Starting Therapy Before Sentencing: What It Can and Can't Do

If you are facing a criminal charge and your lawyer has suggested therapy before sentencing, counselling can help you, and it can give your lawyer an accurate record of the work you have done. It cannot promise a particular sentence, and it works best when it starts well before your court date.

This post explains why lawyers recommend it, what a therapist's report does and does not contain, and what the work itself involves. It is general information, not legal advice. Every legal question belongs with your lawyer.

Why Lawyers Recommend It

Canada's Criminal Code sets out what a sentence is meant to achieve. Section 718 lists several objectives, including "to assist in rehabilitating offenders" and "to promote a sense of responsibility in offenders, and acknowledgment of the harm done to victims or to the community."

Section 718.1 states the fundamental principle: "A sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender."

Rehabilitation and responsibility sit alongside other objectives in the same section, such as denouncing unlawful conduct and deterrence. How they are weighed in any particular case is a matter for the court and your lawyer. What counselling can offer is evidence that you have actually engaged with the problems connected to the charge, rather than a promise that you will.

What Therapy Can and Cannot Do

Therapy can:

• give you a structured place to look at what led to the charge, including patterns around anger, alcohol or drugs, trauma, or relationships
• help you manage the stress, shame and fear that often come with a court process
• build skills that matter long after the file closes
• when clinically appropriate, produce an honest record of your attendance and engagement

Therapy cannot:

• guarantee or predict a sentence, a parole decision or any other outcome
• replace your lawyer's advice or strategy
• produce a favourable letter for work that has not been done

That last point matters. A letter describing a few sessions booked the week before court says very little. And the court is not the only audience: the work is for you.

What a Progress Report Actually Contains

When it is clinically appropriate, I prepare progress reports for defence counsel. A report describes:

• how often you attended, and over what period
• the themes the counselling has focused on
• where you have made progress, and where work continues
• how engaged you have been

It does not overstate progress, argue your case or comment on legal questions. It is a clinical document, and your lawyer decides whether and how to use it. Before we begin, we talk through the limits of confidentiality and what your lawyer expects, so there are no surprises later.

Why Starting Early Matters

The most common difficulty is time. People often start therapy a few weeks before sentencing, when the pressure is highest and there is little room left for real work.

Starting months earlier, where possible, changes both the counselling and the record. There is time to understand the pattern properly, to try new approaches, and to have a setback and recover from it. A report written after a sustained period of attendance reflects something real.

If your court date is soon, it is still worth starting. Just be clear with yourself and your lawyer about what a short period of counselling can honestly show.

The Work Itself

Sessions are direct and structured. The focus is accountability: not excuses, and not self-punishment either.

Depending on what is connected to the charge, the work may draw on addiction counselling, trauma counselling, relationship counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy.

Many people discover that the behaviour behind the charge was doing a job, such as numbing stress or avoiding a feeling, and that understanding the job is what makes change possible.

Progress is measured in plain terms. Are you attending? Are you honest in session? Are you managing your emotions better? Are you taking responsibility? Are the risk patterns reducing?

If You Need Help Right Now

A criminal charge can be a crisis in itself. If you are having thoughts of suicide or feel unsafe, call or text 9-8-8, the Suicide Crisis Helpline, at any hour. In an emergency, call 9-1-1.

Getting Started

I offer counselling support for legal clients in Ottawa, in English or French, in person at 854 Wingate Dr or virtually where clinically appropriate. Your lawyer is welcome to call to discuss fit, timelines and reporting needs before you begin.

Call (613) 859-8740 or use the contact page to ask about a first session.