Virtual Therapy · Serving Toronto

Online Therapy for Toronto

TEO Counselling provides online video therapy to adults and couples across the GTA — downtown Toronto, Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, Mississauga and beyond. No commute, no waiting room: meet with your therapist from wherever you feel comfortable.

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

Online therapy in Toronto, at a glance. TEO Counselling provides counselling and psychotherapy to Toronto residents by video, through two Ontario-registered clinicians: Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC (#11249205, CCPA), a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO (#14298), and Rola Shbib, a Registered Social Worker, RSW (Ontario), with the OCSWSSW (#866715). Appointments run 3:00 pm to midnight Eastern, seven days a week, so evening and weekend sessions are routine. Individual sessions are $150 and couples $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 for Pacific Blue Cross and TELUS eClaims plans (Canada Life, Manulife). The first step is a free 15-minute consultation by video or a scheduled phone call, booked online, no referral needed.

A Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) Serving Toronto

Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) and a Canadian Certified Counsellor with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. As a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), Mohamad practises with clinical supervision — an added layer of professional oversight built into your care. Sessions are available in English and Arabic, including faith-informed support for Toronto's Muslim and Arab communities.

He's joined by Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW — a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, based in London, Ontario. Rola offers counselling to clients across Ontario, including Toronto, with a focus on crisis support, grief and loss, anxiety, and addictions.

How We Can Help

Why Toronto Clients Choose Online Therapy

Between long commutes and clinic waitlists, online therapy can be a realistic way to get consistent weekly support. Trauma work, including EMDR, and couples work both run by video here, and the sessions follow the same structure they would in a room — what changes is that you keep the same clinician wherever in the city you are, and the appointment fits inside an evening instead of consuming it. We also work with clients in Mississauga, Hamilton and Ottawa, and our Ontario therapy page covers the rest of the province.

Fees & Insurance

Many Ontario extended health plans include coverage for psychotherapy. Coverage for services provided by a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) varies by insurer, so check whether your plan lists Registered Psychotherapist or psychotherapy before booking. You will receive a receipt after each session to submit to your provider.

Who you would be working with

Ontario is the one province where two TEO clinicians are registered, so Toronto clients can be matched rather than simply assigned.

Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. His training is concentrated in trauma and relationships: Advanced EMDR through an EMDRIA-approved programme, Internal Family Systems Levels 1 and 2, the Gottman Method Levels 1 and 2 for couples, and CBT for Trauma Levels 1 and 2. He has also worked directly in concurrent trauma and addictions treatment. Sessions in English or Arabic. For a closer look at how that work runs by video, see our EMDR therapy online in Ontario page. As a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) he practises with clinical supervision — a second experienced clinician involved in the oversight of your care.

Rola Shbib, BSW (Hons), RSW is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, and she lives in Ontario herself. Her background spans crisis intervention and suicide-prevention work, addictions, and grief and loss — she holds an honours degree in thanatology, the study of death, dying and bereavement. Sessions in English.

Which of them you see depends on what you are bringing and who has room, and that is settled on the free consultation call rather than guessed at now.

Couples therapy in Toronto — online, Gottman-informed

Couples therapy in Toronto through TEO Counselling is by video with Mohamad Shabib, who has completed the Gottman Method at Levels 1 and 2. Couples sessions are $175 per 60-minute session, and the first step is the same free 15-minute consultation; one of you or both of you can be on that call.

The work has a structure. It begins with an assessment: how the two of you argue, how you repair afterwards, and what each of you is asking for underneath the argument you keep having. From there sessions focus on where the pattern breaks down — the four responses the method treats as corrosive (criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling), the missed attempts at repair, and the slow drift from partners into co-managers of a household. Nobody is assigned blame.

Video suits Toronto couples for a practical reason: you do not both have to reach the same building. One of you at home in Scarborough, the other still downtown or away for work — you join the same call, and evening slots run until midnight Eastern. You do not need to be married, or in crisis, to book. Read more about couples counselling at TEO and the Gottman Method.

What sessions cost in Toronto

Individual therapy is $150 per 60-minute session. Couples counselling is $175. The first conversation — 15 minutes, to work out whether this is a good fit — is free, and no referral is needed to book it.

OHIP does not cover psychotherapy in private practice, anywhere in Ontario. That is worth saying plainly, because it is one of the first questions Ontario clients arrive with. What can cover it is an extended health plan through work: coverage depends on the credentials your plan recognizes — check for Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) or Registered Social Worker. Mohamad is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO and Rola is a Registered Social Worker with the OCSWSSW. Amounts and wording differ from plan to plan, so it is worth reading the booklet for the designation it names.

You receive an insurance-ready receipt after every session. A small number of reduced-fee spots are held — if cost is the thing standing in the way, say so on the consultation call.

Appointment times in Toronto

Sessions run from the Pacific coast, from noon until nine in the evening, seven days a week. Toronto is three hours ahead, which puts the window at 3:00 pm until midnight Eastern time.

That is an unusual shape for a therapy practice and it is the most useful thing on this page for some people. Appointments that start at nine, ten or eleven at night are ordinary here rather than a special favour — which matters if you work rotating shifts, if you are only free once the children are asleep, or if leaving the office early for a mid-afternoon appointment was never realistic.

