Begin Within Psychology was founded in 2021 by Sherri Lees, a Registered Psychologist specializing in women’s mental health. We appreciate that since then, she has helped a significant number of people with mental health concerns. Recently, Begin Within Psychology has added a new Canadian Certified Counsellor, Nasim Switzer. 

While the business is located in St. Albert, AB, we commend them for working with individuals from all over Alberta online, even those living in rural areas. Nasim can also work with individuals, couples, and families from all over Canada. Overall, our team was definitely impressed with their client reach.

Additionally, we like that they accept in-person and online sessions because of the flexibility it offer clients. Although we found it challenging that their Saturday hours are limited and they’re closed on Sundays. However, we appreciate the evening appointments for clients who work in the daytime.

We also liked their free consultations, which are helpful when gauging the possible working relationship. Unfortunately, this only lasts for ten minutes, which we think is too quick for an adequate consultation.

As for their services, we appreciated that they work with various issues, such as anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, relationship issues, and perfectionism. 

Begin Within Psychology has two specialists: Sherri A. Lees, a Registered Psychologist, and Nasim Switzer, a Canadian Certified Counsellor. We love that they’re both women, considering they specialize in working with women. Interestingly, that does not mean that  they only work with women. Rather, they also work with men, couples, families, and teens. They enjoy this work too! 

Moreover, we commend their dedication to helping people. It’s evidenced by offering a free counselling session for the people displaced by the Northwest Territories wildfires.

Begin Within Psychology provides competitive rates. Switzer, who offers counselling, will have more affordable fees than Lees, who specializes in psychological services—but they are both still within a comparable range with other mental health professionals.

Lastly, we appreciate that Lees provides direct billing to insurance. We think this is a helpful offer, so you don’t have to think about the insurance process too much.

Manor Clinic is a private mental health practice in Edmonton. What we love about their clinic is the amount of privacy they offer.

What’s even better is the facility’s surrounded by nature, which we believe helps provide calmness, positive emotions, and happiness. We like how clean the interior is and offer a lot of privacy for each patient, too.

As a big facility, we appreciate the large team to cater to more individuals. They have psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health therapists, and counsellors—all highly qualified and each with their own specializations.

Furthermore, we like that Manor Clinic assesses various mental health issues. This includes anxiety, PTSD, depression, addiction, and many more.

A notable aspect is their various therapies and treatments, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Among the many services they offer, one that stands out to us is ketamine treatment. It’s a form of psychedelic-assisted therapy they mainly provide to patients suffering from severe forms of depression.

Also, we like that they’re available six days a week, including Saturdays, making them accessible to Edmonton residents—just not on Sundays. We also appreciate the convenience of offering in-person, virtual, and phone consultations.

However, Manor Clinic’s limitation is due to their popularity. They have a waitlist, which can take weeks or months, depending on the type of therapy.

Finally, we like their reasonable fees as they follow the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta (PAA) fee schedule. An individual therapy session has a starting rate of $220.

Founded by Registered Psychologist Sasha Campbell, Allegro Counselling is one of our picks of mental health clinics in Edmonton for several reasons. One is they cater to individuals, couples, kids, and teens, making them an accessible service.

Next, we like that they’re open six days a week, except Sundays, unfortunately. They also offer in-person, phone, and Skype sessions, which is an advantage if you live far away from their office.

Plus, we were glad to learn they offer free 30-minute consultations. Because of this, you can gauge the approach of the counsellor or therapist and decide if you feel at ease.

Also, we found their services quite vast, offering treatments for abuse, trauma, parenting issues, anxiety, depression, and more. They also counsel individuals undergoing life transitions, which we understand can sometimes be overwhelming.

Moreover, we think it’s worth noting that Allegro Counseling uses a psychoeducation approach. We like this because it’s backed by evidence mixed with a therapeutic approach.

They also have a pretty big team, which we appreciate because they can cater to more clients at once. They have a psychologist, counsellors, and social workers with different specializations and approaches.

As we’ve mentioned above, they only have one psychologist, and we hope they can hire more in the future. For us, that’s a downside, considering they have a big team.

On the bright side, they have different fees that are friendly to the wallet of Emontonians on tight budgets. They offer an affordable starting rate of $130 to $220 for individual sessions.

Focusing on evidence-based therapies, Pine Integrated Health Centre is one of our top choices of mental health clinics in Edmonton due to their quality of service. In fact, they’ve treated over 8,000 patients since their founding in 2018.

They have two locations, in Edmonton and Sherwood Park. We like that you can avoid traffic and go to their Sherwood Park location if you live closer.

Pine Integrated Health Centre is available daily, giving them an edge because other clinics aren’t open on Sundays. It’s convenient, especially for clients with busy work schedules.

Aside from that, we were happy with their in-person and telehealth services. Servicing clients who can’t personally visit their office shows their care, in our opinion.

We appreciate that their counselling psychology services cater to adults, teens, children, couples, and families. Their wide client reach is impressive as they can help more people in Edmonton.

Additionally, we like their wide variety of specializations. This includes depression, anxiety, fertility struggles, relationship issues, and family difficulties.

Another aspect worth mentioning is their team, who are all highly qualified for mental health counselling. They have a large team of registered psychologists, ensuring you get the treatment from an educated and trained professional.

Further, we believe having a long list of professionals benefits clients who want to choose who they feel at ease with. If you aren’t comfortable with one psychologist, we like the freedom of selecting someone else.

Unfortunately, not all practitioners are currently accepting new clients. It’s a good thing they have many psychologists available.

Pine Integrated Health Centre is also our choice due to their low-cost counselling. They’re budget-friendly at only $50 for individual and couples counselling.

What we admire about Neuromed Clinic is their focus on helping individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, and PTSD. They offer specialized and FDA-approved treatments for these mental illness problems.

But we noticed it also limits their services. They don’t cater to individuals suffering from other mental health problems, like trauma and substance-related issues.

What’s good about Neuromed Clinic is their evidence-based treatments. One that stands out is Magnetic Resonance Therapy or MeRT.

The advantage of MeRT that we like is it’s a drug-free treatment for various types of emotional disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. We like this treatment because it benefits individuals who want a non-invasive procedure.

But we appreciate they also offer ketamine treatment for those who haven’t responded well to conventional therapies. Part of this treatment is ketamine-assisted coaching, which we found helps clients navigate the changes their improvement comes with.

Since they focus on procedures, they’re not really the ones to call for counselling sessions. If the treatments don’t work for you and you prefer seeing a counsellor, we think you may have to look at a different mental health clinic.

Still, their team has the qualifications to give these treatments. We were happy to learn they have psychiatrists, medical doctors, and technicians to work on their equipment.

Despite all the good things we like, it was still disappointing that Neuromed Clinic doesn’t accept weekend appointments. It limits their availability, no?