As A Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist in Ontario, I am calling the Government of Ontario to consider to include Mental Health Services that provided by all mental health professionals in OHIP.

Currently, Mental Health Services are only included in Extended Health Care that's offered by private insurance companies. Not everyone has the privilege of purchasing a private insurance plan or secure a permanent position. This privilege has become much harder to access for a lot of people due to this unprecedented time. However, because of the pandemic, the surge of demand in mental health services and the financial struggles of many has made me worried about people's mental health well-beings and the services that they have access to.

Yes. There are NGOs that offer free supportive counselling, free government programs that offer free coaching and self-directed learning modules, but it is far from enough. There are many people who need long-term psychotherapy but financial difficulty has become the ultimate barrier to get to the service they need. 

As a social worker, I firmly believe that accessing to mental health care is a part of fundamental human rights, and everyone should have access to it. The pandemic has interrupted many people’s lives and the government should try its best to help people to get access to the rights they deserve.