Gilmour Psychological Services
Caring, competent, comprehensive service across the life span

    Psychotherapy and counselling
     Psychological Testing and Assessment
     Consultation
     Group therapy
Psychotherapy and counselling:

Sometimes referred to as "the talking cure", both psychotherapy and counselling are dialogues between the client and psychologist. That is, psychotherapy and counselling are collaborative endeavours between the psychologist and the client in which the client discusses his/ her difficulties, concerns, challenges, needs, conflicts and feelings in a non-judgemental climate of acceptance and support.

The psychologist offers the client clarifications, interpretations, empathy, information and an objective sounding board in a relationship which puts the needs of the client first. The processes of psychotherapy are designed to help the client remove troublesome symptoms, change self-defeating or problematic behaviour and promote personal growth and development. Psychotherapy is usually considered to work on deeper problems which may have their root in the individual's childhood.

Counselling tends to be more here-and-now focused, and the psychologist uses a more instructive, active approach than is typical of some psychotherapies. At Gilmour Psychological Services, the psychologists stay with mainstream, scientifically developed and proven therapeutic approaches. Our psychologists are well trained in a variety of psychotherapy and counselling approaches for a wide spectrum of problems and age ranges.

Psychological Testing and Assessment:

Psychological testing involves the use of reliable and valid paper and pencil questionnaires and the hands on manipulation of materials to help uncover the individual's personality, psychological problems, intelligence level and aptitudes, vocational interests and so on. Psychological assessment is usually done through interviewing the client over one or two sessions to determine the nature of his or her problems and a treatment plan. Testing and assessments help the psychologist and client determine together what the nature and extent of his or her strengths and weaknesses are and what the best course of action would be.
Consultation:

Consultation is the brief, one or two session, discussions between psychologist and client or psychologist and another professional (another health care provider, employee assistance counsellor, or lawyer, for example) in which the psychologist is presented with a relatively brief synopsis of a problem and asked for his or her advice and recommendations. The psychologist depends on his or her education, training, experience and reading of the scientific literature to give advice in this context, rather than his or her direct experience of the client.

In some situations, consultation may also refer to the process of psychological testing or assessment, because the psychologist produces an expert opinion and the process is complete, as a "package", separate from ongoing psychotherapy or counselling.



GPS Psychologists:

All our psychologists use mainstream psychological treatments grounded in the science of psychology. They combine technical expertise, continually updated knowledge, years of experience and compassionate support. As well as psychotherapy and counseling, they offer psychological testing and consultation. Treatment is tailored to the needs of the client and services are offered in both English and French.

All partners and associates are fully qualified professional psychologists, all have PhDs, and are registered as psychologists with the Province of Ontario. All have membership in the Canadian Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. Maintaining the highest professional standards is always a priority. While psychological services are not covered by OHIP, all Extended Health Care Plans provide some reimbursement for psychological service fees.

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