• If you have OHIP, you MUST bring your OHIP card.
• If you do not have OHIP but have coverage in another province, you MUST bring that provincial healthcard.
• If you have additional health coverage like UHIP (university and colleges) or IFH please bring this with you.
• If you do not have health coverage in Canada, please bring a piece of legal ID (this can be a passport, a visa, or another piece of identification with your photo and legal name).
• Please bring your mobile phone (we will be asking you to verify your email and cellphone number at your first visit).
• Please bring with you a list of your medications.

We offer a stepped-care approach to matching cis guys into guys and all trans and non-binary people. Stepped-care aims to provide the right care at the right time for each individual, with the goal of getting the effective intensity of care faster. This model includes the following mental health supports, determined on an individual basis:

• Service navigation support (see Care Coordination)
• Self-Help Resources (see Mental Health Resource List)
• Mental Health Treatment Groups (see Group Services)
• Psychiatric Consultation (see Mental Health Assessment Services)

No referral is required to access most mental health programming.

For those who have primary care providers, we appreciate referrals for our services. This allows for better communication between our services and your existing team.

For psychiatric consultation (diagnosis and medication questions), we do require a referral from a primary care provider. Our consultative services are time limited and therefore we rely on community providers to support your care in the long term. For those without primary care, we are happy to support your efforts to find an informed provider.

We offer 2 forms of consultative services:

1. Referrals to our Clinical Assessment Program (CAP) to assist in treatment planning and matching at HQ
2. Referrals for consultative services for clarification of diagnosis and medication advice

HQ Toronto uses a combination of self-assessment and clinician assessment to determine the most appropriate level of care.

HQ Toronto will support our clients in connecting with other services if we do not offer the recommended treatment.

Outside of participation of our psychotherapy programs, we may arrange for time-limited follow-up, however we are not able to provide ongoing psychiatric care.

We offer limited intensive individual therapy as part of our Stage 3 treatments including for those in our full Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) program and Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (individual sessions + weekly skills group). For those who complete group programming and who may benefit from additional individual support we rely on referrals to community partners. There is no direct referral to Stage 3 treatment groups.

Please complete and fax the following referral form.

HQ Mental Health Referral Form 

We are unable to provide ongoing care for all clients who access our programming. Outside of participation of our psychotherapy programs, we may arrange for time-limited follow-up, however we are not able to provide ongoing psychiatric care.

When you visit us for the first time, you will meet with one of our Mental Health team members for a tour of our facility and have an opportunity to discuss your goals and begin self-assessment. This is with the goal to connect you to the appropriate level of care within our programming. We do not offer individual walk-in counselling.

We recognize that our mental health journeys are not static and that some days are harder than others. If at any point during your participation with our programming we meet on a day of crisis we are glad to offer 1:1 support in determining the next best step for your recovery.

If you are ever immediate crisis, we recommend that you make it to your nearest emergency room or call 911. You may also find it helpful to look at our crisis support resource list here *** link***

We do not offer support with housing. For those with concerns about housing, we provide recommendations to community partners who specialize in housing support.

Our team is committed to support our clients with support with service navigation. This can include single session discussions and/or a mental health planning group. We do not offer intensive case management.

There are no costs associated with accessing our mental health services. This is true even for those without Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage.

For those seen in psychiatric consultation who are recommended a medication treatment or services provided by partner agencies, we do not have funds to pay for this through our organization and rely on existing programs (The Ontario Drug Benefit program (ODB), The Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), workplace insurance, etc.).

Currently, all first stage/introductory groups are offered in the evening. Stage 2 and 3 groups will be offered at different times and days based on provider availability. We recognize that some groups may only be offered at a date and time which can make it difficult to schedule. We are happy write a letter for an employer to support accessing treatment.  Over time, the clinic will eventually have Saturday hours. Please check our website for updates to our operating hours.

There is no waitlist to come in-person to visit our facility and begin self-assessment. We endeavor to keep the wait for stage 1/introduction groups to no longer than 2 weeks. If the wait is longer, we will inform you after self-assessment. Waitlists exist for all other programming and fluctuate. For those recommended to these programs we will inform regarding current waitlist duration.

We encourage open communication between our team and your primary care provider, as well as any other providers supporting your mental health (ex. other therapists). When accessing care at HQ we consider your primary care provider part of your circle of care unless otherwise specified. For those requesting psychiatric consultation, we have an obligation to send our recommendations to the referral source.