Mental Health

Many people will experience a mental health-related problem or mental illness at some point in their lives. 

Maple has a team of Mental Health service providers to assist people at these times. The Mental Health team consists of a psychiatrist, psychologist and mental health counsellors. Family doctors and the Mental Health team work together to help people with mental health related problems.  These Mental Health Services are available to people of all ages, including children, teens, adults and seniors. Maple continues to build links to other Mental Health service providers in the community to provide you with the best care available.

Family doctors may make referrals to the mental health team when individuals are experiencing new symptoms such as anxiety or depression, or when they are having difficulty coping with recent life events.  The team operates in conjunction with the family physician using a shared care model and information is shared back and forth between the physician and the member of the mental health team concerned with the patient's care. 

Patients referred to our mental health services may be seen by either the Team Psychiatrist and/or one of our Mental Health Counsellors:

• Patients can be referred to our Psychiatrist for a diagnostic assessment and or treatment recommendations.  Assessments are in the form of an interview and generally take an hour or an hour and a half. Treatment recommendations from this assessment will be discussed with the patient and communicated back to the family doctor.  If there is a recommendation for medication this will be prescribed by the family doctor. 

• Patients can also be referred to one of the mental health counsellors for counselling.  Most often the referral is to help the patient deal with immediate problems they may be experiencing.  Counselling focuses on helping change the way patients deal with troubling thoughts or fears.  Patients generally have six to eight sessions of this therapy to achieve specific goals that the patient and counsellor agree upon.

Children and Adolescents:

While we provide assessment services for this age group we rely on treatment services in the community that specialize in this age group.

Other information:

These services are part of the Family Health Team care and are offered at no cost. Patients will be seen at their family doctor's office or at the Maple Family Health Team location at the Kingston Centre.