Dr Jennifer Gordon

I have completed my PhD. in School and Clinical Child Psychology at the University of Alberta. I am a Registered Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists (#4246), and I have specialized training in child assessment and therapy. I am also a Registered Play Therapist with The Association for Play Therapy (APT). I have worked as a psychologist, consultant, and mental health therapist in both school and clinical settings. I have also been fortunate enough to gain experience in infant and preschool mental health. I have a special interest in working with preschool and school-aged children (ages 3-14). I believe that children do well when they can, and that with strong relationships and coping skills, any child can succeed. I most often integrate cognitive-behavioral and narrative approaches, with play, art, and sand tray activities to help children and young teens learn and grow from the difficult events and feelings experienced in their life. In addition to working individually with children, I work collaboratively with parents and schools. I help caregivers gain insight into their child’s underlying areas of difficulty, and support them in using therapeutic and behavioural principles to promote child resilience and adjustment. Although I use an integrative approach in my work with children, schools, and families, my foundation is always relationship-focused and strength based. As well, I consider not just the individual child, but the surrounding social contexts and the influence these have on child functioning and development. I additionally complete psycho-educational assessments in order to help understand and address the learning needs of children and teens (ages 3-16). I aim to provide recommendations that can positively impact their success across home and school environments. Dr. Gordon is also a noted researcher and author. She was nominated for an outstanding dissertation award through the American Educational Research Association (2014) for her research on parent educational involvement. She is also an author for the textbook Assessing and Treating Low Incidence/High Severity Psychological Disorders of Childhood (2011). She is currently writing a series of story books to help young children better understand difficulties relating to anxiety, anger, and OCD.