Frequently Asked Questions

child psychologist calgary

General

  • The psychologists at Westside Child Psychology are specifically trained in pediatric psychology, both in the formal assessment and treatment sense. Our child psychologists inherently understand and naturally connect with children, which is imperative to the therapeutic relationship and bringing out the best in your child. We are equipped with the specialized training and experience in applying empirically proven treatment to children and teens.

  • No. While many families are referred for a psychoeducational assessment or counselling by their family doctor, pediatrician, or school personnel, a referral is not required to seek out psychological services. Many families self-refer for both psychoeducational assessments as well as counselling and treatment services.

  • Our hourly rate is $250.00/hour of psychological services. Services provided by a registered psychologist or provisionally registered psychologist are covered by health insurance plans.

  • As of November 1st, 2024, we will no longer be offering direct billing services for current clients. Services for psychological services are still reimbursable by health insurance plans.

  • From the first point of contact to your first meeting with a child psychologist, you can expect the level of care to be unsurpassed at Westside Child Psychology. Your family will immediately feel welcomed, and you will feel at home. For both assessment and counselling sessions, we usually begin by meeting with parents first, through a one-hour initial parent intake session, before meeting with the child. From there, the psychologist will determine the most effective use of time.

  • Either through a brief telephone intake, or through email, we can obtain a summary of concerns and provide a treatment or assessment plan moving forward. From there, we set up profiles in our booking system for both parents and the child and provide intake forms to be completed and submitted online prior to your initial appointment.

  • Yes. While in person is our preference, especially when working with children and teenagers, we offer in-person and virtual or telehealth appointments for counselling and parent sessions.

    For all psychoeducational assessment sessions with children, these are offered as in person only. We find that there is too much information to be obtained by working in person with your child that would be missed by offering online or virtual assessment sessions.

  • No. At this time, we do not offer online booking. We find that with the complexity of appointment types and assessment processes, it is most efficient when one of our office coordinators can assist you in booking the series of counselling or assessment appointments that are required.

Psychoeducational Assessment

  • Assessment and counselling psychologists are very different in terms of their graduate training and expertise. Psychoeducational assessments should only be conducted by psychologists who specialized in clinical assessment and diagnosis through their masters or Ph. D training, and not counselling psychologists.

    The child psychologists at Westside Child Psychology are formally trained in pediatric assessment first and foremost, whereby the assessment psychologists come from graduate programs that specialize in the assessment and diagnosis of children and adolescents.

  • When explaining a psychoeducational assessment to your child, refrain from using the word test or testing. During the assessment process, your child will not feel ‘tested.’ Instead, they will thrive in the one-on-one positively reinforcing time spent with their psychologist and be looking forward to their next session. During the process of an assessment, many tasks and activities are engaged in, such as solving puzzles, using blocks, drawing, and using iPads. This should be the focus of the explanation to your child. That they will be doing different activities and games to better understand how they best learn.

  • There are no tasks or training program that can prepare your child for the assessment process. Rather, ensure that your child is well rested, is feeling well, and has had a healthy breakfast or lunch. Make sure your child is wearing any prescribed glasses. Be sure to talk to your psychologist about any medications your child may be taking. Snacks, popcorn, water, juice, and even hot chocolate with marshmallows can be indulged in while at the office with parental permission.

  • The assessment process can vary significantly depending on the age of your child the issues being investigated. A thorough assessment should include measures of cognitive functioning, academic achievement, visual-motor integration, fine-motor skills, social-emotional functioning, and neuropsychological testing. In the end, the psychologist will be able to reliably and validly pinpoint the issues and explain why they are occurring.

    Generally, a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment is as follows:

    • Initial Parent Intake (1 hour)

    • School Observation or Teacher Consult

    • Assessment 1 of 3: (2 hours)

    • Assessment 2 of 3: (2 hours)

    • Assessment 3 of 3: (2 hours)

    • Parent Feedback Meeting (1.5 hours)

  • Psychologists are ethically bound to keep the assessment information and results obtained confidential and not shared with any third parties unless there is written consent provided. Parents are encouraged to share their psychoeducational reports with their child’s school, doctors, pediatricians, or any allied health professionals.

    Assessment reports are provided through a password protected PDF document. Paper copies can also be printed and provided for pick-up at the office.

Gifted Assessment

  • A gifted assessment provides information about a child’s cognitive or intellectual abilities. Understanding one’s cognitive abilities is more than simply finding out a full-scale IQ score, but rather, gaining insight into the five factors that contribute to overall intellectual functioning and the interplay between them. Variability within Index scores can often predict challenges and inform recommendations and accommodations for learning.

