McAtee Psychology
Child Psychology & Counselling in Calgary
At McAtee Psychology, our specialized team provides compassionate child psychology in Calgary, helping young minds process big emotions, manage anxiety, and develop healthy coping mechanisms. Through tailored therapy sessions and collaborative parent support, we equip your family with practical tools to thrive at home and in the classroom.
Reduce anxiety, depression, & stress
Improve communication & resolve conflicts
Build resilience & practical strategies for conflict
The world can be a confusing place for a child.
Child Counselling & Parent Support in Calgary
What Is Child Counselling ?
Raising kids can be both joyful and challenging especially when big emotions, behaviour changes, or life transitions come up. Our child counselling offers a supportive space where children and parents feel seen, heard, and understood.
Child counselling helps your child:
Understand and express emotions like anger, worry, or sadness
Build confidence and healthy coping skills
Strengthen relationships at home and school
Learn strategies that work with their unique brain and temperament
Our therapists use evidence-based, play-centered, and neurodiversity-affirming approaches. Each session shaped around your child’s strengths and needs.
Child-Focused Therapies
We use evidence-based approaches that help children express feelings, build confidence, and manage challenges in healthy ways.
Play & Art Therapy: Encourages creativity and emotional expression through play, drawing, and storytelling.
CBT & DBT: Teach practical tools for handling big emotions, worry, or frustration.
ACT & Mindfulness: Help children notice their thoughts and feelings with curiosity instead of judgment.
Every child’s session is adapted to their age, personality, and comfort level.
Parent Collaboration & Family Connection
Parents play a vital role in supporting lasting growth. We include you in ways that strengthen understanding never overwhelm.
Family & Parent Sessions: Build tools for communication, boundaries, and emotional support.
Psychoeducation: Helps you understand your child’s emotional world and how to respond with empathy.
Ongoing Check-Ins: Keep you informed about progress while protecting your child’s sense of safety and trust.
We believe family connection is the foundation of a child’s well-being.
How We Support Growth Over Time
Therapy isn’t one-size-fits-all — it’s a journey we take together.
Focus on emotional regulation, confidence, and resilience
Create calm routines and coping strategies for home and school
Build strong, trusting relationships with both parents and children
Our goal is to help your child feel understood, capable, and secure at home, at school, and within themselves.
Child Counselling & Parent Support in Calgary
What Is Parent Support ?
Our parent support counselling helps you find confidence and calm in your role, while learning what your child truly needs to thrive.
This service supports parents of children experiencing:
Emotional or behavioural challenges
Neurodivergent needs (autism, ADHD, learning differences)
Life transitions such as separation, grief, or school-related stress
In our sessions, we focus on:
Building tools to respond with empathy instead of frustration or overwhelm
Strengthening communication and connection within your family
Managing burnout and creating balance at home
You can access parent counselling on its own or alongside your child’s therapy.
Indicators That You Or Your Child May Benefit From Support
Child Counselling
- Struggles to manage big feelings like worry, frustration, or sadness
- Finds it hard to connect with others or enjoy activities they used to love
- Shows signs of stress through sleep issues, tummy aches, or behaviour changes
Parent Support
- Feel unsure how to best respond to your child’s emotions or behaviours
- Want to feel more confident and calm in your parenting role
- Notice that your home feels tense or disconnected
Child Counselling & Parent Support - FAQs
How do I know if my child might need support?
Children show stress and emotional difficulty in ways that differ from adults. Consider professional counselling if you notice ongoing changes in your child’s emotions, behaviour, or physical well-being. Common signs include:
- Difficulty managing big emotions: Frequent or intense meltdowns, irritability, or struggles with anger, worry, and sadness.
- Behavioural or physical changes: Unexplained stomach aches, headaches, changes in sleep or eating habits, or sudden behavioural regression.
- Social or academic struggles: Withdrawal from friends, loss of interest in activities they used to love, or difficulty concentrating and adapting at school.
- Parenting challenges: Feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to effectively support your child’s emotional needs at home.
Does my child need a referral or diagnosis to start therapy?
