knows the city.
Do you offer marriage counselling for couples in London, Ontario?
Yes. Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) trained in Gottman Method Levels 1 & 2, works with couples across Ontario by video. Couples sessions are $175 per 60-minute session, with evening and weekend times so both partners can attend.
How much does counselling cost in London, Ontario?
Individual sessions are $150 per 60-minute session and couples sessions are $175 per 60-minute session; a small number of reduced-fee spots are held — if cost is a barrier, mention it during the consultation. Your initial 15-minute consultation is always free.
Will my insurance cover online therapy?
You will receive a receipt after every session. Many extended health plans cover services from a Registered Social Worker or a Registered Psychotherapist — check your specific plan to confirm what is included before booking.
Can I have my sessions in Arabic?
Yes. Mohamad offers counselling in Arabic as well as English — a dedicated option for Arabic-speaking clients in the London, Ontario area.
Evening appointments, on London time
Sessions run seven days a week, from noon to 9pm Pacific. In London that is 3pm to midnight. A start time after work is an ordinary booking here, not a favour someone has to squeeze in at the end of a day.
An individual session is 60 minutes at $150. A couples session is $175. Before any of that there is a free 15-minute video consultation, and no referral is needed to book it.
Cancellations need 24 hours' notice. Inside that window, and for a session nobody attends, the full fee is charged.
What thanatology and crisis work involve
Rola Shbib is a Registered Social Worker (Ontario), and her honours degree is in thanatology — the academic study of dying, death and bereavement. It is an honours degree, and the field it covers is wide. The field covers how people die in hospital and at home, what happens inside a family in the weeks around a death, how children take in a loss, and how mourning is carried differently across faiths and cultures. That is background she brings into the room. It is not a promise about how your grief will go.
Her other training is in crisis intervention and suicide prevention, and in addictions. Crisis work teaches one particular thing: how to stay in a conversation when someone finally says the worst of it out loud, without flinching and without rushing to fix it. If you have been softening what you say because you are braced for the reaction, that is the part worth knowing.
Mohamad works in English and Arabic. That means no interpreter, no third person listening in, and no translating a sentence before it can be understood. If the word you need only really exists in Arabic, use the Arabic one.
Registrations, and what they mean
Titles are easy to mix up, so here is the plain version for all three clinicians at the practice.
Rola Shbib is a Registered Social Worker (Ontario).
Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO — an Ontario registration — who works with clients in all six provinces the practice serves. His training: Advanced EMDR through EMDRIA, Internal Family Systems Levels 1 and 2, Gottman Method Levels 1 and 2, CBT for Trauma Levels 1 and 2, DBT, and Indigenous Focused Oriented Therapy. He also holds a graduate diploma in addiction treatment and prevention, and has done concurrent trauma and addictions work at Edgewood.
Alison Shaji, RCC (BCACC), works with clients in British Columbia only. Her training: EMDR, Gottman Method Levels 1 and 2, CBT, DBT, EFFT, and psychoanalytic, inner-child and shadow work.
Those are levels of training completed, not certifications, and we do not describe them as anything more than that. If a particular approach matters to you, ask at the consultation which clinician holds the training for it.
Paying for sessions, and what OHIP does not cover
OHIP does not pay for private psychotherapy or counselling. No provincial plan does. Every session here is paid for privately.
After each session you receive an insurance-ready receipt showing the clinician's name and registration. Where your plan is one TEO can bill directly — Pacific Blue Cross, CVAP and plans on the TELUS eClaims network among them — you pay only the part it does not cover. Otherwise the fee leaves your account first and your extended health plan reimburses you afterwards if it covers the service.
Read the wording of your plan before you rely on it. If it lists Registered Psychotherapist, ask specifically whether the Qualifying category of Registered Psychotherapist is included, because the plan's wording is what decides it. If it lists Registered Social Worker, ask which registrations the plan counts.
A few reduced-fee spots are held. Ask about one during the free consultation. It is a normal question and it changes nothing about how you are treated.
The limits, stated plainly
Because everything happens over video, some kinds of help sit outside what this practice can give. Nobody can sit beside you in a waiting room, drive you anywhere, or walk into a hospital with you. If that is the support you need right now, say so at the consultation and you will be pointed toward London services that provide it.
Counsellors and psychotherapists do not diagnose, screen or assess. Nobody here will tell you that you have a condition, or that you do not have one. Medication is a separate matter: a prescription comes from a physician or a nurse practitioner.
What you say stays between you and your clinician, with four exceptions that are explained before the first session — a serious risk that you will harm yourself, a serious risk that you will harm another person, a suspicion that a child is being abused or neglected, and a subpoena or court order for the records.
Video also asks something practical of you: a private space and a connection that holds. If neither is easy to arrange at home, raise it at the consultation rather than after the first session.
Common questions
If I live in London, what hours can I actually book?
Noon to 9pm Pacific, seven days a week — which in London is 3pm to midnight. A 9pm start in London is a real slot rather than an exception, and individual sessions run 60 minutes.
Does OHIP cover private counselling in Ontario?
No. OHIP does not fund private psychotherapy or counselling, and no other provincial plan does either. TEO can direct-bill Pacific Blue Cross, CVAP and plans on the TELUS eClaims network when you see Mohamad or Alison. Otherwise you pay per session and receive a receipt afterwards to submit to an extended health plan. If your plan lists Registered Psychotherapist, ask specifically whether the Qualifying category of Registered Psychotherapist is included, because the plan's wording is what decides it.
What happens if I need to cancel?
With 24 hours' notice, nothing — you reschedule and there is no charge. Inside 24 hours, or if the session is missed, the full fee applies.
Who provides EMDR, and what does a session involve?
For clients in Ontario, EMDR here is Mohamad's — his EMDR training is at the advanced level through EMDRIA. In session it means holding attention on a distressing memory while following a repeated cue. The working model behind EMDR is that doing so changes how the memory is stored; the mechanism itself is still contested, and how you will respond is not something anyone can tell you in advance. Alison also holds EMDR training and works with clients in British Columbia only.
Can I get a diagnosis or medication through TEO?
No. Counsellors and psychotherapists do not diagnose, screen or assess for conditions. A diagnosis has to come from a professional whose scope includes it, and a prescription comes from a physician or a nurse practitioner. If you are already working with one, sessions here can run alongside that care.
London, Ontario mental health resources
- · Reach Out (London & Middlesex 24/7 crisis line): 519-433-2023 or 1-866-933-2023
- · 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 9-8-8 (24/7)
- · ConnexOntario (mental health & addictions navigation): 1-866-531-2600
- · Kids Help Phone (for young people): 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868
If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.
Talk to a counsellor who knows London, Ontario
Book a free 15-minute video consultation with Rola — no referral, no waitlist, no pressure. If it doesn’t feel like the right fit, she’ll point you toward options that might be.
Book a Free ConsultationBooking couples counselling? Book with Mohamad · Or call: (519) 760-5211