Therapy on sale: pandemic blues spark demand

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This article was published 14/08/2023 (1082 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Blue Cross is launching a new program offering marriage and family therapy at half price after it saw demand for counselling increase following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The insurance provider’s pilot project will reduce the cost of such treatment from $125-150 to $75 per session.

“We recognize the level of need in the community right now for counselling services, particularly for relational and family counselling services,” said Jodie Voth, manager of employee assistance services at Manitoba Blue Cross. “Wait lists at various community agencies are quite long and affordable services are important to us.”

Voth said she believes marriage and family therapy is in demand because of mental health awareness.

“We’re doing a really good job of talking about the importance of mental health, about how beneficial counselling services can be to couples, to families,” said Voth, who is a marriage and family therapist. “I think it’s something that more people are considering as an early intervention step.”

She said the insurance provider saw a spike in need after the COVID-19 pandemic as many families and couples faced new challenges.

“Post pandemic, we have definitely seen that most people have been impacted,” Voth said. “The financial strain, having experienced a loss during that time… that has put a big strain on relationships.

“When it comes to parents supporting their children through such a life-changing event, parents have felt that strain as well and I think are looking for more support.”

Patients will be counselled by interns who are graduate students of the marriage and family therapy program at the University of Winnipeg.

“They have considerable clinical experience already…,” Voth said, adding the interns have two to three years of clinical experience. “That means they’ve already got hundreds of hours of providing direct therapy to individuals, couples and families.”

While issues facing families vary, Voth said she has seen one recurring issue in many of her patients.

“I would say that a lot of couples present in therapy naming communication to be their issue,” Voth said. “Sometimes that means there’s an absence of communication (and) sometimes it means the communication they’re having is unhealthy…”

She added families often don’t understand the value of group therapy.

“Parents often want to bring the adolescent to therapy, not recognizing the value of having the whole family together,” Voth said.

Voth said that although the project is only in its pilot phase in Manitoba, it has been tried successfully in other jurisdictions in the United States and made permanent there.

The pilot program, which partners an insurance provider and a university for marriage and family counselling, is believed to be first in Canada.

Voth said Manitoba Blue Cross would look to make the program permanent, if successful.

The pilot project begins in September and will run until July 2024, with referrals expected to continue until May next year.

graham.mcdonald@freepress.mb.ca