Beyond being Cognitive Behavioural Therapy delivered through a digital format (iCBT), which allows employees to engage with their therapy from virtually anywhere, we believe that in order to provide effective care, we need to first deeply understand what a client is going through.

For this reason, every BEACON experience begins with a thorough 20- to 30-minute online assessment, which is then reviewed by a BEACON therapist. The insights from the assessment are used as the basis for developing a truly customized care path.

As an available option, clients may also choose to have a clinical psychologist review the results of the assessment during a scheduled telephone interview. The psychologist will provide a psychological diagnosis report which can then be shared with the client’s doctor or healthcare provider. Because the assessment is done prior to the diagnostic call, it enables the psychologist to review the results in detail and develop a sense of the mental health concern(s) before speaking with the client.

BEACON is ideal for anyone who is struggling with an ongoing mild to moderate mental health concern. It’s clear that from time to time we all endure stress and adversities in life or at work. While we may not be able to control the fact that difficult times do arise, we can control how we respond to those events, how we allow those moments to affect us, and how we move past them.

BEACON provides users with a complete course of therapy including; support, guidance, readings and exercises, enabling them to develop coping skills to effectively adapt to stressful or difficult situations, to alter their thinking, and effectively address negative emotions.

However, internet-delivered CBT is not suitable for people with severe learning disabilities, people with high risk of suicide, or people who are not comfortable with digital interaction.

The principle behind cognitive behavioural therapy is that the relationship between our thoughts, behaviours, and feelings dictates how we function. By first identifying unhelpful thoughts or habits, CBT then provides clients with the skills and coping strategies to overcome life’s challenges – the result is an increased resiliency.

CBT is most effective when tailored to treat a specific condition, such as depression. CBT’s effectiveness increases when guided by an experienced therapist, while clients also often experience measurable symptom reduction when therapy is monitored and adjusted to their particular needs.

CBT is the only form of therapy that is widely proven to be effective for panic disorder, and other forms of anxiety disorder. There are hundreds of studies that prove the dramatic effectiveness of CBT, while there is an absence of studies showing the effectiveness of other forms of therapy.

iCBT is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that is delivered via the internet. iCBT programs are typically comprised of a series of self-contained modules based on the principles of CBT, and can be accessed using a computer or mobile device. The BEACON iCBT program is therapist assisted, meaning that each user is paired with a dedicated, experienced therapist whose role it is to guide and support them through the entirety of their 12-week course of therapy.

Research has consistently supported the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural programs delivered via the internet (iCBT) for treating depression, and a range of most common mood and anxiety concerns.¹

Health Quality Ontario, under the guidance of the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee, has recommended that the Ontario government publicly fund guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) for mild to moderate major depression and anxiety disorders.²

¹https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1745-6215-14-437

²https://www.hqontario.ca/Portals/0/documents/evidence/reports/recommendation-internet-delivered-cognitive-behavioural-therapy-en.pdf

BEACON is convenient, private and accessible. For most people, seeing a mental health professional is challenging for reasons of cost, availability of professionals, and busy lifestyles. In fact, 2 in 3 Canadians don’t seek treatment for many of these reasons. For most common mood and anxiety concerns, therapist-guided digital therapy in the form BEACON provides has been demonstrated to be as effective as face-to-face therapy in studies conducted around the world for more than a decade.

BEACON therapists are experienced, registered mental health professionals (primarily MSW, RSW). They are all trained and experienced in providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and also have specialized training in providing effective therapy through a digital experience.

Every BEACON therapist is licensed to practice in the Canadian province or territory in which the client resides. Furthermore, the entire BEACON clinical team is overseen by experienced clinical psychologists.

Yes. In order to effectively build trust and aid engagement, an essential component for effective care is the formation of a therapeutic alliance between the therapist and client. BEACON provides a single dedicated therapist for each client whose role is to monitor the pace of therapy and help clients to achieve the greatest improvement in symptom reduction. This includes adjusting the treatment based on the client’s specific situation and concerns, monitoring progress with regular outcome measures, and providing tailored advice and support through secure messaging interactions.

