1. Schedule a Free 15-Minute Phone Consultation

Book through the links on the website or via the contact email.

This call also acts as an intake to determine if working with Dr. Friesen is a good fit.

2. Getting Started

If both parties feel it’s a good fit after the phone call, Dr. Friesen will email you a “Getting Started” message with next steps and helpful information.

3. Complete Intake Forms

Look out for an email from Warrior’s Way Psychological Services (check your spam folder if you don’t see it).

This email includes:

Intake and consent forms

Payment instructions

Setup for your secure account (for booking/messaging)

Forms take about 10–20 minutes to complete online and must be submitted before your first session.

4. Join Sessions via Zoom

You’ll receive a Zoom link on the morning of your session.

The Zoom platform is professional and privacy-law compliant.

You’ll enter a virtual waiting room and connect once Dr. Friesen is ready.

Use computer audio and turn on your video when prompted.

5. Your First Session

Sessions are 50 minutes long (standard fee: $235).

Dr. Friesen will review consent details (especially confidentiality).

The rest of the session is focused on learning about you and your therapy goals.

6. After the Session – Payment

E-transfers are preferred for any unpaid balance not covered by insurance.

Payments are due on the day of the session, after you receive your invoice by email.

Credit cards are kept on file for payments overdue by 5+ days.

Receipts are sent (usually within a week) once payment is received.

Use a device with both video and audio capabilities.
A laptop or desktop computer typically provides the best experience, but tablets, iPads, or smartphones can work as well. That said, a larger screen at eye level tends to feel more comfortable and natural than looking down at a smaller device.

Ensure a strong internet connection.
An ethernet connection (plugged directly into your modem) is ideal for stability, but a strong Wi-Fi signal also works well.

Find a private, quiet space.
Choose a room where no one—partners, children, or others—can enter or overhear your session. While pets can be comforting, they can also be a distraction, especially during sessions that require deep focus. It’s best to minimize interruptions when doing important processing work.

Arrange child care if needed.
If you have children, setting up child care during your session is essential. This ensures you have uninterrupted time to focus on your goals and get the most benefit from therapy.

I have found that telepsychology works great for a lot of clients and allows me to work with clients who live outside my commuting zone. The research comparing in-person to telepsychology finds that virtual therapy works just as well as in-person!

I specialize in rural and remote populations and telepsychology can increase access to people who don’t have a psychologist in their community or when they’re not comfortable accessing local services because “everybody seems to know everything” in a small community. This also applies to first responders like the RCMP, who often work in rural communities and the one or two psychologists there, if any, might already be working with members from their detachment. It allows for a bit more privacy and reduces costs for clients such as gas money and time away from work.

A lot of people are hesitant about online therapy at first. Over time, most people gain comfort with it and may actually end up preferring it over in-person. With online therapy, you have your own comfortable space and do not have to take extra time out of your day to drive to a physical clinic. It also saves on gas money. I usually suggest giving it a chance and if it still doesn't feel right, I will find referral options if in-person services in your area exist. With online therapy, I also like that clients can show me their spaces and what is important to them or brings them comfort.

Regarding my virtual office, I treat my remote location just like a clinic. No people are allowed to enter my office without my permission and locks, encryptions, and passwords are used just like I did in my in-person offices before I moved online. I ensure that my office is reasonably sound-proofed and use headphones as an additional measure. Your files are stored securely and electronically so that no paper files exist. Your confidentiality is extremely important to me.

It’s rare that both the internet and cell towers go down. However, I know this does happen, especially in rural areas or when storms are happening. If only the internet goes down, I will contact you by email, text message, or phone to continue the session on the phone. If both go down for either of us, I will contact you as soon as possible and I ask that clients do so as well if the outage is on their end. I try to stay up to date on my client’s local area so I will check online to see if any outages have been reported in your area.

In the first session, I will go over points on the consent form like confidentiality, fees, the cancelation policy and more. After that I like to spend time getting to know you, what you are going through, and what your goals for counselling are. I can also describe my main approaches if you would like to learn about them.

I aim to make counselling a comfortable experience that becomes familiar over time. Counselling can involve “talk therapy” where we work through things verbally. This can involve a conversation and exploration of what you are experiencing or it can involve specific skills and strategies. I have special training in EMDR therapy and this is considered more of a brain treatment than a talk therapy, though it incorporates conversation. To learn more about EMDR, see the Approaches tab.

Overall, counselling is a professional relationship and having a solid trusting relationship has been found to be the most important part of counselling. Within this relationship, we will have a very different kind of conversation about what you are going through to help you get to your goals.

Sessions often tend to be 50 minutes. This allows the psychologist some administration time to write your clinical notes, find resources for you, consult, or do other activities to support your progress. It often takes much longer than 10 minutes to do the background work, some of which has fees (e.g., writing reports or notes for your family doctor). Having 10 minutes between sessions also ensures that the psychologist can take a few moments to rest and refocus so they can direct their full attention to you.

How long counselling takes really depends on client needs, client budget or insurance coverage, how long the problem has been developing, and the current context.

Warrior’s Way Psychological Services has a 24-hour cancellation policy. If sessions are cancelled outside of that time-frame or missed, your account will be charged the session fee. If you had an emergency, please contact me as soon as possible and under certain situations, I may be able to waive the cancellation fee.

Fit is very important. Sometimes it may not feel like a fit if a psychologist does not work in certain areas or take certain approaches. Other times, it’s simply a personality difference where a fit doesn’t happen naturally. In any case, you can rescind your consent any time without any prejudice from me. I will be happy to support you in your decision and will provide you with alternative resources or referrals.

I often take an integrated therapy approach. What this means is that I will incorporate concepts and ideas from evidence-based practice when appropriate to create a unique treatment plan for you. Our brains, personality styles, and cultural backgrounds are unique and I want to make sure that I am providing treatment that matches your worldview and culture to the best of my ability.