The Nova Scotia government’s offer for a free, one-hour counselling session for residents is not enough, say the province’s college of social workers and the official Opposition.
N Siritsky, a consultant with the college of social workers, said “the majority of people who need free mental health care have complex needs that require more than one session.”
“A practitioner never knows if the presenting issue that’s drawing a person to call for help is the only issue or not,”
Siritsky, who uses they/them pronouns, said in an interview Monday.
“So there has to be some kind of assessment, and that usually takes at least one to three sessions.”
The Nova Scotia Liberals echoed concerns about the program, and the party’s mental health critic said in a statement Monday that a single session does not carry much value if therapy isn’t continued.
Rafah DiCostanzo called the new program, which will cost $2.3 million per year, an expensive “Band-Aid fix.”
Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative government said last week that it had contracted Telus Health to offer residents one free session of individual, couples or family counselling that can be conducted by phone, online or in person in Halifax, Sydney, Kentville and New Glasgow.
Siritsky said it is deeply concerning that the province decided to invest in a program through Telus instead of through one of the many existing Nova Scotia-based non-profits that work in mental health. They said that the investment would have a much bigger impact if it were directed to groups that already work on increasing access to mental health care, like the Halifax-based North End Community Health Centre.
“An investment in a (local non-profit) organization would truly transform mental health care in a way that would be sustainable, as opposed to investing in Telus Health, which has no accountability back to the public,” Siritsky said.
Siritsky said they’re also concerned that the province’s choice of partnering with Telus is an indication that Nova Scotia is pushing toward privatization for some health-care services, adding that the project seems like an advertisement for Telus Health’s various services, some of which come with out-of-pocket costs.
“We’re especially concerned about Telus Health being the organization chosen as opposed to the many, wonderful, local non-profits. Is this the normalization of for-profit industry’s expansion into health care?”
The province said the recently announced free counselling session will complement existing virtual mental health tools available through Nova Scotia Health’s mental health and addictions website.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2023.
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