Are you looking for a therapist in Saskatoon but do not know where to start?

What to think about when looking for a therapist in Saskatoon

The biggest factors for success in a therapy relationship are:

  • A positive relationship between the therapist and their client.
  • The therapist uses an approach to therapy that is proven to help
  • The therapists skill and ability to adapt, empathize and connect

Some of these you won’t be able to get a sense of until you have the first session or two.

Some things to think about when considering your fit with a therapist:

  • Are you looking for in-depth therapy or advice and education
  • Do you feel safe? Do you feel judged?
  • Do you need someone who can hold all your big emotions with unwavering compassion or someone to strongly feel with you?
  • Do you feel understood? Does the therapist get you?
  • Is it important the therapist understand your religion, cultural background, neurodivergence or sexual orientation well?
  • You might prefer one gender over another or a therapist of a certain age. Some therapists offer services in a language other than English.
  • Do they offer their services in-person, online or over the phone?

There are three types of therapists that do private practice therapy in Saskatoon:

  • Psychologists
  • Counsellors
  • Social Workers

Psychologists

Psychologists have the most education with required courses in psychology in their bachelors degree. They have at minimum a master’s degree in psychology and some have a doctoral degree in psychology.

  • If trained they can assess and diagnose specific conditions. With an official diagnosis people it helps open doors for support in schools and workplaces and with government programs.
  • Their education enables them to handle a wider range of complex cases
  • The opinion of a psychologist will matter more that those of other therapists to schools, the courts, insurance providers and employers.
  • They qualify for coverage by every benefit plan
  • They are the most expensive with an average cost per session of $200
  • They are often busy and might require a long wait time to see
  • On Psychology Today they often have the letters R.Psych (Registered Psychologist) or R.D. Psych (Registered Doctoral Psychologist) with the latter having attained the higher level of education
  • They are regulated by the provincial “College of Psychology” which first mission is to protect the public. By law only people approved by the College Psychology can use the protected title of Psychologist. You can search their website to see if anyone has been disciplined.
  • Arguably have the most extensive rules and ethics that govern their practice

Counsellors

  • Most counsellors have a master’s degree in a counselling, counselling psychology, or marriage and family therapy. Though some have a two year diploma from a couple of schools in British Columbia.
  • Also known as psychotherapists as most counsellors use a form of psychotherapy
  • They tend to be more affordable with the average cost of about $140-160 per session.
  • Counsellors have to join a counselling association as the practice of counselling is not regulated in Saskatchewan like it is Ontario, Quebec or the maritime provinces.
  • Counsellors are covered by most benefit plans but not all. The levels of coverage are set by the agreement between the employer and the benefits company. So, your friend might be covered by Canada Life and have visits with a counsellor covered, but you don’t, even though you are also covered by Canada Life.
  • Unless a counsellor is operating in a under served area, they are unlikely to covered by NIHB, the federal program to provide health benefits to indigenous people.
  • Each association a counsellor can join has their own code of ethics their members are accountable to.
  • When looking through their listings they have a number names to signify them. The following are the main ones, some have “qualifying” or “associate” levels of membership before full membership.

Social Workers

  • Have completed a minimum bachelor of social work degree (BSW), some have a master’s degree in social work (MSW).
  • A bachelor of social work degree includes much less education on counselling compared to a counselling degree, diploma, or psychology degree.
  • They are regulated provincially through the Saskatchewan Association of Social Workers
  • They qualify for almost every benefit plan and can register as a provider for NIHB, the program providing benefits for indigenous people.
  • RSW stands for Registered Social Worker
  • There fees are similar to counsellors at around $150 / session. Social workers with a master’s degree in social work tend to charge a little more
  • While every therapeutic profession has ethics barring discrimination, social workers place a strong emphasis on inclusivity and often have a anti-oppressive lens to their approach to therapy.

Education

It might be surprising but the level of education isn’t found to be a big factor for effectiveness in therapy as long as people are able to effectively apply an effective approach to counselling. A social worker with 2 years experience might be more effective than doctoral psychologist if they are empathetic, caring, flexible and responsive.Looking for a therapist in Saskatoon

Counselling approaches or models

Many therapists pursue specific training and education after they graduate, especially in specific approaches to counselling or what we call “evidence based practices”. Couples counsellors are often trained in the Gottman or Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. Individual therapists can be trained in CBT, DBT, ACT. Trauma oriented therapists learn approaches like EMDR, ART OR IFS. Dozens of different approaches have risen and fallen in popularity in the last 100 years. There are a dizzying array of acronyms, I know. Far too many to list or explain. We use them because they all work for somebody, but they aren’t all the best fit for everyone. Some are designed to help quickly, others are more deep, some seem to be a better fit for some cultures. When considering a therapist they often list their approaches and if they list two dozen, it is highly unlikely they are effective in all of them.

Specialisations

No one therapist can help with all concerns. While many can offer support for common problems like depression or anxiety and specialise in something more narrow like eating disorders, addiction or grief. I’d be wary of anyone who has a long list of things they help with, because it would take a truly exceptional therapist to be able to help dozens and dozens of different kinds of problems.

Websites to find a therapist in Saskatoon

Psychology Today and Lumino are the best websites to find a therapist in Saskatoon. Lumino allows people to rate their therapist anonymously. The downside to Lumino is that you need to search for counsellors, social workers and psychologists separately.

