Buddhist Counselling Service

The Toronto Centre for Applied Buddhism provides on-line Buddhist counselling and psychological support to college students and adults for academic, interpersonal and mental health concerns. We also provide on-line Buddhist spiritual care support in the tradition of kalyanamitra (spiritual mentorship/friendship) to people who are experiencing loss and grief or similar concerns. You do not need to be identified as a Buddhist to benefit from our services, but you do need to be open to practising the Buddhist teachings to reap the full benefit. In addition to English, our services are also offered in the Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin). Thanks to the generosity of our volunteers and the support of the larger Buddhist community, our services are free of charge**.

We are a group of volunteer counsellors and mental health professionals interested in applying general Buddhist principles in providing compassionate care to individuals and families. Where appropriate, our Buddhist counsellors may integrate Buddhist teachings, such as the four foundations of mindfulness and the four boundless states of mind with various mindfulness-informed therapeutic modalities such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy , acceptance and commitment therapy and compassion-focused therapy in our work with care seekers. Our approach with each care seeker is dependent on the presenting challenges and individual preferences.

If you are interested in our Buddhist counselling services, the best way to contact us is to send an e-mail intake@appliedbuddhism.ca.

One of our Intake Coordinators will phone you to provide information about our services and complete an intake form with you. This call may take about half an hour. We do currently have a wait-list. Once the intake is completed and when a counsellor is available, you will be introduced to the counsellor assigned to you.

Counselling sessions last 50 minutes and they take place on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Sessions are provided on-line or by telephone. A course of therapy is up to eight sessions, but the exact number of sessions received may vary depending on the presenting challenges.

** If you‘d like to help us continue to provide our Buddhist counselling service free of charge, you are invited to offer a donation by e-transfer to admin@appliedbuddhism.ca. A tax deductible donation receipt will be issued.