  • A gifted and talented learner is identified when their overall intellectual abilities are identified at ≥ 98th percentile or a standard score of 130+ on a standardized cognitive assessment battery.

  • Understanding a child’s potential is an important factor in helping them achieve their potential. Gifted learners require enrichment to promote engagement with learning. Often, a gifted assessment is required to be considered for admission to a school that caters to the unique learning needs of children and teenagers who are gifted.

  • Westmount Charter School is a specialized k-12 school within Calgary, Alberta, that is dedicated to the learning of children who are identified as gifted. The requirement for an application is to have an assessment into intellectual functioning by a registered psychologist. The process differs, depending on the age and needs of your child, however, includes the following:

    • Initial Parent Intake (30 minutes)

    • Assessment Session (2 hours of testing)

    • Parent Feedback Meeting (30 minutes)

  • The Gifted and Talented Education Program (GATE) offered through the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is another option for gifted learners. For applications to the GATE program, additional academic achievement testing is required in addition to a gifted or cognitive assessment. The process is as follows:

    • Initial Parent Intake (1 hour)

    • Assessment Session 1 of 2 (2 hours)-Cognitive Assessment

    • Assessment Session 2 of 2 (2 hours)- Academic Achievement

    • Parent Feedback Meeting (1 hour)

ADHD Assessment

  • When assessing ADHD specifically, a school observation is preferred, prior to meeting the child in the office for in-person assessment sessions. A school observation provides an opportunity for the psychologist to see the child in their natural environment and how they contend with the competing distractions therein. Often, structured in class time, in conjunction with some unstructured time (lunch, recess) that includes a transition is ideal. If a school observation is not possible, then a teacher phone consultation can be conducted.

    ADHD is assessed as part of a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment. In addition, as part of an ADHD assessment, specific assessment measures including continuous performance tasks, and activities investigating persistence, auditory attention, and behavioural regulation and inhibition are administered. While we often provide standardized checklists to parents and teachers, an assessment and diagnosis of ADHD is not reliant on subjective rating scales alone, but rather objective data obtained from standardized tasks as part of the one-one-one assessment process.

  • ADHD symptomology can vary widely, depending on the subtype of ADHD; Predominantly Inattentive Presentation, Predominantly Hyperactive/Impulsive Presentation, or Combined Presentation. On one hand, children with Inattentive ADHD often go undetected by teachers because they may not present with overt symptomology that makes them stand out from their peers. Comparatively, children with more impulsive symptomology are often identified earlier as their behavior garners more negative attention. Frequently occurring symptomology with all three subtypes of ADHD includes challenges with persistence, delaying instant gratification, and challenges resisting competing distractions. As a result, children appear inattentive, lacking in focus and dysregulated.

Autism Assessment

  • Often, family doctors and pediatricians will make direct referrals to Westside Child Psychology for a comprehensive autism assessment, however, a referral is not required. Parents can self-refer for autism assessments if they have queries regarding their child’s social development.

  • At Westside Child Psychology, we are trained in the early identification of autism spectrum disorder in toddlers, children and teenagers, and young adults.

  • Autism assessments are comprehensive and include parent interviews, social observations, as well as in-person standardized assessments. The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) are two of the standardized tests that are administered throughout the process. Typically, and autism assessments also includes measures of cognitive ability, academic achievement, and neuropsychological functioning. The age and needs of your child determine the length and extent of an autism assessment. The process is generally as follows:

    • Initial Parent Intake and ADI-R (2 hours)

    • Daycare, Preschool, or School observation

    • Assessment 1 of 3: (2 hours)

    • Assessment 2 of 3: (2 hours)

    • Assessment 3 of 3: (2 hours)

    • Parent Feedback Meeting (1.5 hours).

Learning Disability Assessment

  • Academic learning challenges can be assessed and identified as early as kindergarten, though more frequently, children are identified in grade one or two as requiring a psychoeducational assessment into learning. As soon as a learning disorder is suspected, it should be assessed to provide for early intervention if required.

  • Learning Disabilities are identified through a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment that investigates cognitive functioning and academic achievement with a particular focus on literacy skills (sight word reading, decoding, reading comprehension, reading fluency and phonological processing skills), mathematics (the calculation of math facts and math problem solving), and written expression (spelling, organization, development, semantics and mechanics of written work). Learning Disability assessments also involve the testing of fine-motor skills, visual-motor integration, executive functioning, attention, and any social emotional factors that might be contributing to learning challenges (e.g., anxiety or perfectionism).