Family Services of the North Shore is an accredited, not-for-profit, community-based organization. For sixty years, we have provided education, support, and counselling to heal and connect the North Shore community.
Our vision is a connected community where people care for one another. We annually serve close to 7400 individuals and families through a broad range of social services to children, youth, adults, couples, and families from a diverse array of cultural and economic backgrounds.
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Services Offered
Individuals & Couples * Individual Counselling - We offer individual counselling for a range of issues including anxiety, depression, work stress, childhood abuse, relationship violence, sexuality, coming out and others. You may not even know exactly what the problem is, just that you feel scared, angry, sad, or lost. Individual counselling can help you understand what's going on inside of you.
* Couples Counselling - We offer couples counselling for a range of issues including poor communication, conflict, infidelity, separation, divorce, sexuality, loneliness, step parenting, and other issues that may be causing a general experience of dissatisfaction in your relationship. You may have specific ideas about how you can improve your relationship, or you may feel stuck and unsure how or whether to continue in it. Your experienced counsellor will help you better understand your relationship needs, develop strategies to improve communication, and reduce conflict.
* Group Counselling - We offer group counselling for a range of issues including childhood sexual abuse, relationship violence, couples communication, and eating disorders. Groups are both educational and experiential, offering you a powerful opportunity to get support from others with similar issues, break the shame of silence, and learn new things about yourself.
Parents & Families * Child & Youth Counselling - We offer counselling services for children and youth (ages 2-19) for a range of issues including anxiety, depression, sexual abuse, bullying, school stress, coming out, suicidal thoughts, cutting, eating disorders, dating violence, self esteem, or others. We also work with children and youth who are being impacted by their parent's separation, divorce, relationship abuse, or addictions.
* Family Counselling - We offer family counselling for a range of issues including separation, divorce, child-parent conflict, sibling relationships, and family communication. We work with two-parent families (same and opposite sex parents), blended families, single parents, grandparents, foster parents, and extended family members.
Gender Diversity Support We provide support for parents and youth through drop-in groups and individual counselling. * Be Yourself Drop-in Group for Youth - This group runs weekly for the entire year, outside of some specific holidays focusing on supporting youth regarding their gender identity and sexual orientation and any other concerns or struggles.
Companioning Community Care Welcome to Companioning Community Care, a volunteer program which offers on-site and in home programs for adults directly affected by life limiting illness, cancer treatment, bereavement or disability.
Programs offered: * Restorative Yoga * Volunteer Visits * Grief Support Group * Bereavement Walking Group * Telephone Companion Calls * Family Support Counselling (available on a sliding scale)
Fees and Payment
We are able to offer many of our services at no cost to you because they are fully subsidized by Government contracts, grants, and/or Family Services of the North Shore's fundraising efforts.
Other services are offered at a reduced rate based on a sliding scale for clients living or working on the North Shore. Clients applying for the sliding scale fee will provide the intake counsellor with proof of income and information about the number of individuals supported by the income.
This is a registered charity.
Services Offered To: Adults Couples Teens Children
Special Groups: Bilingual LGBTQ
Payment: Pro-bono
If You Call, Please Let Us Know How it Went:
Were You Able to Make an Appointment?
One quick last question. Who was seeking counseling today?
Do you know the reason they are not accepting clients?
A community counseling agency is a group therapy practice that offers affordable mental health services. Most are independent non-profit agencies, state agencies, or publicly-funded agencies. A few may restrict who is eligible for services, so it is a good idea to check when you call.
Community counseling agencies are generally more affordable than other therapy providers, but how much more affordable they are will depend on whether you qualify for a discount or sliding scale fee (or if they accept your insurance). Many, but not all, have a policy that they won't turn away anyone due to inability to pay. You should ask about their fees when you first call.
Expect to talk to kind people who want to help you find the care you need. Most community agencies strive to connect you with a live person within 24 hours, if not immediately. If you're asked to hold or leave a message, don't give up; just leave a message and wait. You should hear back pretty quickly.
Most agencies try to set up an initial assessment appointment within a week (some do within 24 hours), though the waitlist to start therapy is usually longer—about a few weeks on average. If you're not eligible or if the agency is not right for you, it's usually still worth it to call or drop in, because staff are knowledgeable about local options and can often refer you to one.