What we help with
Start with your family doctor, not a waiting list.
Most mental health care in Ontario starts in a family practice. We assess, treat what we can treat here, and refer on when specialist care is the right answer.
Anxiety and panic
Persistent worry, panic attacks, and the physical symptoms that often arrive before anyone calls it anxiety.
Depression and low mood
Assessment, treatment options explained in plain terms, and follow-up that does not stop at the first prescription.
Seasonal affective disorder
Guelph winters are long. Light therapy, timing and treatment planned before the season rather than during it.
Sleep
Insomnia, disrupted shifts and the sleep problems that sit underneath low mood or poor concentration.
Stress, burnout and grief
Work, caregiving and loss. Sometimes the answer is treatment, sometimes it is time and a plan.
Medication reviews
If you are already on something, a proper review of whether it is still the right dose and the right drug.
How the visit works
Ask for a mental health appointment when you book.
These visits are longer than a standard appointment, so reception schedules them differently. Saying what the visit is for is not oversharing, it is what gets you the time you need.
- 1
Book and say what it is for
Reception blocks a longer slot. You do not have to explain anything to them beyond the words mental health.
- 2
The first visit is mostly listening
Your history, what changed and when, what you have already tried, and what you want to be different.
- 3
A plan you agree with
Talking therapy, medication, referral, or watching and reviewing. Written down, with what happens if it does not work.
- 4
Follow-up before you leave
The next appointment is booked at the end of this one. Mental health care that depends on you calling back tends not to happen.
Coverage
The appointment is covered. Some paperwork is not.
Physician visits for mental health are insured by OHIP with a valid health card. What falls outside are the documents other people ask you for.
Bring these to the appointment
- Your health card
- A list of every medication and supplement you take, with doses
- Notes on what you have already tried, including therapy
- Anything a previous doctor or counsellor gave you in writing
- A sense of what you want the visit to change
- Someone with you, if that helps you say it
If you need help today
If you are in crisis, do not wait for an appointment. Here 24/7 covers Guelph and Wellington at 1-844-437-3247, any hour of any day. The national Suicide Crisis Helpline is 988, by call or text.
If you need to be seen the same day and it is not an emergency, the walk-in clinic is open seven days a week and can start the conversation. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to Guelph General Hospital.