Practice With Others.
Learn With Guidance.
Some communication skills are hard to build in one-on-one sessions alone — because real communication happens with other people. Small groups offer the opportunity to practice in a realistic setting, with clinician support throughout.
Groups may be offered for teens or adults depending on clinical fit and availability. Group participation is recommended only when clinically appropriate and always requires explicit consent.
No referral required · Clinically recommended · Consent required · Private pay
🕐 Opening late spring / summer 2026 — not yet accepting patients
Small Communication Groups — Ontario
Practice With Others. Learn With Guidance. Build Real-World Confidence.
Small groups offer something individual sessions cannot: the opportunity to practice real communication skills in actual interaction with others, guided throughout by a regulated clinician. When the goal is building confidence in conversations, social settings, or peer relationships, group practice is often the most meaningful environment for that learning to happen.
Groups are not open enrolment. Placement requires an individual intake, a clinical recommendation, and explicit consent from each participant. Groups are available for teens and adults separately, matched carefully by age, goals, and readiness.
Why Groups Work
Real communication happens
with other people.
Individual sessions provide a strong foundation. They allow for private, focused work on specific goals — building self-awareness, understanding patterns, and learning strategies. But many of the skills that matter most in daily life — reading the room, recovering from an awkward moment, taking turns naturally in a fast-moving conversation — are hard to practise without actually being in interaction with others.
Small communication groups create that environment: a real, structured, social experience with clinician guidance throughout. The group format allows skills to be practised in conditions that are meaningfully closer to everyday life, which makes them more likely to transfer and stick.
Groups are not open enrolment or drop-in. Every participant has been individually assessed and clinically recommended for group participation. That structure is what keeps the experience safe, productive, and genuinely supportive for everyone in the room.
Groups can help participants…
Practice conversational turn-taking naturally
Real back-and-forth exchange in a guided setting — with the opportunity to practise without the full stakes of unguided social situations.
Build confidence speaking with peers
Repeated, low-pressure exposure to peer interaction in a supportive environment builds the kind of confidence that transfers to school, work, and daily life.
Improve interpretation of social cues
Tone, body language, and implied meaning are far easier to learn when there are real people in front of you. Group settings provide the live feedback that individual sessions cannot.
Learn repair strategies for misunderstandings
When misunderstandings happen in the group — and they will — the clinician is there to guide the repair in real time, turning the moment into genuine learning.
Reduce isolation
Many participants find that being around others navigating similar challenges is itself meaningful — the experience of not being alone in this can reduce shame and increase willingness to engage.
Generalise skills into school, work, and relationships
Skills practised in social interaction are consistently more likely to transfer to real-world settings than skills practised only in solo exercises or role-play.
Group Size & Structure
Intentionally small.
Carefully matched.
We keep groups small to ensure every participant has real space to engage, receive feedback, and feel safe enough to practise. This is not a large workshop or classroom format.
Group therapy is not one size fits all.
We recommend group participation only when it genuinely supports the person’s needs and goals — and only after an individual intake has been completed. Not every person is a good fit for a group, and not every stage of a person’s progress calls for group work. When group is recommended, it is because the clinical team believes it will add meaningful value that individual sessions alone cannot provide.
Clinical & Consent Requirements
Group participation requires: (1) completion of an individual intake appointment; (2) a clinical recommendation from your clinician; (3) explicit written consent from the participant (and parent or guardian for teens); and (4) no outstanding clinical contraindications. Groups are formed only once all participants meet these requirements. No charges are incurred before formal acceptance.
Teen Groups & Adult Groups
Separate groups for different stages of life.
Teen and adult groups are always separate. Focus areas, communication goals, and group dynamics differ meaningfully between adolescence and adulthood — and groups are designed accordingly.
Teen Communication Groups
For adolescents building social communication skills, peer confidence, and speaking comfort in school and social settings.
Teen groups focus on…
- Peer interactions and friendship skills — entering groups, maintaining friendships, navigating conflict
- Social communication and pragmatic language — tone, implied meaning, conversational repair
- Speaking confidence in school settings — class participation, presentations, group work
- Reducing anxiety in conversation and group work — freeze responses, avoidance, anticipatory stress
Adult Communication Groups
For adults building communication confidence in workplace, social, and relationship contexts.
Adult groups may focus on…
- Workplace communication and speaking confidence — meetings, presentations, assertiveness
- Social interaction and conversational comfort — flow, cue-reading, reducing avoidance
- Relationship communication patterns — expressing clearly, conflict navigation, hard conversations
- Reducing overthinking and social stress — replay, anticipatory anxiety, social exhaustion
How Groups Are Formed
A careful, clinically guided process.
