Mental health support services

• For undergraduate students enrolled in the CSU health plan
  EmpowerMe
  24/7, Multi-lingual.
  To access Empower Me, create an account through Dialogue.
• For international students
  GuardMe
  24/7, Multi-lingual.
  Download the app to chat, or call. In Canada: 1-844-451-9700. Anywhere else in the world: 001-416-380-6578

• For all Concordia employees, as well as their spouses and dependant children
  Employee Assistance Program
  English: Call 1-800-663-1142.  French: Call 1-866-398-9505

• Concordia Applied Psychology Centre: Provides counselling and assessment services to the local community.

• PsyMontreal: Has a Student Wellness program that offers a reduced rate to students covered by Concordia Student Union (CSU) and Graduate Student Association (GSA) health plans.

• Montreal Therapy Centre: Offers sliding scale fees based on income.

• Agence Ometz: Offers sliding scale fees based on income. 

• Medipsy: Offers low fee service options, for example self-help programs with the assistance of a clinician, as well as psychotherapy provided by supervised interns. 
• The Lavender Collective: Regroups different providers from racialized communities in Montreal; caters to BIPOC communities.

• Y Mind Youth is a free seven-week mental wellness program for young people who are aged 18 to 30 and struggling with mild-to-moderate anxiety or stress. This free program brings young people who have similar thoughts and feelings together. Participants learn evidence-based skills from trained mental health professionals. They report feeling reduced anxiety, increased well-being and feeling less alone following the program. Open to everyone, including international students.

• If you are an international student covered by BlueCross Health Plan, BlueCross covers up to $500 for psychotherapy visits. For any questions, contact iso@concordia.ca.  

• If you are a Canadian student enrolled in the CSU or GSA Studentcare plans, please visit Studentcare for more information. Studentcare covers up to 80% for psychotherapy visits, with a maximum of $750 per policy year or contact. For any questions, contact (CSU) contactus@csu.qc.ca or (GSA) info@gsaconcordia.ca.
• If you are a staff or faculty member, please consult your benefits plan for more information.

Referral lines can answer questions about health or psychosocial issues, or direct you to a resource in your health and social services network.

• Info-social/Info-sante: Speak with a nurse or social worker who can help you decide what to do about your health-related concerns or difficult life situation. Learn more about what to expect when you call Info-sante or Info-social.  24/7, English and French, Quebec: Call 8-1-1.

• 211: Find community resources including social security, health, employment, welfare and recreation. Information is available in 200+ languages. This service is managed by the Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montreal. 7 days a week, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Multi-lingual, Montreal: Visit the directories or call 2-1-1.
• Kids Help Phone: Connects people ages 5 - 29 with a professional counsellor. 24/7, English and French, Canada-wide: Call 1-800-668-6868. 

Connect directly with professional counsellors and volunteers trained in crisis response. 

• Crisis text line:  Text with a volunteer trained in crisis response from a secure online platform to help you move from a hot moment to a cool moment. 24/7, English, Canada and U.S.: Text HOME to 686868.

• Suicide Action Montreal and Suicide.ca : Support for people struggling with suicidal thoughts, who are concerned for another person, or have experienced a loss. 24/7, English and French, Montreal: Call 1-866-277-3553 or 9-8-8.

• Tracom: Services for people in crisis, as well as their loved ones and caregivers. Includes telephone support, temporary housing, follow-up, and more. Part of the Crisis Centres of Québec. 24/7, English and French, Montreal: Call 514-483-3033. 

• SOS Conjugal Violence/Violence conjugale Montreal: Listening, evaluation and referral service for counselling and shelter. 24/7, English and French, Montreal-region: Call 514-873-9010. Quebec: Call 1-800-363-9010. Text-line: 438-601-1211.

Self-evaluation 

The links below provide validated questionnaires that can help you identify if you or someone you care about may have a problem with substance misuse. If you score +, or if doing the screening raises any questions or concerns, book an appointment with a Health Services nurse, or see the resources below for support.

• Check out your drinking with the AUDIT self-test: A quick self-screening that will give you feedback and tailored advice.
• Cannabis use disorder identification test Revised (CUDIT-R): Can help you self-screen for problem cannabis use.
• The Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10): A quick self-screen that focuses on drug-use (not including alcohol or tobacco); for example, using medications in a way that is different from the instructions, and any non‐medical use of drugs.

Comparing your behaviour to reliable guidelines can also help you assess your substance use and gambling behaviour and make decisions about what you would like to do next.

• Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health: Provides evidence-based advice on alcohol to support people in making informed decisions about their health.
• Canada’s Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines: Science-based recommendations that can help you reduce the health risks associated with your cannabis use.
• Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines: If you gamble, the Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines show you how to lower the risks and harms associated with gambling.
  

