Do I have to talk about the worst thing that happened?

Not on day one, and not ever on demand. Trauma work is done deliberately, with your consent, once you have the tools to stay steady while you do it. Plenty of useful work happens before that point — sleep, anger, drinking, the arguments at home.

How long is a session, and how often?

Sessions run 50 minutes. Most people start weekly or every other week, then space out as things stabilise. You are not signed up for years; the plan is reviewed openly as you go.

How long until I feel a difference?

Most people notice something small within four to six sessions — sleeping a bit better, catching the anger a second earlier, arguing less. Deeper trauma processing takes longer. If nothing is shifting by then, that gets named and the plan changes.

What if I don't know what to say?

That is normal and it is not your job to arrive with a script. You'll be asked practical questions about how the week went, where things got loud, and what you want different. The conversation builds itself from there.

Is any of this reported anywhere?

No. Nothing goes to your unit, your detachment, a CO or an employer. Records are kept securely under CRPO standards and PHIPA, and only the information required for VAC billing is shared with Medavie Blue Cross.

What if therapy hasn't worked for me before?

That's worth saying out loud in the consult. Often the previous fit was wrong, the approach was wrong, or the work started with the hardest material before anything was in place to hold it. Knowing what failed makes the next attempt sharper.

How therapy works

Nobody explains what actually happens in the room. So here it is.

The consult, the first session, what a normal session looks like, how long it takes, and how you'll know whether it's working — laid out before you commit to anything.

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CAF & RCMP veterans across Canada · Virtual, or in person in Toronto

A lot of veterans don't avoid therapy because they think it's useless. They avoid it because nobody has told them what it involves, and walking into something undefined is the opposite of how you were trained to operate.

So this page is the briefing. No mystique, no couch, no being asked how that makes you feel while someone writes in a notebook.

Step 1 — The consult

A short, free call. You say what's going on in your own words — as much or as little as you want. You'll hear back a plain read on what's likely driving it and what the work would look like.

Coverage gets sorted here too. If you have a K number, it's verified with VAC and Medavie Blue Cross before anything starts. If you haven't been approved yet, you'll be walked through the steps to get there.

—No cost, no obligation to book anything after
—Phone or video, whichever you'll actually show up for
—You can ask hard questions — that's what it's for

Step 2 — The first session

The first session is about mapping, not excavating. What's happening now, when it started, what you've already tried, who's in your corner, what you want to be different in six months.

You will not be pushed to narrate your worst day to prove you belong here. If something comes up and you don't want to go near it yet, you say so and it's left alone.

By the end you'll have a formulation — a clear sentence or two about what's actually going on — and a plan you agreed to.

Step 3 — What a normal session looks like

Fifty minutes. It usually opens with how the week went and where things got loud — the argument, the night with no sleep, the drink that turned into six. Then the work goes after whatever is driving that pattern.

Some weeks that's practical: sleep, anger, the moment before the outburst, how to stay in a hard conversation with your partner. Other weeks it's the older material underneath — the call you can't put down, the decision that still sits wrong, the friend who didn't make it.

You leave with something to do or watch for during the week. Not homework for its own sake — the change happens between sessions, not in them.

What the methods actually mean

Clinicians throw acronyms around. Translated:

—CBT — finding the thought-and-behaviour loops that keep the problem running, and breaking them deliberately
—EMDR-informed and trauma-focused work — processing memories that still fire like they're happening now, so they file as past instead of present
—IFS — working with the parts of you that are at war: the one that shuts down, the one that gets angry, the one keeping watch
—EFT — for couples and families, changing the loop you keep having instead of relitigating who was right
—DBT skills — practical tools for the moments when it's already at ten: distress tolerance, regulation, staying in the room

How you'll know it's working

Progress rarely arrives as a breakthrough. It shows up as smaller, boring things: falling asleep faster, noticing the anger a second earlier, one fewer argument, going to the event instead of finding a reason not to.

The plan is reviewed openly. If you're not seeing movement, that gets named, and the approach changes — or you'll be told honestly that someone else is the better fit and pointed there.

How long this takes

Some people come for eight to twelve sessions to get on top of a specific problem. Others work longer through trauma that's been running for twenty years. Both are normal.

Frequency usually starts weekly or biweekly and spaces out as things stabilise. You are not locked into anything — you decide, session by session, whether to keep going.

What it costs you

If you're approved by VAC for psychotherapy, sessions are direct-billed to Medavie Blue Cross. No money changes hands and no receipts to chase.

If you're not approved yet, you'll be shown exactly how to get there. That's a process worth doing, and it doesn't have to happen before you talk to us.

What it isn't

It isn't a fitness-for-duty assessment, a report to anyone, or a permanent record that follows you. It isn't being told to breathe deeply and journal about your feelings.

It also isn't a place where you have to perform being fine, or perform being broken. You get to show up exactly as you are that day.

Book yourself in

Still unsure? That's what the consult is for.

A short call to hear what's going on and decide whether this is the right fit. No pressure either way, and no cost.

FAQ

Questions people ask first

Do I have to talk about the worst thing that happened?: Not on day one, and not ever on demand. Trauma work is done deliberately, with your consent, once you have the tools to stay steady while you do it. Plenty of useful work happens before that point — sleep, anger, drinking, the arguments at home.
How long is a session, and how often?: Sessions run 50 minutes. Most people start weekly or every other week, then space out as things stabilise. You are not signed up for years; the plan is reviewed openly as you go.
How long until I feel a difference?: Most people notice something small within four to six sessions — sleeping a bit better, catching the anger a second earlier, arguing less. Deeper trauma processing takes longer. If nothing is shifting by then, that gets named and the plan changes.
What if I don't know what to say?: That is normal and it is not your job to arrive with a script. You'll be asked practical questions about how the week went, where things got loud, and what you want different. The conversation builds itself from there.
Is any of this reported anywhere?: No. Nothing goes to your unit, your detachment, a CO or an employer. Records are kept securely under CRPO standards and PHIPA, and only the information required for VAC billing is shared with Medavie Blue Cross.
What if therapy hasn't worked for me before?: That's worth saying out loud in the consult. Often the previous fit was wrong, the approach was wrong, or the work started with the hardest material before anything was in place to hold it. Knowing what failed makes the next attempt sharper.

Keep reading

One conversation is the whole first step.

One short call, free, and no obligation. Ask your questions there — or send one through first if you'd rather.