Specializing in Marriage Counseling and Couples Counseling in Calgary, Canada

We have helped more than 1000+ couples since 2006 improve their relationships through Qualified and Caring marriage and couples counseling.

We understand the importance of creating a welcoming environment, backed by sound theory, research and practice that helps our clients to feel safe and understood. We use the Gottman Couples Therapy method, and emotionally-focused based therapy practices, emphasizing a partnership of kindness, honesty and respect to help couples find greater connection and closeness in their relationships and improve their quality of life.

Our counseling services

• Couples Counseling
• Family Therapy
• Individual Counseling for Depression, Anxiety, Stress ...
• Addictions Recovery

Click here to learn more about the services we offer  ... 

Watch our new video

featured marriage and couples therapist

Erla Christens is a Registered Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists. Erla received her Bachelor of Arts degree at Concordia University in Montreal and her Masters in Counselling Psychology from Athabasca University. Erla has provided counselling both in Europe and Canada to adolescents, adults, couples, and groups dealing with psychological trauma, depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, codependency, self-esteem issues, emotional and sexual abuse, substance dependence, and eating disorders. Erla aims to create a comfortable atmosphere during her sessions and puts a great emphasis on monitoring the progress and outcome of therapy to ensure that therapy is benefiting her clients and serving their best interests. Erla is fluent in French and Italian, in addition to English. She has completed Level 1 of Gottman Method training for couples therapy. Read an interview with Erla Christens about how she works with clients and her philosophy of change.

Online counselling Also Available

Cobb & Associates Inc. is pleased to offer online counselling sessions, also referred to as e-therapy, to residents of Alberta, Canada. Online counselling is an ideal solution for clients that have less access to face-to-face counselling services, or who wish to receive professional help and guidance from their own home or office.

Online counselling is conducted over the internet with a webcam and microphone attached to your computer so that you can see, hear and speak to your therapist on your computer monitor from the comfort of your home or office. In the event that you do not have a computer available, e-therapy can also be conducted by telephone. Benefits include more flexibility in scheduling, reduced travel time, and access to counselling services when mobility is limited, or from remote areas.  Learn more about our online counselling services here. 

direct billing available

We offer direct billing to 11 major insurers in Alberta. Direct billing reduces your out-of-pocket expenses, and eliminates the hassle of submitting your receipts for reimbursement. Ask us to submit your claim for you at your next visit. Please note that we are unable to direct bill to Manulife and Sun Life Financial as these insurers do not yet allow direct billing from psychologists.

**Disclaimer: For most insurance companies, there may be some direct billing limitations that apply to registered provisional psychologists. If you are seeing one of our registered provisional psychologists please call our office between 9AM and 1PM to clarify if we can direct bill for you. Our experience has shown that most insurance companies do reimburse for the services of a provisionally registered psychologist, so if we cannot direct bill, you can still submit your receipt to your insurer for reimbursement. 

COVID-19

Current events around the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and its impact locally and around the world are a concern to us at Cobb & Associates. Our top priorities continue to include the health and well-being of our clients and staff members. 

In September 2021, the Alberta Government introduced new restrictions to reduce transmission of COVID and to lessen the strain on our health care system. Our review of those restrictions indicated that our category of business was not listed among those that are subject to them. Based on that conclusion, we continue to make available both online and in-person visits. 

We are mindful, however, of the need to do our part to mitigate the spread of the COVID virus to be in keeping with the spirit of these new restrictions. Therefore, we are asking most of our clients to continue meeting with us virtually online, wherever possible, until we are given new directions from the provincial government. We believe this action is necessary to help minimize spread and to safeguard the health of our clients and our staff members.

We also recognize that there are some situations where in-person visits are recommended or preferred. These include certain therapy modalities (i.e. EMDR for example), as well as situations where clients have little access to privacy at home. Please contact our office or your therapist for clarification if you feel that in-person sessions are warranted in your situation.

In-Person Visits

At this time, we are asking clients to please refrain from in-person visits if not double vaccinated. We ask for your cooperation to abide by this policy. Please keep in mind that a therapy session consists of one or more hours sitting in a confined indoor space with little ventilation, which increases the risk of potential virus transmission.

For your safety and the safety of our staff, we are utilizing the following protocols for in-person visits:

• Our waiting area is closed to minimize contact overlap between clients. We ask that clients call (403-255-8577) to let us know you have arrived and to wait in your car until your appointment time. The therapist will come to the front door and greet you when it is time for your appointment to proceed.
  
  
• Clients complete a COVID-19 pre-screening before arriving (completed online) or upon arrival (completed verbally).
  
  
• Hand sanitizer is available at entry to the office.
  
  
• Staff regularly wash and sanitize their hands.
  
  
• Staff practice social distancing.
  
  
• Common areas and high-touch surfaces are cleaned and disinfected regularly, as well as before and after appointments.
  
  
• Avoid hand-shaking.
  
  
• Staff stay home if they are feeling unwell.

Video Sessions

We use an app called JaneApp for our video sessions. We have gained much experience in the past eighteen months with online therapy sessions and have found it works well for most situations. It appears to offer comparable effectiveness to in-person therapy sessions for a wide variety of issues.

To join a video session, you will automatically receive a link to your email inbox thirty minutes before your appointment time. Clicking on the link opens the video software in your browser. Click the required consents and then wait for your therapist to arrive. There is nothing to download unless you are using an i-phone or i-pad, in which case we recommend downloading JaneApp from the App Store prior to the appointment. The link will then open the App in your i-phone or i-pad. To access your appointment on a laptop or desktop, we recommend using Google Chrome as your browser for the session, as JaneApp is not well-supported by Safari or Internet Explorer/Edge.

We hope that this information might help ease some of your potential concerns about COVID-19, as we strive to help everyone stay healthy and safe and to make it possible for our clients to continue to receive uninterrupted psychological treatment. Please call us at 403-255-8577 to arrange for online counselling or if you have any questions or concerns.

The Marriage Quiz

The Marriage Quiz is a 144-item self-report questionnaire designed to help couples identify and discuss their relationship strengths and work areas. It consists of 16-pages, including instructions for scoring and interpretation, as well as exercises that help you and your spouse identify ways that your relationship can be strengthened. Join thousands of people who have already downloaded the Marriage Quiz to help them improve their marriage. Learn more information about using the Marriage Quiz. | Go to our online store to download The Marriage Quiz.

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