Ontario Structured Psychotherapy in Eastern Ontario: Free Therapy and How to Refer Yourself

Ontario Structured Psychotherapy is delivered through regional networks. Here it is Ontario Structured Psychotherapy at The Royal, coordinated by The Royal, which describes itself as a partner in providing the program alongside other local and regional mental health providers.

What the network says about where it serves:

• Eastern Ontario, reached through AccessMHA (The Royal's OSP page names no cities or counties)

The Royal's OSP page gives no service-area list. Its partner list includes Addiction and Mental Health Services – KFLA, Cornwall Community Hospital and Pembroke Regional Hospital, and it does not say where each partner delivers. AccessMHA, the front door for referrals, says it serves parts of eastern Ontario and shows its service areas on a map. Its FAQ names towns and counties only when it sends people under 16 to other services. Neither The Royal nor AccessMHA states an OSP boundary. Ontario Health lists The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences as the two networks in its East Region, which it describes as Scarborough to Deep River to Hawkesbury.

If you live somewhere else, the provincial Ontario Structured Psychotherapy guide lists the network for every region.

You can start the referral process through AccessMHA, a free service that connects people in eastern Ontario to mental health and substance use services, or by booking an appointment with a primary care provider.

The Royal's referrals page lists OSP among its programs with self-referral available through AccessMHA, so a doctor's referral is not required.

1. Fill out AccessMHA's secure online form and select a call-back time that works for you.
2. After you submit the form, an AccessMHA staff member contacts you to schedule a screening appointment.
3. The Royal says you are contacted by phone for a brief screening and then booked for a full intake and triage assessment.
4. AccessMHA says not to send personal health information by email.

Phone

AccessMHA: 1-833-527-8207

Email

inquiries@accessmha.ca

Hours

AccessMHA: Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Closed on holidays and weekends. The Royal's OSP page gives no OSP-specific phone number, email or hours.

Referral form

The network's online referral form

Contact details are copied from the network's own pages as of October 7, 2026. Check them on the network's page before you rely on them.

• Adults 18 and over in Ontario.
• Concerns the page lists: depression and low mood; generalized anxiety and worry; panic attacks and agoraphobic fears; social anxiety and performance fears; health anxiety; obsessive-compulsive symptoms; specific phobias; posttraumatic stress; and other anxiety- and stress-related concerns.
• Ages 15 to 17: the page says youth may access BounceBack through the Canadian Mental Health Association.
• The page does not set a residence rule beyond living in Ontario. AccessMHA's own front door is for people aged 16 or older who live in its service area.

This network's program page does not publish a list of exclusion criteria. Ontario Health says only that the program does not suit everyone, so ask the network directly if you are unsure. See the provincial guide for the criteria other networks publish.

The Royal describes the program as publicly funded, evidence-based treatment, and AccessMHA says it is funded by the Province of Ontario with no cost to use it. Neither page says whether an OHIP card is required.

• Guided self-help, such as BounceBack and clinician-assisted bibliotherapy (CAB), delivered by phone. The Royal says most patients begin here.
• Internet-based CBT: therapist-guided CBT offered online.
• Individual and group CBT, delivered virtually or in person, based on clinical need and availability.
• Mood and anxiety: 15-week transdiagnostic groups for low mood, generalized anxiety, social anxiety or panic.
• Posttraumatic stress: 12-week Cognitive Processing Therapy groups.
• Depression: 12-week groups focused on low mood and related symptoms.
• Obsessive-compulsive symptoms: 16-week groups combining psychoeducation, cognitive therapy and exposure with response prevention.

The Royal's page does not state a session length for individual therapy and names no in-person location.

The Royal's OSP page publishes no waiting time. Its general referrals page, which covers all of its programs and not only OSP, says a decision on your referral will be made within 2 weeks and that wait times to be seen vary by program. AccessMHA's home page says self-referrals are booked right away while provider referrals take longer, and it posts a current booking banner, so check it for the latest.

• The Royal lists the specific group programs and their lengths: 15-week mood and anxiety groups, 12-week Cognitive Processing Therapy groups for posttraumatic stress, 12-week depression groups and 16-week obsessive-compulsive groups.
• Referrals go through AccessMHA, a regional coordinated-access service. The Royal's OSP page itself has no OSP-specific phone number, email or form.
• Six partner organizations are named: Addiction and Mental Health Services KFLA, Cornwall Community Hospital, Jewish Family Services, Montfort Hospital, Pembroke Regional Hospital and Rideau Community Health Centre. The page does not say where each delivers care.
• AccessMHA's About page says Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences took over running AccessMHA in 2025 at the request of Ontario Health East Region, while The Royal's page still describes AccessMHA staff arranging the screening.
• If OSP is not the right fit, The Royal says AccessMHA will provide direction to alternate services.

The Royal says it does not provide emergency services. Its crisis-lines page says to call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency department, and AccessMHA says it is not a crisis service.

For immediate suicide crisis support, call or text 9-8-8 at any hour.