No one is placed in a group without individual assessment, clinical recommendation, and explicit consent. The process is designed to protect the experience for everyone involved.
Individual Intake
Every prospective group participant completes an individual intake appointment first. This establishes goals, readiness, and clinical appropriateness before any group placement is considered.
Clinical Recommendation
Your clinician determines whether group participation is likely to add meaningful value alongside or following individual work. Group is never automatically assumed.
Matching & Consent
Participants are matched by age, communication goals, and clinical readiness. Explicit written consent is required from each participant (and a parent or guardian for teens) before placement is confirmed.
Group Sessions Begin
Once all participants are confirmed, the group is formed. Sessions are clinician-facilitated throughout — structured, guided, and focused on the goals that brought each participant to the group.
Not Sure If a Group Is the Right Fit?
Individual support, group support, or both.
A brief introductory call can help determine which combination may be most helpful. You do not need to know the answer before reaching out.
Individual support may be a better starting point if…
- You want privacy and a space to work through specific challenges before any group setting
- You are at an earlier stage of building awareness and skills
- The idea of practising with others feels like too much, too soon
- You have a very specific communication goal that individual work can address directly
Group support may add real value when…
- You want to practise skills in realistic peer interaction, not just in one-on-one sessions
- You have already built some foundation through individual work and are ready for more
- Your goals involve peer relationships, workplace communication, or social situations
- Knowing others navigate similar challenges would be meaningful or motivating for you
Individual and group support work well together.
The two are not mutually exclusive. The intended model allows participants to do individual work to build a foundation, then add group sessions to practise skills in a real social context — or both simultaneously when clinically appropriate. The right combination will be determined with your clinician at intake.
Virtual-First Group Delivery
Groups that work, wherever participants are.
Small communication groups are delivered virtually, allowing participants from across Ontario to join the same clinician-guided group without geographic barriers. For many participants, the virtual format also reduces the performance pressure of in-person settings — making it easier to engage genuinely.
Group sessions take place on a secure, PHIPA-compliant platform. All participants join from their own private space, and the clinician facilitates throughout.
Ontario-wide access to the same groups
Participants from different cities and regions can join the same carefully matched group — expanding the matching pool and reducing wait times.
Less performance pressure than in-person
Joining from a familiar environment reduces the added anxiety of a new physical space — making it easier to focus on the actual communication practice.
Secure & PHIPA-compliant
Group sessions are conducted on an encrypted, fully compliant platform. What is shared in the group stays private — and participants discuss confidentiality expectations during the intake process. Because sessions take place in a small group, participants are expected to respect group confidentiality and participation guidelines.
Flexible scheduling
Group times are coordinated to suit all participants — often evenings or weekends for teens, and flexible windows for adults with work schedules.
Fees & Coverage
Transparent pricing, confirmed at intake.
All fees are discussed and confirmed before any charges are incurred.
Group Sessions
$150 – $190 / person / hour
Depending on group type and clinician credentials. Applies to both teen and adult groups.
Individual Sessions (if applicable)
$200 – $280 / hour
Standard individual session rate, where individual sessions precede or accompany group work.
Insurance & Extended Health
Services are private pay and not covered by OHIP. Many extended health plans cover services delivered by regulated clinicians — please confirm coverage directly with your own insurer before starting. Receipts are provided after each session for reimbursement. Clients are responsible for confirming their own coverage.
Common Questions
Frequently asked questions
Take the First Step
Not sure which pathway
is right for you?
A brief introductory call can help determine whether individual support, group support, or a blended approach may be most helpful — for you or for your teen. You don’t need to have it figured out before reaching out.
💡 Unsure whether a group is right for you?
Most clients start with individual sessions and discuss group options once they’ve had an intake. You do not need to decide about groups before reaching out — that conversation happens later, with clinical guidance.
There is no pressure to join a group. Individual sessions are fully complete on their own.
A brief conversation to understand your situation and explore the right next step.
No referral required · No diagnosis needed · No obligation · Call-back option available
Fees for Private Services. Private pay services. Not covered by OHIP. Clients are responsible for confirming insurance coverage. Receipts are provided for reimbursement.
Real communication skills.
Built with real people.
When the right group comes together, with the right clinical guidance, something genuinely useful happens — and it transfers into life in a way that solo practice rarely does.
Start With a Free ConversationNo referral · No diagnosis required · No obligation · Private pay · Receipts provided