Counselling, Consulting, Helping
Learning Support and Mental Health
We are pleased to offer a range of psychological services, including both assessment and counselling services. Our psychological services offer support to children, adolescents, adults and families, in the following areas:
- Behavioural Problems
- Divorce, Separation or Blended Families
- Family Conflict
- Grief & Loss
- Learning Difficulties
- Life & Career Transitions
- Peer Pressure
- Relationship Problems
- School Stress
- Self Esteem
- Social Skills
- Work Stress
We use solution focused, developmentally appropriate teaching strategies to address your needs. We are committed to providing nurturing support and intuitive guidance to help individuals grow to empowerment, independence and a healthy focus on connection and relationships.
There is so much information available to us that parenting in today’s world can be overwhelming.
Parent consultation sessions are focused on supporting parents to see beyond their child’s behavior, and to work to understand this behavior. Stacey believes parents know their child best and intuitively have the answers they seek. Stacey is committed to working alongside you on your parenting journey and supporting you as you nurture your relationship with your child and find parenting strategies that are meaningful and work for you and your family.
Typically, parents seek consultation on issues like:
- behavioural challenges
- questions about discipline
- concern about their child’s emotional health
- attempts to make sense of a child’s experiences at school
- how to best nurture the child in foster care
- helping a child through divorce
Parent consultation involves parents/caregivers from one family meeting individually with Stacey. The child is not part of the parent consultation session, and further, it is advised that the child not even be aware that the parent(s) are seeking this support. Instead, we encourage our parents to own their intuitive power to parent, with parent consultation sessions remaining a private endeavour between the parent(s) and the therapist.
Preschoolers, grade school students, and college or university students are referred for a psycho-educational assessment for many reasons:
- difficulties learning at school, college, or university
- “gifted” learning profile
- concerns regarding child development
- behavioural challenges
- concern that a student’s true potential is not being realized
- the need for “accommodations” in the classroom and for exams
- school placement or programming
Stacey has significant training and experience providing a holistic lens to psycho-educational assessment. She incorporates knowledge and research about brain development and includes an individual’s strengths and needs, family life, school experiences and any other information that may provide context to an individual’s learning experience.
Stacey’s assessment process is grounded in the CHC Theory. All people have different “types” of intellectual abilities so to ensure a well-rounded understanding of an individual’s learning needs, it is important to include a wide variety of activities that measure many different “types” of intellectual abilities.
A psycho-educational assessment may include some measures of language development, social-emotional development, behavioral patterns, motor development, and academic achievement or school-type performance. Stacey is pleased to offer a holistic approach to psycho-educational testing to children, adolescents and adults.
How it Works
For a full psycho-educational assessment, the process begins by scheduling an intake session. At this session Stacey asks parents to share information about your child and let her know your child’s specific needs. This is typically a session just for the parent(s) although it may be appropriate for an older student to be involved with this session.
Stacey will then meet with the student for 4 to 6 hours of direct assessment time. This is typically scheduled across two assessment sessions. It is very important Stacey sees the student’s best attention and functioning therefore she ensures a testing environment that is encouraging and provides ample opportunities for breaks and rest.
When the direct assessment time is complete, Stacey will create a very comprehensive written report documenting the assessment results, recommendations and accommodations.
When the report is complete, the parent(s) are invited to an assessment debrief session. During this session we review the assessment outcomes and details of the report. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and really understand the meaning of the results. You will be invited to review the report and provide feedback. Although there are certain things that cannot be altered in the report, it is important to Stacey that you have a final report that you are comfortable with and that adequately represents the child you know.
Following the parent debrief, the child is invited for their own debrief, depending on the child’s age and stage of development. During this session, Stacey talks with both the parent(s) and the child about the assessment results in child-friendly terms to help the child understand his/her own learning profile.
For the adult student, the debrief session would be available for the student and any of his/her identified supports (parents, friends, involved professionals).
After the debrief(s) are completed, Stacey is available to liaise with educators in schools, post-secondary settings and work place settings to communicate the assessment outcomes as well as be part of program planning and support implementation.