Virtual Therapy in Arabic · Across Six Provinces
Arabic-Speaking Therapist — Online in Six Provinces
Yes. TEO Counselling Services offers therapy in Arabic. Sessions are held online and available to clients in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland & Labrador. Sessions are led by Mohamad Shabib, a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) who speaks Arabic as a first language and works with trauma, PTSD, couples, and the specific pressures of building a life in a new country. Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, is a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCPA).
Book a free 15-minute consultation →Therapy in Arabic, at a glance. TEO Counselling Services provides therapy in Arabic online to clients in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland & Labrador. The Arabic-speaking clinician is Mohamad Shabib, MACP, a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC #11249205) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association; Arabic is his first language, and sessions can move between Arabic and English. Individual sessions are $150 and couples sessions are $175, each 60 minutes, seven days a week from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm Pacific time (3:00 pm to midnight Eastern). No provincial health plan covers counselling in private practice; reimbursement depends on whether an extended health plan covers a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC), and the first step is a free 15-minute consultation.
Arabic-language sessions for Alberta and Manitoba are booked the same way, and these pages give the hours in your own time zone: online counselling in Edmonton, therapy in Calgary and counselling in Winnipeg.
An Arabic therapist here means online counselling with a therapist whose first language is Arabic, for clients in any of the six provinces listed above, from home with no office to visit. Most people looking for an Arabic speaking counsellor want one thing: not to have to translate themselves. You can speak Arabic, English or a mix of both, and switch between the two mid-session whenever one language fits better.
Why language matters more in therapy than almost anywhere else
You can be completely fluent in English and still find that therapy in English doesn't quite reach. Your earliest and hardest memories may be encoded in your first language. The fear, the shame, the words someone said to you when you were nine — those live in Arabic. Translating them into English on the way out of your mouth adds a step, and that step does something: it flattens them. You end up reporting the memory instead of feeling it.
There's also everything that doesn't translate cleanly. Concepts around family obligation, honour, shame, what is owed to parents, what may or may not be said aloud about a marriage — English has approximations, not equivalents. Explaining the context costs half the session. In Arabic, you skip all of that. You can say the thing the way you'd actually say it.
What we work with
- →Trauma and PTSD, including war, displacement, and the parts of leaving that don't get talked about.
- →Complex trauma (CPTSD) from prolonged or repeated experiences.
- →Refugee and resettlement stress — the grief, guilt, and disorientation that can arrive after the crisis is over, not during it.
- →Couples and marriage counselling, including couples navigating different levels of cultural adaptation between partners or generations.
- →Anxiety, depression, burnout, and anger.
- →Intergenerational and family conflict, particularly between parents raised elsewhere and children raised here.
We use EMDR and Internal Family Systems for trauma, and the Gottman Method for couples. These are evidence-based approaches, and EMDR in particular does not require describing every memory in detail.
Spiritually integrated therapy — if you want it
We offer spiritually integrated therapy, which means your spiritual or religious life can be part of the clinical work rather than something you leave at the door. For some people that matters a great deal. Meaning, purpose, moral injury, guilt, questions about why something was allowed to happen — these are not separate from mental health, and being told to park them until later doesn't help.
It's optional. Some clients want spirituality woven through the work. Others want it left entirely out. You decide, and you can change your mind. Either way, you won't have to explain what Ramadan is, why a decision involves your whole family, or why “just set a boundary with your mother” isn't straightforward advice in every culture. That context is already understood. Nothing gets pathologised for being unfamiliar.
To be clear about scope: this is psychotherapy delivered with spiritual sensitivity, not religious instruction. We don't issue religious rulings or act as scholars.
If you are Muslim and looking for a therapist who understands that context specifically, see our therapy for Muslim clients page.
Is therapy confidential? Will anyone in the community find out?
This is a real hesitation, and it deserves a direct answer. Sessions are confidential, protected by applicable privacy law and the ethical standards of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Nothing is shared with family members, community members, employers, or anyone else without your written consent — with the legal exceptions explained clearly before you start: a risk of serious harm to you or someone else, a child in need of protection, a court order or subpoena, and abuse by a regulated health professional.
Because sessions are virtual, there's also no waiting room. Nobody sees you arrive. For people from tight-knit communities where everyone knows everyone, this matters. It's a legitimate concern, not paranoia, and it's one reason virtual therapy suits this work well.
Who you'll be working with
Mohamad Shabib — MACP, CCC
Founder & Lead Therapist · TEO Counselling Services
Arabic is his first language. Trained in EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and the Gottman Method, with clinical experience in trauma, addiction, and work alongside refugee and First Nations communities. He holds the Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) designation through the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCC #11249205).
Alison Shaji — MA Clinical Psychology, RCC (BCACC), British Columbia
Offers sessions in English, Hindi, and Malayalam.
Arabic-speaking therapist in BC: Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria — online
Online therapy in Arabic is available to clients anywhere in British Columbia. Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, works with clients in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Abbotsford, Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops and smaller communities across the province, in Arabic, English or a mix of both. TEO Counselling Services is based in Nanaimo, but the practice is online only — there is no office to visit: you join each session from home, on a video call, seven days a week from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm Pacific.
An individual session is $150 per 60 minutes and a couples session is $175, the same price everywhere in BC, and every client starts with a free 15-minute consultation on a video call or a scheduled phone call. MSP does not cover private counselling; reimbursement depends on whether your extended health plan covers a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC), and direct billing is available with Mohamad for Pacific Blue Cross, CVAP and plans on the TELUS eClaims network. For the province as a whole, see our online therapy in British Columbia page.
