By Debbie Clelland, PhD, RCC and former President of the GCABC
Thanks to the hard work of several students completing their Social Justice Practicum service learning project while attending Adler University, the first Professionals Directory was created in 2019 Thanks to Nicole Mordant and Brittany White, Students at Adler and volunteers for the GCABC, there is a now new update for 2020!
This 2020 version can be downloaded here.
It is updated and expanded in several ways:
- Many more professionals now on the list – a total of 50 from around British Columbia
- Includes Registered Psychologists, Clinical Counsellors and for the first time this year Occupational Therapists!
- Information on whether or not the professionals offer online services; updated after many services moved online with the physical distancing required due to COVID-19
Parents of gifted children may not know that Occupational Therapists are trained and experienced with working with gifted children. Their professional association provided us with the following description:
“Occupational therapy is a regulated medical profession and occupational therapists are registered with their provincial regulator in order to practice in Canada. School occupational therapists are key contributors within the education team. They serve students by supporting their academic achievement and promoting positive behaviors necessary for learning with a focus on student strengths. School occupational therapists support academic and non-academic outcomes, including social skills, executive functioning, reading and writing (i.e., literacy) and self-regulation. Additionally, they play a critical role in educating parents, educators, administrators and other staff members. They collaborate within the education team to support student success.”
We are very happy to have many Occupational Therapists now in the directory!
Many parents are looking for a Psycho-Educational Assessment (Psych-Ed) for their child, and this is best conducted by a Registered Psychologist who has training specific to giftedness. The Directory has that type of information included: whether the Psychologist does Psych-Ed’s, and what type of training they have. If you want help deciding about an assessment, read the articles “Should I have my gifted child assessed?” and “Psycho-educational assessment FAQs”.
Clinical Counsellors are also providing a lot of support for families these days who are struggling with stress, anxiety and challenges being magnified as the entire gifted family is stuck in a house together!
As can be seen, each of these professionals has a particular scope of practice. To understand more about the scope of practice and how each professional may be of help to your family, read the “Gifted Navigation” article and/or click on the links provided in that article to the professional organizations.