Response times are usually between 24 to 48 hours of a client’s contact. This time delay is intentional and consistent with the best practices of iCBT treatment in helping clients to become independently resilient, leveraging the skills that they are developing.

Yes – BEACON is a Canada-wide platform available in both French and English. We also provide bilingual technical support.

BEACON measures treatment outcomes using validated psychometric scales at regular intervals to provide the therapist insight into a client’s progress and an opportunity to further modify a care path to ensure effectiveness. We also provide de-identified, aggregate-level usage and data related to overall symptom reduction and program effectiveness to help organizations better understand the state of their organization’s workforce mental health. These reports are available on a monthly or quarterly basis.

BEACON is committed to securing our clients’ sensitive Protected Health Information (PHI). Our data is hosted on Microsoft Azure cloud servers in Canada, and we comply with Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Personal Health Information Privacy Act (PHIPA) in Canada and US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

BEACON is not an emergency or crisis response service. However, as a clinic operation BEACON has a separate set of comprehensive policies and procedures in place to handle each of the following types of crises or acute distress that may present in therapy including (1) significant active suicidal ideation, (2) threats of harm to self or others, (3) living in an abusive situation, (4) past/current abuse of children, adults, and seniors in a long-term care facility.

As part of the BEACON assessment prior to start of therapy, all clients must provide a current and valid street address and phone number that will allow the BEACON therapist to inform and direct local police and EMS should an emergency intervention become necessary.

Clients are also required to provide an emergency contact, and if applicable, the name and contact information of their family physician. This information is collected and used in escalation processes in the event of an emergency.

Emergency/crisis escalation policies and procedures are initiated when a therapist becomes aware that a client may be in a crisis situation or acute distress.

BEACON partners with a range of organizations to provide mental healthcare, including:

• Businesses and Corporations
• Colleges and Universities
• Community Programs
• Municipalities and Government Agencies
• Healthcare Providers
• Benefits Plan and Insurance Carriers

We offer a number of different subscription and payment options including working through your existing benefits plan provider. Contact us today discuss which option may work best for your organization’s mental health goals.

Mental health refers to our cognitive, behavioral, and emotional wellbeing - it is all about how we think, feel, and behave. Mental health can affect daily life, relationships, and even physical health. Mental health also includes a person's ability to enjoy life - to attain a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.

No, it does not. Employee assistance programs provide employees and their families with a variety of wellness benefits. EAP’s are recommended to help employees with an immediate need, life event or circumstance (e.g. relationship conflict, or short-term stress at work) within four counselling sessions.

BEACON provides a complete course of mental health therapy over 12 weeks for those struggling with ongoing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or PTSD.

Together EAP programs and BEACON can help to provide employees with a complete physical and mental care continuum that builds a more resilient individual equipped with the coping skills to face life’s challenges.

In a world where traditional health benefits come with hefty premiums and ever-increasing costs, the idea of preventative programs for employee health have huge appeal. Healthy employees also take fewer sick days and are more productive when they’re at work, which creates additional benefits for employers. In short, happy, healthy employees contribute to a better workplace environment, which lowers costs for businesses—and helps employees live their best lives.

So what exactly does “workplace wellness” consist of? Essentially, it’s any program that’s designed to promote healthy, active behaviours in the workplace. This can include offering gym memberships as part of an employee benefit plan, scheduling seminars to educate employees about healthy choices, creating a lunch-hour workout program, or even to discuss ways to reduce the stigma associated with mental health illnesses.

The "Harvard Business Review" defines presenteeism as “the problem of workers’ being on the job but, because of illness or other medical conditions, not fully functioning.”

Many people go to work while ill or otherwise distracted by problems such as child care, chronic illness or mental health conditions. While the employees are sitting at their desks, or working on the floor, their focus isn’t really on the work. As a result, employers can experience a serious drop in employee performance.

Research indicates that employers are paying a higher price for presenteeism than for absenteeism, which is easier to track and is quantifiable in terms of missed work days. According to Statistics Canada, presenteeism is thought to be 7.5 times higher than absenteeism.

In Canada, absenteeism and presenteeism due to mental illnesses costs employers an estimated $6 billion dollars annually in lost productivity.