The trade-off is honest: mornings are not available. Nothing starts before three in the afternoon your time. If your only workable hours are before lunch, this is not the right practice for you, and it is better to know that now than after a booking.

What the first few sessions look like

The free consultation is a conversation, not an assessment. You describe what is going on in whatever order it comes out, and you get a straight answer about whether this is the right kind of help — including if the honest answer is that someone else would be a better fit.

The first full session is mostly history and direction: what brought you here, what has already been tried, what you want to be different. Nothing is dug into before you are ready, and structured trauma work in particular does not begin until there is enough stability and enough trust in the room to make it worth doing.

From there the pace is yours. Some people come weekly for a few months and stop; others come fortnightly for longer. There is no package to sign and no minimum number of sessions.

What you say in session is kept confidential, with the limits every Ontario therapist works under: a risk of serious harm to you or someone else, a child in need of protection, a court order or subpoena, and the reporting obligations a regulatory college can impose. Those limits are explained in full in the first session, before anything sensitive is discussed.

Common questions

Do you have an office in Toronto?

No. TEO Counselling is virtual only — every session is by video. There is no downtown office, no waiting room and no commute across the city, which for some people is the point rather than the compromise. It also means there is currently no waitlist.

Is therapy covered by OHIP?

No. Psychotherapy in private practice is not covered by OHIP anywhere in Ontario. Coverage comes through an extended health plan, an employee assistance programme, or private payment. Coverage depends on the credentials your plan recognizes — Mohamad is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO and Rola is a Registered Social Worker with the OCSWSSW, so check which of those your plan names. You receive a receipt after each session.

How late can I book?

Sessions run until midnight Eastern time, seven days a week, because the practice operates on Pacific hours. Late-evening appointments are ordinary here rather than an exception. Mornings are not available — nothing starts before 3:00 pm your time.

Can I be seen anywhere in the GTA?

Yes, and anywhere in Ontario. Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton or well beyond the GTA makes no difference to a video session. All you need is a private space and a reasonably stable connection; sessions can run by phone if the connection is poor.

Can I have sessions in Arabic?

Yes, with Mohamad. He offers sessions in English or Arabic, and you can move between the two mid-session if that is how the words arrive. Rola works in English.

Do you offer couples therapy in Toronto?

Yes. Couples therapy for Toronto is by video with Mohamad Shabib, who has completed the Gottman Method at Levels 1 and 2. Sessions are $175 per 60-minute session, partners can join from the same room or from two different places, and appointments run until midnight Eastern seven days a week. It starts with a free 15-minute consultation, which either or both of you can attend.

How much is couples therapy in Toronto?

$175 per 60-minute session for couples, the same rate whether you join from one room or two. That covers the session itself; there is no separate intake or assessment fee, and no package to buy up front. The first conversation is a free 15-minute consultation, which either or both of you can attend. You pay per session through Jane by Interac e-Transfer or credit card and receive an insurance-ready receipt after each session. OHIP does not cover psychotherapy in private practice; whether an extended health plan reimburses couples work depends on the plan — some cover it under the same designation as individual therapy and some exclude it, so read the booklet or ask the insurer before the first paid session.

Is it normal to be nervous before couples therapy?

It is an ordinary way to feel. Three worries are worth naming in advance: not knowing what will be asked, worrying that the session will become a tribunal with a referee, and being unsure what your partner will say when the room is not yours. The structure is deliberately dull on that front — the first session is mostly history and direction, both of you get asked what you want to be different, and nothing is forced open on day one. You can say that a question is too much today. Nobody is assigned a villain. The free 15-minute consultation exists partly so you can ask what the work would involve before either of you commits to anything.

What training should a couples therapist have?

Ask two things: what training the therapist has completed in a structured couples model, and who registers them. Couples work has its own methods rather than being individual therapy with two people in the room, so training specific to it matters. At TEO, couples sessions are with Mohamad Shabib, who has completed the Gottman Method at Levels 1 and 2. He is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the CRPO, number 14298, which you can check on the CRPO public register, and a Canadian Certified Counsellor with the CCPA. Whether couples therapy is worth doing at all is a fair question too; our article on what the evidence actually says is linked below.

People also ask what share of couples stay together after therapy. There is no honest single number to give — the studies measure different things over different follow-up periods — so rather than quote one, our article does couples therapy work, and what the evidence says sets out what the research does and does not establish.

A free tool for this

The Couples Communication Kit is a free printable on the soft start-up, repair attempts mid-argument and the fight you have already had eleven times — useful on its own or between sessions.

Toronto & Ontario mental health resources

Therapy is not a crisis service, and these run around the clock when it cannot wait for an appointment:

  • · 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 9-8-8 (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

If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.

Book a free 15-minute consultation

It is a chance for both of us to see whether we're the right fit — no pressure, no commitment.

Book Free Consultation

Not ready to book? Send a message instead.

If you would rather ask a question before booking, send a short note and we will reply by email.

Please keep this general — this form is not a secure channel, so there is no need to describe your history or health details here. We only need enough to reply usefully. If this is an emergency, use the numbers below instead.