Evidence-based articles written by Dr. Kincade for parents navigating questions about their child’s learning, mental health, and development. Click any article to read it in full.
If your child is struggling at school, you may have heard a psychoeducational assessment suggested. This article explains what it involves and how to know if it’s the right step.
Read article → ADHDADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed and most frequently misunderstood conditions in children. This article offers a clear, evidence-based overview of what it is, how it presents, and what to do.
Read article → AnxietySome degree of worry is a normal part of childhood. But when anxiety becomes persistent and begins to interfere with daily life, it may be time to seek support. Here’s how to tell the difference.
Read article → GiftednessMany gifted children go unidentified for years. This article explains what giftedness is, how it presents, and why a formal assessment matters — both intellectually and emotionally.
Read article → TherapyYou may have heard of CBT. But Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has emerged as one of the most well-supported approaches for children and teens. Here’s what it is and how it works.
Read article → TechnologyFor a growing number of children and teens, technology use becomes something much harder to control. This article explores what it looks like, why it happens, and what parents can do.
Read article → Sports PerformanceWhile young athletes spend countless hours developing physical skills, the psychological skills behind consistent performance are rarely taught. Here’s how sport psychology can help.
Read article → Choosing a PsychologistIn Alberta, the differences in training and qualifications among mental health providers are significant. This article helps parents understand what to look for and what questions to ask.
Read article →A psychoeducational assessment is a comprehensive evaluation conducted by a registered psychologist that examines how a child thinks, learns, and processes information. It looks at cognitive abilities — such as reasoning, memory, and processing speed — alongside academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, and any social, emotional, or behavioural factors that may be affecting learning.
The goal is not simply to arrive at a diagnosis, but to build a detailed picture of your child’s unique profile — their strengths as well as their challenges — and to provide specific, individualized recommendations to help them reach their full potential.
A psychoeducational assessment at Evolve typically involves four steps: an in-depth interview with parents, two direct assessment sessions with your child of approximately two hours each, teacher input and a review of school records, and a comprehensive written report reviewed at a dedicated feedback session. The full process from initial interview to completed report typically takes around two weeks, with your child spending approximately six hours on-site across all appointments.
Not all assessments are equal — and the quality depends heavily on the training and experience of the psychologist. At Evolve, Dr. Kincade holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with specialized training in neuropsychology and has been conducting assessments for children and teens for over two decades. All assessments are thorough, strengths-focused, and designed to give families the clearest possible picture of their child’s needs.
ADHD is best understood not just as an attention problem, but as a broader challenge with self-regulation — the ability to direct behaviour effectively toward goals over time. This includes managing focus and impulses, organizing tasks, regulating emotions, and learning from experience. ADHD is a neurobiological condition — it is not caused by poor parenting, lack of discipline, or too much screen time.
The Predominantly Inattentive Type involves difficulty with focus, organization, and follow-through. Children with this subtype are often quiet and may go unnoticed for years. The Predominantly Hyperactive/Impulsive Type presents as constant motion, impulsivity, and difficulty waiting. The Combined Type is the most common, involving significant symptoms of both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity.
An accurate ADHD diagnosis requires a comprehensive assessment — not a brief checklist or a single visit with a physician. A thorough assessment rules out other conditions that can look like ADHD, identifies any co-occurring challenges, and provides a detailed cognitive and academic profile that informs specific, practical recommendations for home, school, and whether a medical consultation may be warranted.
The most well-supported treatments for anxiety in children and teens are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Both approaches help children understand their anxiety, develop a different relationship with anxious thoughts, and gradually build the confidence to face situations they have been avoiding. Research consistently shows that therapy is highly effective for childhood anxiety — and that early intervention leads to better outcomes.
Giftedness refers to significantly advanced cognitive abilities relative to same-age peers. In Alberta, giftedness is generally defined as intellectual ability in the top two to three percent of the population, typically identified through a standardized assessment of cognitive abilities conducted by a registered psychologist.
