Mental Health Resources

FREE AND LOWER COST MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

If you are experiencing an Emergency, please call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest hospital Emergency Room. If you do not need to be hospitalized, please consult the resources below:

IN SURREY: Surrey Mental Health and Substance Use Urgent Care Response Centre: A central point of access for adults in Surrey who are experiencing urgent mental health and/or substance use concerns and who are voluntarily seeking urgent care, but don’t need to be hospitalized. Located in the Charles Barham Pavilion at 13750 96th Avenue, Surrey. Open every day from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Last walk-in appointment accepted at 7:00 p.m. Phone: 604-953-6200

IN VANCOUVER: The Vancouver General Hospital Access and Assessment Centre: Provides an alternative to going to the emergency room for people experiencing a mental health crisis. Located at Joseph and Rosalie Segal and Family Health Centre at 803 West 12 Avenue, Vancouver. Open 7 days a week from 7:30am to 11:00pm. Phone: 604-675-3700

Mental Health Crisis Lines

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call the Canada Suicide Prevention Service at 1-833-456-4566 (24/7). For distress centres near you see: https://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/en/

Kids Help Phone: (24/7) for Canadians aged 5 to 29 - confidential & anonymous care from trained responders. Includes support programs, councillors, and a local support service directory: 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868. https://kidshelpphone.ca/

Hope for Wellness Help Line: Available to all Indigenous peoples across Canada who need immediate crisis intervention. Experienced and culturally sensitive helpline counsellors can help if you want to talk or are distressed. Telephone and online counselling are available in English and French. On request, telephone counselling is also available in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut. Call 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free) or connect using the online Hope for Wellness chat: https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/

HealthLink BC: Provides 24/7, confidential health information and advice. Call 8-1-1 or visit: healthlinkbc.ca.

310 Mental Health: The line will connect you to the first available crisis line worker in BC from a network of ten crisis lines. Simply dial 310-6789 (no area code).

Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre: Provides confidential, non-judgmental, free emotional support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including thoughts of suicide. Call 604 872-3311 (Greater Vancouver), or toll-free 1 800 SUICIDE (784-2433), or visit: crisiscentre.bc.ca.

The KUU-US Crisis Response Service: Provides 24/7 culturally-aware crisis support to Indigenous people in B.C. Call 1-800-588-8717 or visit: kuu-uscrisisline.ca.

Free General Counselling Services

Wellness Together Canada: Online portal that provides mental health resources and single sessions of phone counselling with an on-call counsellor from Homewood Health for adults and the Kids Help Phone for youth. Counsellors are available 24/7.   Phone: 1-866-585-0445 Website: https://wellnesstogether.ca/

Here2Talk: Provides free, confidential counselling and community referral services to students registered with a BC post-secondary school. Counselling is offered by app, phone, or online chat. Operates 24 hours daily; no appointment required. Offered in partnership with Mornau Shepell.     Phone: 1-877-857-3397 or 604-642-5212    Website: www.here2talk.ca

Foundry Virtual: Offers virtual counselling sessions, youth and caregiver peer support, and group offerings and workshops to young people ages 12 to 24 and their caregivers. Services are free and confidential. Phone: 1-833-3086379   Website: www.foundrybc.ca/virtual

Dan’s Legacy: Counselling for youth ages 15 to 25 who have been affected by abuse or addiction issues, resulting in depression, anxiety, sleep and eating disorders, or struggles with substances. Family counselling also available. Young people and their families who cannot afford therapy will be supported through counselling bursaries.   Website: https://danslegacy.com/help/

Lower Cost General Counselling Services

Qmunity Counselling Program: Offers ten free or reduced cost counselling sessions for individuals, couples, relationships, and families. All counsellors are members of the LGBTQ2SAI+ communities. Online counselling sessions are available during the pandemic. Phone: 604-684-5307 ext.100   Website: www.qmunity.ca/get-support/counselling/

Trinity Western – Fraser River Counselling: Counselling services delivered by Master’s level counselling-trainees supervised by a Registered Clinical Counsellor. Services are low cost and can be waved in some circumstances. Provides individual services for all ages, as well as family counselling, for a wide range of topics. Phone: 604-513-2113   Website: https://fraserrivercounselling.ca

Moving Forward Family Services Society: Provides counselling services using a client-centered, anti-racist, and anti-oppression approach. Services are low-barrier and accessible to all. Operates on a 'pay what you can' model with fee depending on wait time for appointment and counsellor professional designation; $50 individual or $65 couple per session is charged for an appointment with a clinical counsellor and no wait time, $20 per session is charged for an appointment with an intern with up to an eight week wait time, and lower fee/free is available with proof of low income with waits of up to twelve weeks. Services at the lowest cost are limited to six sessions. Currently only providing online or telephone services. Offering free, temporary phone support to anyone who may be struggling emotionally while in self-isolation. Phone: 778-321-3054 Website: www.mffs.ca

