Psychotherapist often hears the phrase ‘I know I need therapy, but I can’t afford it’; she says mental health care should be as accessible as physical health care
Mental health care should be as accessible as physical health care, believes Guelph’s Marinela Trickett. That’s why she’s calling on the provincial government to fund psychotherapy sessions with qualified mental-health professionals through expanded OHIP coverage.
Trickett, a registered psychotherapist and clinical director of Trickett Psychotherapy, is collecting signatures of support for an upcoming petition presentation at Queen’s Park.
“This has been on my mind for a very long time,” she said, noting she’s often heard the phrase ‘I know I need therapy, but I can’t afford it’ during her more than two decades in practice.
“Is there a single decision you made in your life without the involvement of emotions?” Trickett asks. “There isn’t one, because emotions are a very important part of our functioning.”
The publicly funded Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) doesn’t cover psychotherapy, leaving people to use workplace benefits which often cover the cost of only a few sessions annually, pay out of pocket or wait for a publicly funded program with a narrower scope of care.
“Our government reports how people who will seek some kind of mental health support for the first time will go to emergency services in our hospitals for the first time,” Trickett said. “They wait there on average for 19 hours and then leave … without actually having their needs met.”
According to Ontario Health, the average wait to see a doctor in the Guelph General Hospital emergency department was 2.3 hours in July, with 15.9 hours for the average person admitted to hospital.
In 2024, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reports Canadian’s mental health was three times worse than it was pre-pandemic, with 2.5 million people unable to get the care they need.
There’s a greater understanding of mental health and its importance to overall health than there was when the provincial health care system was created, Trickett said, suggesting it’s time for that to catch up.
She and others began collecting petition signatures about a month ago, gathering about 750 at this point, with a few dozen more online. They’ve been attending community events and speaking with as many people as possible in order to drum up support.
MPP Mike Schreiner, leader of the Ontario Green Party, is among the supporters and has agreed to read the petition in the legislature, his press secretary Emily Reedman confirmed.
That’s expected to happen next month.
The petition is but the start, Trickett acknowledges. If the government opts to consider expanding OHIP coverage, there’s a lengthy review and political process to follow.