Guelph psychotherapist preparing to ask Queen’s Park for OHIP coverage of psychotherapy

Trickett Psychotherapy says cost should not force Ontarians to choose mental-health care by price instead of clinical fit

GUELPH, Ontario, Oct. 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A leading advocacy initiative in Guelph is calling on Ontario to expand OHIP coverage to include psychotherapy delivered by qualified mental-health professionals. The question reaches past one clinic; if psychotherapy is a crucial part of health care, why does access to it still depend so heavily on a person’s income, workplace benefits, or ability to pay privately?

Marinela Trickett, a registered psychotherapist in Guelph and clinical director of Trickett Psychotherapy, is preparing a petition for presentation at Queen’s Park. The campaign asks Ontario to fund psychotherapy delivered by qualified, regulated providers, and invites Ontarians to add their names in support of publicly funded access. Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner has been brought into the conversation about access. The petition is to be presented at Queen’s Park shortly, with November the target.

OHIP does not pay for psychotherapy delivered by a registered psychotherapist in private practice. Ontarians who want that care generally use workplace benefits, pay out of pocket, or wait for a publicly funded program with a narrower scope.

“When people search online or ask AI, ‘What is the best and cheapest psychotherapist or counsellor for anxiety?’ the question itself reveals the problem,” Trickett said. “Mental health therapy should not become a race to find the lowest priced session. A lower fee is not a saving if the practitioner is not the appropriate clinical fit for the person’s needs. People should be able to choose care based on competence, experience, therapeutic approach, and the relationship they can build with the practitioner — not simply on what they can afford that week or month.”

That does not mean a higher fee automatically means better therapy. The campaign argues that affordability should not distort a clinical decision. Many established practices offer an introductory consultation so a person can ask questions, understand a practitioner’s experience, and assess fit before treatment begins. For instance, Trickett Psychotherapy uses an initial matching process, followed by a complimentary 20 minutes phone consultation with a potential practitioner. As a psychotherapy training clinic, it also offers lower cost options with supervised developing practitioners, another access point that does not treat price as the only measure of care.

The clinic says the petition grew out of a sentence Trickett has heard for more than two decades in practice: “I know I need therapy, but I can’t afford it.”

National figures point to the same gap. The Canadian Institute for Health Information reported that in 2024, 41 percent of Canadian adults with a diagnosed mental-health disorder had needs that were only partly met or not met at all. In Ontario, the figure was 40 percent. Among people referred to community mental-health counselling in 2024–25, half were seen within 30 days. One in ten waited longer than four months.

Affordability is part of that gap. A Statistics Canada study published in January 2026, using the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey, found that 32 percent of people with a mood or anxiety disorder who needed counselling or therapy and had not received it cited an inability to pay.

The cost of leaving care unmet is no longer the old $50 billion estimate. A CSA Public Policy Centre report published in April 2026 put the annual economic cost of mental illness in Canada at $180 billion, across health care, emergency services, justice, and housing supports. Employers carried more than $110 billion of that. Governments spent more responding to the consequences, about $28 billion, than they invested in mental-health care and prevention combined, about $23 billion.

The gap is sharper for care that has to be specific and sustained. Borderline personality disorder often calls for a structured therapy such as dialectical behaviour therapy. Emotional abuse can leave fear, self-doubt, and dysregulation that generic short-term support does not reach. After childbirth, timing matters. Statistics Canada’s 2024 Parental Experiences Survey, released in February 2026, found that one in five mothers and birthing parents who had emotional or mental-health challenges in pregnancy or after birth needed mental-health care and did not receive it. In Ontario, that share was 22 percent.

“The goal is not to tell Ontarians which therapist to choose,” Trickett said. “It is to give them a fairer chance to choose the right one.”

Ontarians can add their names here: http://ohipforpsychotherapy.ca/

About Trickett Psychotherapy

Trickett Psychotherapy is a Guelph clinic led by Marinela Trickett, RP. It offers in-person and online psychotherapy for concerns including borderline personality disorder, trauma recovery, emotional dysregulation, PTSD, anxiety, emotional abuse, and postpartum depression. Approaches may include dialectical behaviour therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and trauma-informed psychotherapy. The clinic also acts as a supervised training facility. 

Media contact

Chrieshna Chelcea
Communications & Partnerships
email: pr@impetuscorp.com 
trickettpsychotherapy.com

Available for interview. Petition text and source notes available on request.

Sources

Canadian Institute for Health Information, unmet needs, published October 23, 2025

Canadian Institute for Health Information, provincial figures, including Ontario at 40 percent

Statistics Canada, Health Reports, January 2026, affordability at 32 percent

CSA Public Policy Centre, $180 billion estimate, April 29, 2026

Statistics Canada, Parental Experiences Survey, February 5, 2026

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A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b8223661-a9ce-45d5-bd18-06f1ac9ea51b