Offering Mental Health support through the pandemic and beyond.
St. Catharines, ON (May 26th, 2020) – With COVID-19 not yet in our rear view mirror, Pathstone Mental Health has moved forward swiftly on a plan to bring innovative mental health treatment options to children, youth and families across Niagara.
This was a project we had identified ahead of the outbreak with a one year timeline to research, develop and launch. When COVID-19 shut down the country, we expedited this to the top of our priority list. This fully digital/virtual platform will be a complement to in-person mental health counselling services once they resume. In the meantime, counselling via video and phone will be our best options to meet the mental health needs of our existing and new clients. The overall goal of Pathstone remains the same. To reduce wait times for services and remove barriers whenever possible.
Shaun Baylis, Pathstone CEO
“After a diligent investigation we selected a virtual platform that will be used by clients, their families and Pathstone staff to provide effective mental health therapy sessions that are completely confidential. Doxy.me (dock-see-me) offers an unlimited length of time for sessions, live chat features and a virtual waiting room which will allow us to triage cases. Clients and staff can also fill out and sign documents whether they are working with iOS, Android or PC technology. After surveys, testing, training and a soft launch. We are ready to take this platform to our Pathstone clients.”
Erin Clayton, Clinical Manager and Digital Team lead at Pathstone
As an organization, the video counselling platform will serve our families well in a variety of ways says Baylis. Families who lack reliable transportation, don’t need to leave their home to meet one-on-one with a Pathstone therapist. Inclement weather won’t result in cancelled appointments and situations like COVID-19 will no longer get in the way of effective mental health therapy. Once we resume “normal” operations clients and counsellors can together decide the best method to meet their mental health care needs.