العلاج النفسي باللغة العربية عن بُعد في ست مقاطعات كندية
نقدّم جلسات علاج نفسي باللغة العربية عن بُعد في كولومبيا البريطانية وأونتاريو وألبرتا وساسكاتشوان ومانيتوبا ونيوفاوندلاند ولابرادور.
المعالج: محمد شبيب، مستشار كندي معتمد (CCC)، واللغة العربية لغته الأم. يعمل في مجال الصدمات النفسية واضطراب ما بعد الصدمة، والعلاج الزوجي، وتجارب اللجوء والانتقال.
الجلسات سرّية ضمن الحدود التي يحدّدها القانون الكندي، ونشرحها لك قبل البدء. الجلسة الفردية ١٥٠ دولاراً والجلسة الزوجية ١٧٥ دولاراً، ومدة كل جلسة ٦٠ دقيقة. الاستشارة الأولى مجانية ومدتها ١٥ دقيقة.
Sessions and fees
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Initial consultation | Free, 15 minutes |
| Individual session | $150 per 60-minute session |
| Couples session | $175 per 60-minute session |
| Language | Arabic or English — your choice, and you can switch mid-session |
| Format | Virtual, anywhere in BC, ON, AB, SK, MB or NL |
| Insurance | Depends on whether your plan covers a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC); direct billing with Mohamad for Pacific Blue Cross, CVAP and TELUS eClaims plans |
Newcomers to Canada may not yet have extended health coverage. If cost is the barrier, say so during the consultation — a small number of reduced-fee spots are held for exactly this reason.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an Arabic-speaking therapist in BC?
Yes. TEO Counselling Services provides therapy in Arabic across British Columbia — and in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland & Labrador — led by Mohamad Shabib, a Canadian Certified Counsellor whose first language is Arabic. Sessions are virtual and available province-wide, including in smaller communities and rural areas.
Can I do therapy in Arabic online?
Yes. Every session is online, so where you live in the six provinces does not decide whether therapy in Arabic is available to you.
Do I have to choose between Arabic and English?
No. You can move between both — English for the day-to-day, Arabic when something lands harder — and you don't have to decide in advance.
Is what I say kept private from my family and community?
Yes. Sessions are confidential under applicable privacy law and CCPA ethical standards, within the limits explained before you start: a risk of serious harm to you or someone else, a child in need of protection, a court order or subpoena, and abuse by a regulated health professional. Nothing else is disclosed to family, community members, or anyone else without your written consent. Virtual sessions also mean there's no waiting room where you might be seen.
Do you offer spiritually integrated therapy?
Yes. Spiritually integrated therapy means your spiritual or religious life can be included in the clinical work — questions of meaning, purpose, moral injury, or guilt are treated as part of mental health rather than separate from it. It's entirely optional: some clients want it central, others prefer it left out. This is psychotherapy delivered with spiritual sensitivity, not religious instruction — we don't offer religious rulings or act as scholars.
How much does therapy cost, and is it covered?
Individual sessions are $150 per 60-minute session and couples sessions are $175 per 60-minute session, with a free 15-minute consultation first. No provincial health plan covers counselling in private practice; reimbursement depends on whether your extended health plan covers a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) — so check its wording, and direct billing is available with Mohamad for Pacific Blue Cross, CVAP and plans on the TELUS eClaims network. A small number of reduced-fee spots are held — if cost is a barrier, mention it during the consultation; newcomers who don't yet have benefits are welcome to ask.
Is therapy in Arabic available online in BC?
Yes. Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC, works with clients anywhere in British Columbia online — Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Victoria, Kelowna and smaller communities — in Arabic, English or a mix of both. An individual session is $150 per 60 minutes, and the first step is a free 15-minute consultation on a video call or a scheduled phone call.
Is therapy halal in Islam?
That is a religious question, and we don't give religious rulings — if it matters to you, take it to an imam or scholar you trust. What we can say is how therapy works here: it is clinical psychotherapy, your faith is welcome in the session to whatever degree you want, and nothing in the work asks you to set your beliefs aside. Many practising Muslims see a therapist, and some keep both going at once — the religious question with a scholar, the psychological work with a therapist.
Can I switch between Arabic and English in a session?
Yes. Mohamad works in both languages himself, so you can start in English and move into Arabic when a memory or a feeling lands better in your first language — or the other way round — without an interpreter and without deciding in advance. Many clients use English for the day-to-day and Arabic for the parts that were lived in Arabic.
You might also need
- Muslim therapist in Ontario — faith-informed work, in Arabic or English
- Spiritually integrated therapy — where faith belongs in the room
If you need someone now
Therapy is not a crisis service. These are free and staffed around the clock:
- · 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 9-8-8 (Canada, 24/7)
- · Kids Help Phone (for young people): 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868
- · Hope for Wellness Help Line: 1-855-242-3310 (24/7)
If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.
Free support in Arabic
Text4Amal (Canadian Arab Institute): free supportive text messages in Arabic, daily for three months. Text "Amal" to +1 855 947 HOPE (+1 855 947 4673).
Text4Amal is a supportive message program, not a crisis line. If you need someone now, use the lines above.
Book a free 15-minute consultation
A short conversation, in Arabic or English, about what's going on and whether this is the right fit. No assessment, no commitment.
Book a free 15-minute consultation →Written by Mohamad Shabib, MACP, CCC — Founder & Lead Therapist, TEO Counselling Services. Member, Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA).
Not ready to book? Send a message instead.
If you would rather ask a question in Arabic or English before booking, write a line or two and we will reply by email.