Not all gifted children look like the stereotypical "good student." Some are bored and disengaged, acting out or underachieving because they are not sufficiently challenged. Others are "twice-exceptional" — gifted with a co-occurring learning disability or ADHD — and their giftedness and challenges can mask each other. In these cases, a comprehensive assessment is essential to reveal the full picture.
A psychoeducational assessment is required for admission to most gifted programs in Calgary, including the CBE GATE program and Westmount Charter School. Dr. Kincade conducts assessments for these and other program placements and is familiar with the specific requirements and deadlines for each. Assessment spots fill up quickly, particularly in the fall — it is important to plan ahead.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is grounded in a large body of research, with close to 25 years of evidence supporting its effectiveness. At its core, ACT is based on the idea that psychological suffering is often caused not by difficult thoughts and feelings themselves, but by our struggle to avoid or suppress them. ACT teaches a different approach: rather than fighting uncomfortable emotions, we learn to accept them as a normal part of being human — and to take action based on what truly matters to us.
CBT focuses primarily on identifying and challenging unhelpful thinking patterns. ACT takes a somewhat different view — rather than trying to change the content of thoughts, ACT focuses on changing the relationship we have with our thoughts. ACT also places a much stronger emphasis on values and meaning as a source of motivation for change. In practice, Dr. Kincade draws on both approaches, using the strengths of each depending on what is most helpful for the individual child.
ACT does not require children to challenge or argue with their thoughts — a process that can feel exhausting for anxious children. Instead, it teaches children to relate differently to their thoughts and feelings. ACT’s emphasis on values is particularly powerful for adolescents who are forming their identity. And ACT lends itself naturally to creative, engaging techniques such as metaphor, storytelling, and mindfulness that resonate with young people.
Social media platforms, video games, and apps are deliberately designed using principles of behavioural psychology to maximize engagement. Variable reward schedules — the same mechanism that makes slot machines compelling — are built into likes, notifications, and level progressions. For the still-developing adolescent brain, which is particularly sensitive to reward and social feedback, these design features are especially powerful. This is not a failure of character or parenting.
Dr. Kincade offers specialized assessment and individualized treatment for technology addiction and problematic use in children, teens, and young adults. Her approach draws on ACT and CBT-based strategies to help young people understand the psychological drivers behind their technology use, develop healthier habits, and strengthen the real-world connections that make balance possible.
At the highest levels of sport, physical talent is relatively evenly distributed. What separates consistently excellent performers from the rest is almost always psychological — the ability to stay focused under pressure, recover from mistakes, and perform at their best when it matters most. These are not innate qualities. They are skills that can be learned, practiced, and developed with the right guidance.
Dr. Kincade brings a rare combination of expertise to sport psychology work. As a trained neuroscientist and clinical psychologist with over two decades of experience, she understands the brain-based mechanisms that underlie performance anxiety, mental blocks, focus, and self-regulation at a depth that is genuinely uncommon. This scientific foundation means she doesn’t just teach mental skills — she understands precisely why those skills work.
In Alberta, the title “psychologist” is protected by law and regulated by the College of Alberta Psychologists. The titles “counsellor” and “therapist” are not regulated — anyone can use them regardless of their level of education or training. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who focus primarily on diagnosis and medication management.
Even among registered psychologists, there are meaningful differences worth knowing. A provisional psychologist is still accumulating supervised hours; a fully registered psychologist is licensed to practice independently. Clinical psychology programs tend to place greater emphasis on assessment, diagnosis, and complex presentations. And graduate programs accredited by the APA or CPA represent the gold standard of psychological training.
Dr. Michelle Kincade holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with specialized training in Clinical Neuropsychology and neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis — one of the most highly ranked and selective clinical psychology programs in North America, fully accredited by the APA. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and Foothills Medical Centre, accredited by both the APA and CPA. She has been a fully registered psychologist in Alberta since 2004 and has spent over two decades working with children, teens, and families.
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