No. You don’t need a formal medical referral or diagnosis to begin child counselling or parent support. You can reach out directly to schedule an intake or consultation. While therapy can support children with specific diagnoses (such as ADHD or autism), it is equally beneficial for any child navigating life transitions, emotional struggles, or everyday challenges.
What age groups do you serve?
McAtee Psychology provides dedicated therapy tailored to different developmental stages, from young children through to adolescence and young adulthood.
Counselling for Young Children
Counselling for younger children incorporates engaging, developmentally attuned methods such as play-based therapy and sensory-focused activities. Counselling can be effective for kids as young as 3.5 years old, and targeted parent strategies and support are also available for parents of younger children.
Counselling for Teens & Young Adults
Teen counselling focuses on identity, self-regulation, academic stress, peer dynamics, and independence using evidence-based approaches like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and neurodiversity-affirming frameworks.
What types of assessments do you offer for children?
Comprehensive psychological assessments are available to help identify your child’s unique strengths, learning profile, and mental health needs:
- ADHD Assessments: To evaluate executive functioning, focus, and attention.
- Autism Assessments: Neurodiversity-affirming evaluations to understand communication and sensory processing profiles.
- Psychoeducational Assessments: To assess cognitive abilities, learning differences, and academic strengths or barriers.
- Giftedness Assessments: To evaluate advanced intellectual capabilities and educational placement needs.
- Mental Health & Comprehensive Assessments: To better understand mood, anxiety, trauma, or complex behavioural patterns.
How do I get started?
Getting started is simple and designed to match you with the right therapist for your family’s needs:
- Reach Out: Book a free initial consultation or appointment directly through the online booking portal on the website, or contact the clinic via phone or email.
- Parents-Only Initial Intake: Attend an initial consultation designed for parents and guardians only. This session allows you to speak openly with the therapist, share your background and concerns, and set goals before bringing your child in.
- Begin Work with Your Child or Teen: After the parent intake, schedule the first session where your child or teen meets their therapist to begin therapy, either in person at the Calgary clinic or virtually from anywhere in Alberta.
What can I expect for my first visit?
The initial session focuses on building safety, rapport, and understanding:
- Parent Involvement & First Step: Depending on your child’s age, the first appointment typically involves a collaborative conversation with parents to share history, outline goals, and discuss current family dynamics. Because this initial intake session is almost always designed for parents or guardians only, your child won’t need to attend, creating space to speak openly before introducing them to the therapeutic environment in subsequent visits.
- Collaborative Plan: By the end of the visit, your therapist will discuss initial impressions and work with you to outline a personalized, flexible care plan for therapy moving forward.
Why Choose McAtee Psychology?
At McAtee Psychology, we offer comprehensive, compassionate, and evidence-based mental health support customized to your family’s unique needs. Key benefits include:
- Tailored Developmental Care: Specialized therapy approaches adapted for young children, teens, and young adults.
- Collaborative Family Involvement: Dedicated parent-only intake sessions and ongoing support to empower parents alongside their children.
- Neurodiversity-Affirming & Comprehensive Assessments: In-depth psychological evaluations for ADHD, autism, learning differences, and overall mental health.
- Flexible & Accessible Services: Direct access without a physician referral, with in-person care in Calgary and virtual services across Alberta.
Our Approach
How Child Counselling & Parent Support Works
During our intake call we will ask a few questions in order to provide the support you need most.
Step 1: We Get To Know You
Step 2: We Develop A Plan
Step 3: We Provide Ongoing Support
Meet Our Team
Match With a Child / Parent Support Therapist
Click the button below to get matched with a therapist.
Prefer to review our therapists at your own pace?
Meet our team of psychologists and social workers offering in-person child counselling and assessments in Calgary and online sessions across Alberta.
McAtee Psychology
How To Get Started
Whether you prefer virtual sessions that fit into your busy schedule or in-person counselling sessions in Calgary, we are here to support you.
Onboarding for all assessment services require you to contact our clinic. Our admin team will be in touch to explain our process and get you started. You can contact us via phone or by submitting an inquiry via the contact form.
