PTSD & operational stress
Sleep, hypervigilance, avoidance and the switch that never turned off. Skills-based, paced, and built so you can use it the same week.
Group therapy
Some things land differently when the person nodding has been there.
Small, closed therapy groups for CAF and RCMP veterans — run by our lead clinician, with the same screening, structure and honesty as individual work. Groups form as demand builds, so the list below is how you hear first.
CAF & RCMP veterans across Canada · Virtual, or in person in Toronto
Group isn't a cheaper version of therapy or a waiting room for the real thing. For a lot of veterans it's the part that finally moves — because the isolation is the injury as much as anything that happened overseas or on shift.
Groups being formed
What's on the board.
Release & transition
For veterans a year either side of release. Purpose, identity, civilian work that feels weightless, and the loss of the team.
Moral injury & grief
The decisions that still sit wrong and the people who didn't come home. Slow, careful work with people who won't flinch.
Anger & regulation
Short-fuse work: what sets it off, what it's protecting, and what to do in the three seconds before it lands on your family.
Family & partner support
For partners and adult children living with the distance and the temper. Understanding what happened, and what helps.
Why a room full of veterans works
You've probably had the experience of explaining something ordinary from your service to a civilian and watching their face change. In a veterans' group you don't do that. The context is already there, the language is already shared, and the energy you'd normally spend translating goes into the actual work.
The other thing groups do that individual therapy can't: they end the private conviction that you're the only one. Hearing another veteran describe your exact 3am does more than being told you're not alone.
How groups are run
Small closed cohorts — the same people from week one to the end of the run, so trust has somewhere to build. Every member is personally screened beforehand, so you know the room was put together deliberately.
Sessions are structured. There's a focus each week, skills you can take away, and time to work through where they hit friction in real life. Nobody is put on the spot, and nobody has to perform recovery.
- —Six to eight veterans per cohort
- —Weekly 90-minute sessions by secure video, plus Toronto in-person cohorts when demand allows
- —Screened and led by a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO #12096)
- —Confidential — what's said in the room stays there
- —Billed through VAC / Medavie Blue Cross for approved veterans
Who groups are for
Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP who are approved for psychotherapy through VAC. If you're not approved yet, that isn't a dead end — send your K number or your situation and you'll get help navigating the application before anything else happens.
It's not the right fit if you're in acute crisis or actively unsafe. In that case one-to-one work comes first, and you'll be told that straight rather than placed somewhere that won't hold you.
Interest list
Put your name down and hear first.
No obligation and no commitment — you're telling me what you'd want, and I'll tell you when it exists.
Book yourself in
Every path starts with a conversation with me.
A short call to work out whether group, individual, or both is the right first move for you.
FAQ
Questions people ask first
- Who is in the room?
- Other CAF and RCMP veterans, in a small closed cohort — usually six to eight people who stay together for the whole run. No drop-ins, no revolving door. Every member is screened by our lead clinician first.
- Do I have to talk about the worst thing that happened to me?
- No. Groups are structured around living better now — sleep, anger, avoidance, relationships, purpose. Nobody is asked to narrate trauma for the room, and the deep processing work stays in individual sessions.
- Is group instead of individual therapy?
- Usually alongside it, sometimes after it. Your consult sorts out which order makes sense for you. Some veterans do better starting one-to-one and joining a group once things have settled.
- Is group covered by VAC?
- For veterans approved for psychotherapy through VAC, group sessions are typically billed the same way as individual sessions through Medavie Blue Cross. Your coverage is confirmed with your K number before a group starts.
- Where do groups run?
- By secure video, so a veteran in rural Saskatchewan is in the same room as one in Halifax. Some Toronto-area in-person cohorts run when there's enough demand.
- When does the next group start?
- Groups form when enough veterans with a shared need are on the list. Add your name and you'll be told directly — dates, format and cost — when one is forming that fits you.
Keep reading
You already know how much easier things are with the right people beside you.
One short call, free, and no obligation. Ask your questions there — or send one through first if you'd rather.
Across Canada by secure video · info@veteranstherapycanada.ca