New patients
First visits, without the first-visit feeling.
Nobody loves being new somewhere, so we designed the newness out of it. Forms arrive by email before you do, the kettle is usually on, and the first ten minutes are for talking, not clipboards.
- 01
Before you arrive
Your intake form arrives by email when you book. It takes about five minutes and asks real questions: what is going on, what your days ask of your body, what you want back. Bring your extended health card and, for ICBC or WCB visits, your claim number.
- 02
The first ten minutes
A conversation, seated, unhurried. Your practitioner has read your form and wants the story behind it. This part is not a formality: where a problem shows up is rarely the whole story of where it lives, and the talking is how we find out.
- 03
Assessment and treatment
What happens next depends on the service: movement testing for physiotherapy, table time for massage and acupuncture, or simply more of the conversation for counselling, because there the conversation is the work. Everything is explained before it happens, and consent is asked, not assumed, at every step.
- 04
Leaving with a plan
You leave knowing three things, in plain language: what we think is going on, what we suggest doing about it, and what to do at home in the meantime. If we think you need a physician, imaging, or a different practitioner, you leave knowing that instead, which is more useful than politeness.
A first visit, door to door: about 300 resting breaths.
First-visit questions
Do I need a referral to book?
No. You can book massage therapy, physiotherapy, counselling, or acupuncture directly. A few extended health plans want a physician's referral before they reimburse, so check your plan's wording; we can help you decode it.
What happens at a first visit?
A conversation before anything else: what brought you in, what your days look like, what you want back. Then assessment or treatment appropriate to the service, and a plain-language summary of what we found and suggest. Details by service are on the new patients page.
What should I wear?
Whatever you are comfortable in. For physiotherapy, clothes you can move in, and shorts if the problem lives below the hip. For massage, you undress only to your comfort level; effective work is possible through clothing. There is a change room either way.
How do I choose between massage and physio?
A rough rule: if you want relief from tension you can already name, start with massage therapy. If something keeps coming back, limits what you can do, or follows an injury or surgery, start with a physiotherapy assessment. If you choose the wrong door, we will walk you to the right one; the hallway is short.
The hardest part is booking the first one.
After that, the clinic does the remembering: follow-ups, forms, billing, all of it.
Rather talk it through first? (250) 555-0147