BC Borstal Association: Offers counselling to individual’s who have experienced trauma. Counselling is subsidized for certain groups including survivors of historical abuse and those receiving funding from the crime victim assistance program.   Website: https://www.bcborstal.ca/clinical-counselling

Living Systems Counselling: Offers counselling services to individuals, couples, and families to address a wide variety of concerns including depression, anxiety, stress, marital issues, separation, divorce, parenting or relationship problems, addictions, low self-esteem, assertiveness, anger, communication or career issues. Services are available on a sliding scale fee.   Phone: 604-926-5496    Website: www.livingsystems.ca

Rhodes Wellness College: The Rhodes Community Counselling Centre offers affordable, student-led counselling services; rate is $25 or sliding-scale. One-to-one counselling is available in person or online. Phone: 604-708-4416   Website: www.rhodescollege.ca

Mood Disorders Association of BC – Wellness Centre: Offers groups, individual, and couple/family counselling services for a fee (most affordable rate is 50/hour with an intern). Also offers free educational workshops and information on a variety of mental health topics. Services are being provided online or by phone during the pandemic. Phone: 604-873-0103 Website: www.mdabc.net

Cedar Springs Counselling / Cedar Springs Health Society: Provides counselling services to individuals, couples, and families. Standard fee is $120 per session; reduced sliding scale fee available for individuals, couples, and families who are in need. Service may be available in Cantonese or Mandarin depending on staff availability. Phone: 604-262-8806 Website: www.cedarspringscounselling.com

Adler Centre Counselling Clinic: Sliding scale individual and couples counselling. Counselling provided by counselling psychology graduate students at the Adler Centre, supervised by an experienced clinician. Provides in-person and online counselling. Phone: 604-742-1818   Website: www.adlercentre.ca/counselling-clinic

Free Online Mental Health Courses and Information

Canadian Mental Health Association – Bounce Back: A free evidence-based program designed to help youth and adults experiencing symptoms of mild to moderate depression, low mood or stress, with or without anxiety. Bounce Back® teaches effective skills to help people improve their mental health. Modules can be completed independantly or by receiving coaching over the phone. Phone: 1-866-639-0522 Website: https://bouncebackbc.ca/

CBT Skills Group Society of Victoria: Offers a BC-wide online psycho-educational program for adults aimed at improving mental health. The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Skills Groups integrate neuroscience, mindfulness, and CBT skills and concepts. The focus is on helping an individual become more aware of patterns of thinking (cognitions), feeling (emotions) and behaving, to enable making conscious choices to respond rather than react. The eight-week course involves 90-minute sessions with 10 to 60 minutes of home practice each week. Aimed at adults ages 18 to 75 with mild to moderate depression or anxiety, or those who wish to cope with stress more effectively. There is a $65 initial deposit, which is returned if the patient attends at least seven of the eight groups. A hard copy of the workbook is recommended, which is an additional $35, or the patient can access an online version. Website: www.cbtskills.ca

Anxiety Canada: Offers a wide range of information and resources for coping with anxiety, the MindShift CBT app, and My Anxiety Plan, a step-by-step guide for anxiety management. Website: https://www.anxietycanada.com/

MindHealthBC: Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Providence Health Care and community partners have created an online mental health counselling program. If you’re struggling with depression, anxiety, or other mental health or substance use challenges, their website for information and recommendations for further support in Vancouver, Richmond and other coastal communities. Website: www.mindhealthbc.ca

BC Mental Health Support: A provincial website that provides information, services and education and awareness about mental health and substance use for adults, youth and children. Website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/mental-health-support-in-bc

Heretohelp BC: Provides information about managing mental illness and maintaining good mental health, including self-management resources and screening self-tests for wellness, mood, anxiety and risky drinking. Website: www.heretohelp.bc.ca.

Group Therapy

Canadian Mental Health Association – Living Life to the Full: Interactive, 8 week online course based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy delivered in 90 minute sessions. Work with a group facing similar issues and learn how to respond to life’s challenges. Phone: 604-688-3234 Website: https://livinglifetothefull.ca/our-courses/

MindShift CBT: MindShift CBT Groups is an 8 session online group therapy program for small groups of adults (19+) (maximum of 10) with mild to moderate anxiety using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It provides people with support, encouragement, and tools to help them cope better. Sessions are not free, but there are a limited number of free of charge places per group are available to individuals who require financial support. This is on a first come first serve basis. Website: https://www.anxietycanada.com/mindshift-groups/

Choose Again Circles: Choose Again Circles are group counselling sessions where participants learn exercises, meditations, and teachings that will help them to stay on purpose in their daily lives; drop-in rate is $20. Phone: 1-888-832-5959 or 604-720-2776 Website: www.choose-again.com

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