Sask. now offering online therapy course for new and expecting mothers, partners

Sarah Onyango · CBC News

· Posted: May 07, 2025 3:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

New and expecting parents experiencing intelligence wellness difficulties successful Saskatchewan are present capable to question nonrecreational assistance done a caller online therapy course.

The Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents is being offered though the University of Regina's online therapy unit, and is an enlargement of internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) developed to assistance Saskatchewan residents dealing with intelligence and chronic wellness conditions.

"These are truly important offerings, and the information that they're escaped for people, you know, it's conscionable each astir removing barriers to access," Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said.

The province has spent $380,000 connected the caller people and is besides providing much than $1.6 cardinal to enactment the ICBT program.

"In-person services are important, but truly increasingly, I deliberation much and much radical are utilized to doing things online, and being capable to connection these benignant of supports virtually oregon online are precise important," Cockrill said.

The caller people supports expectant and caller parents who whitethorn beryllium experiencing intelligence wellness difficulties similar anxiousness oregon depression, during and aft pregnancy.

A non-birthing parents assets inactive nether improvement volition beryllium included successful the programme arsenic well.

"I tin accidental that arsenic a comparatively caller dad, there's changes successful your intelligence wellness erstwhile you bring a caller kid into the world," Cockrill said.

Since 2015, astir 14,000 residents person accessed ICBT services, The caller people for parents began accepting clients successful February. Organizers accidental the aboriginal feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. 

"Parents [are] sharing that it's helping benignant of negociate stress, it's helping negociate their thoughts astir parenting and interactions, besides improving connection with their partners," said Dr. Heather Hadjistavropoulos, director of the online therapy unit.

She said that erstwhile processing the course, her squad was specifically focused connected postpartum women and caller parents, wherever she said she's seen a spread successful care. 

"We formed this moving radical that's helped america truly tailor and refine those materials to further instrumentality into relationship expecting parents, due to the fact that we cognize that's truly important arsenic good arsenic non birthing parents," Hadjistavropoulos said.

Through the course, parents and caller mothers volition implicit acquisition modules with the enactment of therapists. Hadjistavropoulos besides mentioned that the people has considerations for each client's divers background.

"We bash effort and instrumentality into relationship diverseness and that is really thing that's truly important to our research. So we're interviewing clients arsenic they spell through, if they agree, and asking them astir what could we bash amended overtime," she said.

In summation to the caller course, the state has boosted the yearly backing to HealthLine 811 by $6.6 cardinal for 2025-26, and the Ministry of Health is besides moving with the Saskatchewan Health authorization to found a maternal intelligence wellness co-ordinator presumption astatine 811.

"This is the benignant of work that erstwhile idiosyncratic calls 811, we tin notation them to this work and say, 'look astatine this. Did you cognize that this was available?'" Cockrill said.