Prisme program - psychosocial services


The mandate of the program is to support the medical team in meeting the psychological health needs of its patients by providing assessment, psychotherapy, counselling, social support and education services.


Access and description

To access services free of charge, the patient can self-refer by calling the clinic at 613-789-1552 and choosing option 6 from the phone menu, or be referred by their doctor or another CMSA health care professional. A consent form describing the services and their limitations is provided to referred patients and their consent is required to receive program services.

  1. Counselling and psychotherapy services offered by our social workers and our psychologist
    1. Demand is high; therefore, patients who are referred there are admitted to a waiting list.
    2. Services are available to patient members aged 16 and over and the number of sessions is limited to 12.
    3. A treatment plan is developed in collaboration with the patient, respecting their self-determination. The patient sets realistic treatment goals. The therapist makes sure to take the right tools to measure progress and make it tangible and visible for his patient.
    4. The patient's commitment and the quality of the therapeutic alliance are the elements that best predict the success of counseling or psychotherapy.
    5. Qualified therapists draw, as needed, from different therapeutic approaches that have been shown to be effective in treating a variety of issues. These approaches include cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and reconsolidation therapy, the mindfulness approach, among others.
    6. Our team receives ongoing training, allowing us to integrate new promising therapeutic approaches, such as the reconsolidation therapy developed by Dr. Brunet and his team.
    7. The following reasons are the main reasons for consultation in psychological health:
      • anxiety/stress
      • relationship and family difficulties
      • depression
      • adjustment to change, transition or loss/grief
      • personal and professional burnout
      • trauma

  2. Social support services offered by our social workers (SW)
    1. Services are available to patient members of all ages.
    2. There is currently no waiting list but there may be delays depending on the number and type of requests.
    3. SW may ask you to provide personal information or documents or to sign consent to disclosure forms as needed.
    4. Social workers can help patients aged 0-100 to:
      • complete forms
      • apply for financial aid programs
      • managing housing needs
      • navigate systems (find community resources for various needs; for example, home care, transport, meals, etc…)
      • detecting cognitive disorders