Fact sheets and self-help resources

• Knowing Your Limits with Alcohol - A Practical Guide to Assessing Your Drinking, from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction: a printable workbook that provides tips and guidance for individuals considering changing their alcohol consumption to a lower-risk level.
• Rethinking drinking from the National Institutes of Health: Research-based information that can help you examine your drinking habits and their effects on your health, and find ways to reduce your risks, or take steps to cut-down or quit.

• Self-help strategies for cutting down or stopping substance use from the World Health Organization, for alcohol and other drugs.
• Knowing Your Limits with Cannabis - A Practical Guide: This guide helps you think about your cannabis use, and provides you with information about cannabis. It has tips and tools that can help you reduce your cannabis use or help you address some of the health risks of using cannabis. From the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
• Review Concordia Health Services’ information on what you should know about cannabis.
• What's the Deal on Quitting? A do-it-yourself guide to quitting cannabis.
• You and Substance Use: Tips for Cutting Back: A printable workbook with activities to help you think about your own substance use.
• A Doctor's Guide to Cutting Down: For cannabis smokers to want to use less. 
• SMART Recovery tool box: Worksheets and exercises to help you self-manage your addiction recovery and your life. Based on developing cognitive thinking skills to support you through addiction recovery. 

Within Canada 

• Get help with problematic substance use: The Government of Canada: Find services and referrals by province. 

In Quebec

• Help and referral line: Speak with a trained counsellor. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Free, bilingual, confidential. 514-527-2626
• Gambling: Help and referral: Speak with a trained counsellor. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Free, bilingual, confidential. 514-527-0140

Attending meetings can provide many benefits in helping you work through substance misuse, including support from others with similar struggles and the opportunity to build healthier social networks.

• SMART Recovery: Find meetings online or based in your area and support options to help maintain sobriety. SMART Recovery is a non-profit organization and offers its services for free.

• Alcoholics Anonymous: explore the main website to learn more about A.A. and to find resources; and to find in-person and online Montreal meetings, including around campus, visit AA Quebec. When you click on 'Meeting List', you can filter for language, type (in-person, online), tailored for specific groups of people e.g. 'Young People', etc.

• Montreal Gamblers Anonymous: Find GA meetings and resources in Montreal. 
• Marijuana Anonymous Online: Meetings are held at many different times throughout the week: see their online meeting schedule. You can also get support through their chatroom 24/7.
• Marijuana Anonymous in-person meetings: at the time of writing, in Montreal there is an in-person English meeting on Monday evenings, (a “closed” meeting means that it is for people living with an addictions, not for family and friends), Friday evenings, and Saturday evenings. There is an in-person French meeting on Thursday evenings. Use the meeting finder tool for the most up-to-date info (be sure to click on More search options and clear all search options, as it automatically filters to the meetings of that day).
• Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is a community of people who support each other in order to recover from compulsive eating and food behaviours. They offer in-person and online meetings (click on Additional search options to filter for language etc.), a self-assessment quiz, resources like Lifeline: Stories of Recovery, podcasts and videos, and more.

Find evaluation and treatment programs for alcohol, drugs, gambling and gaming, including urgent care and detox/rehab programs.

French-language programs

• Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal - Institut universitaire: Includes programs for drugs and alcohol recovery, gambling and internet addiction, support for friends and family members and urgent care services. 

English-language programs

• Foster Addiction Rehabilitation Centre: Specialized addiction rehabilitation services aim to prevent, reduce and treat the problems related to alcohol, drugs (including prescription medications), gambling, compulsive buying, and internet use. Services are open to English-speaking Montrealers and Montérégie residents. Several points-of-service.

• Chabad Lifeline: Offers a full range of treatment options for people struggling with substance and behavioural addictions and their family members. Services are immediate and offered at no charge to those in need.

Bilingual programs

• MUHC Addictions Unit: A hospital-based addictions service that provides a continuum of care for adults with drug/alcohol and mental health disorders, including inpatient and outpatient services. 
• Portage: Provides drug addiction rehabilitation treatment, based on the therapeutic community approach.

• Concordia staff and faculty who are eligible for Health Benefits can access the University's Drug and Alcohol Recovery Program (employee sign-in is required on Carrefour to access contact information)

• Psychology Works fact sheets from the Canadian Psychological Association: Get the facts about many different mental health concerns with regularly updated fact sheets. 
• Multicultural Mental Health Resource Centre: Find multilingual fact sheets and patient resources, organized by language.
• CAMH Multi-lingual resources: Multi-language information on mental illness to people for whom English is not a first language and professionals who work with clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

• Mental health meter from the Canadian Mental Health Association: Understand different facets of mental health, measured here by the ability to enjoy life, resilience, balance, self-actualization and flexibility. 

• Self-help resources from the Centre for Clinical Interventions: Find information and worksheets to help you manage common mental health concerns.
• The Expressions of Being Alone: Understand solitude, loneliness and isolation with this resource developed by Concordia psychologists.
• Health and wellness books at the Concordia Library: Search the library catalogue for books on topics including mindfulness, stress management and personal growth, and find recommendations from librarians.