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    • Information for Patients

    Maybe your therapist invited you to participate in this study with them, or maybe you learned about this study in your search for mental health care services.

    If you’re interested to learn more about participation in this study, watch this video and/or read below.



    Informational video

    A goal of the study is to improve mental health outcomes for all patients, including you.

    Your therapist will receive training to improve their therapeutic relationship skills including when working with patients with diverse backgrounds. This study will evaluate how well therapists use these skills.

    Interested in participating or learning more?

    Click here to ask the study team for more information

    click here to access a survery to see if you qualify for the study

    What’s my role in the study?

    1. Agree to engage in 6 sessions of therapy on a secure, virtual mental health care platform employed by the study
    2. Respond to questionnaires about yourself and your wellbeing before and after 6 sessions of therapy with your therapist and again 3 months after these 6 therapy sessions
    3. Allow us to collect audio recordings of 6 therapy sessions

    What do I gain from participating in the study?

    1. Your mental health may improve even more because your therapist is participating in this study
    2. You will contribute to mental health treatment research that will improve mental health outcomes for all patients of psychotherapy
    3. You will be compensated for your time spent completing study surveys
    4. If you do not yet have a therapist, we may be able to provide you with a list of study therapists who are accepting study patients
    *Psychotherapists will charge a fee for the psychotherapy based on their typical fee schedule

    Am I eligible to participate?

    1. Adults who are 18 years+
    2. Will engage in therapy in English
    3. Intend to engage in at least 6 sessions of therapy
    4. Not have a psychotic (schizophrenia) or neurocognitive (dementia, traumatic brain injury) disorder
    5. Not engaged in suicidal behaviour in the past 6 months
    *This opportunity is voluntary, and your involvement in the study will not impact the work you do with your therapist
    *Enrollment in the study is on a first come first served basis

    Frequently Asked Questions

    1. Can I enroll if I don’t have a therapist?
        Yes. If there are study therapists available, we will provide you with a list for you to contact for services. It is up to you to contact the therapist, and it is up to you and the therapist to decide if you will engage in therapy.
    2. Can I enroll if am already in therapy with a therapist who is NOT part of the study?
        Maybe. If you are currently with a therapist who is not affiliated with the study:
        1) Your therapist must enroll in the study and complete some steps, and
        2) You must have completed fewer than 6 therapy sessions prior to enrollment.
    3. Why do you need to audio record therapy sessions?
        Audio recordings are important because they allow the research team to assess if the training program is effective to impact therapy.
    4. Will the audio recording be a distraction in therapy?
        Usually not. Recording typically does not interfere with sessions and is usually forgotten once the session gets started.
    5. Can I participate if I am only willing to attend in person?
        No. We are only able to include virtual sessions currently.
    6. What if my internet connection is not adequate to support engaging in virtual therapy?
        We may be able to help. The study team has some capacity to support participants’ access to virtual care on a first come first served basis. Please discuss your needs with the study team.
    7. What if I don’t have an adequate device to participate in virtual therapy?
        We may be able to help. The study team has some capacity to support participants’ access to virtual care on a first come first served basis. Please discuss your needs with the study team.
    8. What if after I enroll, I change my mind, and I’m not comfortable continuing with the study?
        You can withdraw your participation at any time. We encourage you to discuss any concerns about participation with the study team and/or your therapist.
    9. Will I be compensated?
        We value the contributions participants make and the time you put into completing questionnaires. We will compensate participants based on time spent to complete questionnaires.
    10. Can confidentiality be assured?
        Yes. There are multiple safeguards to protect data:

        • End to end encryption of data transfer
        • Storage on secure, encrypted and password protected, Canadian based servers
        • Contact information and data are stored separately from study data files so that your personal data cannot easily be identified
        • Transcripts from audio recordings will be de-identified (your name and identifying information will be removed)
        • Only the research team can access study data and only for specific research purposes that are approved by the research ethics oversight board