NIHB-Covered Virtual Counselling in Alberta

If you’re a registered First Nations or Inuit individual in Alberta, you may be able to access virtual counselling through the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program at no cost to you, and without needing a physician referral.

Through TherapEase Counselling, eligible clients can work with Hayley Lynch-Brown, Registered Clinical Social Worker and NIHB-approved provider, by secure video or phone from wherever feels most comfortable and private to you.

If that’s what brought you here, you can book a free 20-minute consultation right now. If you’re still deciding, keep reading — because coverage is only part of the story.

You’ve been carrying a lot. Maybe for longer than you’d like to admit.

The anxiety that won’t quiet down. The grief you haven’t had space to process. The exhaustion of holding everything together while quietly struggling on the inside. Or maybe you can’t name exactly what’s wrong. You just know something feels heavy, and you’re tired of carrying it alone.

You deserve support that actually fits your life. Support that doesn’t ask you to jump through hoops before you can access it. That’s what we’re here to help you find.

NIHB Coverage: What It Means for You

The Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program is a federal program administered by Indigenous Services Canada that covers health benefits — including mental health counselling — for registered First Nations and Inuit clients when those services aren’t covered by provincial plans or private insurance.

Here’s what that means in practice:

• Up to 22 hours of counselling per calendar year, including an initial assessment and ongoing sessions (source: Indigenous Services Canada)
• No cost to you — sessions are billed directly to NIHB, with nothing to pay upfront
• No physician referral required
• Virtual sessions are covered, including both video and phone counselling
• Additional hours in the same year may be approved on a case-by-case basis

Through TherapEase, eligible clients work with Hayley Lynch-Brown, Registered Clinical Social Worker and NIHB-approved provider, by secure video or phone — from wherever feels most comfortable and private to you.

Learn more about our NIHB services

Who Is Eligible for NIHB Counselling?

You may be eligible for NIHB-covered counselling at TherapEase if you:

• Are a registered First Nations or Inuit individual
• Have a valid status card or NIHB identification number
• Are located in Alberta

No physician referral is required. NIHB typically covers up to 22 hours of counselling per calendar year, billed directly, so there’s nothing to pay upfront.

You Don’t Have to Have It All Figured Out to Start

People come to counselling for all kinds of reasons.

Sometimes you know exactly what you want to work through: anxiety and overthinking, burnout, trauma, grief, relationship struggles, major life transitions, or questions around identity and self-worth.

And sometimes you just know the same patterns keep showing up, in different relationships, different seasons of life, and you’re ready to understand why.

Both are the right place to start. When you understand what’s driving your patterns, everything begins to shift.

Learn more about what we help with

Culturally Safe, Trauma-Informed Counselling

We know that many Indigenous individuals and communities have experienced real harm within healthcare and institutional systems. Broken trust. Not being heard. Feeling like just another file.

Therapy at TherapEase is built differently. Hayley’s approach is trauma-informed, collaborative, and grounded in the understanding that healing isn’t one-size-fits-all. Your story, your pace, your terms.

This is a space where you can slow down, feel genuinely heard, and start to untangle the patterns beneath what you’ve been carrying, without having to explain or justify your experience to someone who doesn’t get it.

You are the expert on your own life. We’re here to help you move through it.

Virtual Counselling Built for Real Life

Sessions are available by secure video or phone, so you can connect from your home, your car, your lunch break, wherever works.

For clients in rural and remote communities especially, virtual therapy removes the barriers that have historically made support feel out of reach: the travel, the cost, the exposure of showing up somewhere in person.

Phone sessions: Talk from anywhere, no camera required. Just you and a conversation that moves you forward.

Video sessions: See your therapist in real time, with the connection of face-to-face, from wherever you are.

How to Start NIHB Counselling: 3 Simple Steps

1. Reach Out Book a free 20-minute consultation with Hayley. It’s a chance to share what’s going on, ask questions about coverage, and get a sense of whether it feels like the right fit. No pressure, no commitment.

2. We Handle the Paperwork We’ll walk you through confirming your NIHB coverage and completing any pre-approval steps together. You don’t have to figure it out alone.

3. Start Your Sessions Once approved, you begin. Secure, private, on your schedule.

Book Your Free NIHB Consultation

Your Consultation Starts with TherapEase

Reaching out takes courage, especially when you’ve been managing on your own for a long time, or when systems haven’t always shown up for you.

You don’t have to be in crisis to deserve support. You don’t have to have the right words. You just have to be ready to take one step.

We’ll help with the rest. Contact TherapEase to get started.

Hayley Lynch-Brown is a Registered Clinical Social Worker in Alberta & Manitoba, Clinic Director, and the founder of TherapEase Counselling.