Psychology Today is lists all types of Saskatoon therapists in one search. They have more extensive profiles and information on insurance coverage, specialisations and counselling approaches. When searching you can filter by gender, specialities, types of therapy.

Another place to find a therapist is to login to your benefits provider’s website. Many of them have lists of therapists that are approved for their coverage plans.

Public Health System Services (Free Counselling)

The Saskatchewan Health Authority provides mental health services through the healthcare system at no direct cost to patients. In Saskatoon there are free counselling and therapy services available for all ages. For some services there can be a wait to access them.

  • Adult Mental Health and Addictions Services:The SHA operates outpatient mental health clinics in Saskatoon. They offer individual counselling, group therapy, and other programs for issues like depression, anxiety, trauma, and substance use. To access these call centralized intake at 306-655-7777. Individuals can call this number to get information or to request services; you may be triaged and then referred to an appropriate clinic or a counsellor.
  • Child and Youth Mental Health Services: Specialist teams provide counselling for children and teens, often through programs like Youth Community Counselling or in clinics at RUH (Royal University Hospital) or community health sites. Again, access is usually through intake or referral.
  • Group programs: The health authority often runs therapy groups (for example, anxiety management groups, depression support groups, DBT groups for people with emotion regulation issues, etc.). These are free for participants, usually requiring registration through the mental health clinics.
  • Inpatient and Crisis services: In emergencies, the Dube Centre at the University hospital provides psychiatric emergency services. For urgent but not life-threatening situations, the

Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service

Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service serves people in distress, intervening in and managing social, emotional, and psychological emergencies for people experiencing immediate and ongoing crisis. They have a 24 hour help line: 306-933-6200.

Rapid Access Counselling Program

The Rapid Access Counselling Program in Saskatchewan is delivered through a network of community-based organisations that collaborate to provide free, brief mental health support to individuals, couples, youth, and families. One of key features to understand of this service is that it is brief, which means they therapy is for quick help rather than deeper healing.

OutSaskatoon

In partnership with other agencies OutSaskatoon offers counselling for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals.

Saskatoon Community Clinic

The Saskatoon Community Clinic (with locations downtown and west side) is a co-operative primary healthcare organisation. It provides services to its members/patients, including counselling offered by social workers or mental health nurses integrated into primary care. If you are a patient at the Community Clinic, you can access their Counselling Department, which offers individual and family counselling for ages 16 and up. There is no additional fee beyond membership/health coverage. However, this is generally for registered clinic patients (often those without a family doctor elsewhere). The Community Clinic also runs specific support groups (like a Grief & Loss support group for its members). This is a valuable resource, but its availability is limited to those enrolled in their health services.

Employee Assistance Programs

If you’re employed and your employer has an EAP, do take advantage of it. It’s free for you. Typically, you would call a 1-800 number and they refer you to a local counsellor for a limited number of sessions (the counsellors are paid by the EAP provider). In Saskatoon, many EAP-referred counsellors are the same ones you’d find in private practice. Even though it’s short term, EAP counselling can help resolve milder issues or at least tide you over until you can get longer-term help.

Affordable Therapy

Some counselling agencies offer a sliding scale, meaning they lower their fees for lower income people. Don’t be afraid to ask if your therapist or agency has a sliding scale or lower cost options.

Open Path Colllective is a directory of therapists that offer individual therapy for $70.  You can use this directory to find a therapist in Saskatoon.

Usask Psychology Clinic

The Usask Psychology Clinic is an in-house training centre in the Department of Psychology and Health Studies where clinical psychology graduate students, under the close supervision of registered doctoral level psychologists, provide psychotherapy and/or assessment services to members of the community.  As of the time writing this article they don’t do Autism assessments, but they do ADHD assessments.  Currently (Fall 2025) the fee is only $25 / session.

Interns and practicum students

Intern or student therapists often provide quality therapy at a much lower rate.  Several counselling agencies bring on students doing their practicum for their counselling or social work degree.  On Psychology Today you they will be labelled “pre-licensed professional.” The label is a little misleading because we don’t license counsellors in Saskatchewan, but you can think of them as pre-certified or pre-registered. An intern therapist starting out won’t have as wide a range of problems they can help with but they can be very effective at counselling people.  The rate will differ from person to person but student sessions are usually less than one half the standard rate.

Even though interns don’t generally qualify for benefit plans, they can be a more affordable option than paying full price and using your benefits plan.

If your benefits plan gives you $500 of coverage and you need 15 sessions to resolve your problem you will end up paying $1000. 10 sessions x $150 / session = $1500. $1500 minus your benefits plan coverage of $500 = $1000.

If you worked with a student therapist and your fee is $60 and you had 15 sessions the total cost would be $900.

A final note about regulation

The counsellors in Saskatchewan overwhelming favour regulation. To be regulated requires an act of the provincial government. The primary reason is to have to offer better protection for the public. Anyone can call themselves a “counsellor” or a therapist in Saskatoon or Saskatchewan without joining an association or having adequate education or accountability to a code of ethics.

I would be cautious about a counsellor who isn’t a member of recognised counselling association or a Registered Psychotherapist.