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Introduction
About Me
Length
of practice
I’ve been practicing as a psychologist in Alberta (with a
4-year break in Texas) since 1998. My
doctoral degree was in Clinical Psychology from the University of British
Columbia, and I’ve been practicing as a psychologist since then. I’ve been able to work in a range of
settings, including private practice and the Glenrose Rehabilitation
Hospital. At the Glenrose, I was able to
work on an assessment clinic for many years, which helped me develop skills in
assessment of children and youth. I also
consult with several Alberta school boards, providing assessments and
consultation to classrooms and teachers.
Workshop
I also have some expertise in workshop development and
facilitation. Topics have included
managing challenging behaviours, anxiety in children and youth, teacher
understanding of trauma in students, and self-care for adults as well as
children. Self-care as been an
especially important topic during this strange year of 2020, and I have
provided workshops in this area to three school boards so far this school
year. I enjoy presentations, and have
been blessed with a lack of anxiety when standing in front of a group of
people.
Assessments
Psychoeducational assessment of students is probably the
primary part of my practice. I am very
thorough when doing these, doing a review of all of the student’s school
records (including past report cards, reports from other professionals, and
preschool documentation when available), as well as interviews with parents and
teachers. I have completed several hundred
assessments in the past few years, and have decided I will keep doing these
until I am no longer amazed by the students and families I get to meet!
When parents or schools ask me for an assessment, their
concern often involves challenges in learning from the student. Learning challenges can come from many
sources, including:
-
Cognitive ability
-
Learning disability
-
Anxiety
-
Mood difficulties
-
Behavioural challenges
-
Attentional weakness
-
Trauma
-
Unrealistic expectations
My job is to find out which of these (often, more than one)
are affecting the student’s learning, and to then provide realistic, practical strategies
that the school and family can use to make a difference. I assess these areas in a variety of ways.
In addition to reviewing background information, an
assessment also includes working directly with the student in a few ways. This usually includes cognitive testing of
the student (also known as IQ testing).
This helps me see how the student is able to learn, whether on verbal
tasks or nonverbal areas like solving puzzles or recognizing patterns. I also assess the working memory of the
student (to see how well the student can take in information from the teacher),
as well as the student’s speed on simple tasks (to see how quickly they are able
to work when they know what they are supposed to do). Cognitive testing measures some useful
things, but doesn’t measure others, such as the student’s character,
motivation, and frustration tolerance, so I try to learn about these as well
during testing and in interviews with others who know the student well.
Academic assessment is also usually a part of such an
assessment. This includes an
understanding of fundamental skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. I assess what the student can do independently;
often, this looks different from what the student is able to show in a
classroom setting with a teacher or nearby peers who are able to help them with
assignments.
In doing these in-person portions of the assessment, I
always test the student myself. I find
that working directly with the student is the best way to understand the way
that they approach tasks and manage difficult activities. I am also not especially good at delegating,
and simply prefer to do this direct work on my own.
I also often ask parents and teachers to provide
information, both in interviews and through questionnaires where I can compare
their impressions of the student with those from the general population. I want to get as much information as I
possibly can about the student, from people who know the student better than I
do.
After the testing and information-gathering is completed, I
generate a report (usually 10 or more pages, or about 6000 words) which
provides a summary of background information, interview information, test
results, consultations, recommendations, and a diagnosis if applicable. I also spend time with the family and/or
school to discuss the results in person.
I think this debriefing is perhaps the most crucial part of the process;
while the report is helpful, I like to set up this debriefing as a conversation
with the school/family to talk about real-life strategies that can help
out. This usually takes an hour or so; I
know that when I see my doctor, I have to make sure I ask all the questions I
need to ask, so I want to give everybody a lot of time to ask as many questions
as they need.
Orientation
Background
Services I provide
Things
I’m good at
While I was trained as a generalist, my practice has taken
on a focus in certain areas over the years.
I think it is not reasonable to claim expertise in every possible
area! My areas of strength are in
psychological testing, workshop presentations, and therapy with certain people
and challenges. My therapy practice
mostly involves working with folks with challenges with anxiety. In the last couple of years, I have increased
my work with church pastors and staff, and find this matches with my own background
and interests. I have also completed
training related to helping people slow down or stop undesired repetitive
behaviours, such as hair-pulling or skin-picking. When working with children and youth, a part
of the session (often, the most important part) involves working with the
parent, who can provide interventions on an in-the-moment basis in the
home.
My therapy approach generally involves short-term
intervention. My goal is to ensure that
the client and I work together on strategies which will allow the person to
progress independently over time, rather than creating a dependency
relationship which can go on for an extended period of time. I also work with people on more of a
maintenance schedule (once every couple of months) after that, as a way of
providing a “check-in” during the year. I
find that it is easier to prevent mental health challenges from becoming severe
than to address them when they are at a severe level already.
Things
I’m not good at
Sometimes people call me with a concern about an area that
is not a strength for me. When this
happens, I believe it is much better to refer them on to someone who is more
skilled in that area than I am, rather than to pretend that I am expert in such
areas. These would include substance
abuse challenges, severe mental health issues like personality disorders or
suicidal ideation, and play therapy. While
I have about 20 years of (mostly successful) experience in my own marriage, I
find that I am not especially good at couples counseling.
Fees
I follow the fee schedule used by the Psychologists’
Association of Alberta, which is currently $200/hour. For a full assessment, my typical charge is
$2000, though this can depend on the nature and complexity of the
assessment. Sometimes, costs can be
offset by insurance; especially for assessment, I recommend that the family
check with their insurance provider to clarify whether this is covered (and if
so, how much). Sometimes, therapy and
assessment are covered differently by the insurer. I do not do any direct billing to insurance
companies.
Contact Information
I can be reached at 780-887-9456, or by email at drshawn@shaw.ca. I typically respond to calls within two
business days. I don’t have a way to set
appointments on my website; this is because I like talking directly with the
potential client before setting an appointment, to ensure that there is a good
fit before working with you, and to offer other referral options if those are
more appropriate for you.
