A structured way to understand how behaviour is showing up, what surrounds it, and what might help next. Assessments completed by clinicians registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists, or by provisional psychologists working under the supervision of a senior registered psychologist. Practice governed by the Canadian Psychological Association Code of Ethics and by Alberta privacy legislation. In-person appointments in Edmonton and St. Albert, with virtual options across Alberta where the format suits the assessment.

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You Might Be Wondering Whether a Behavioural Assessment Is Right for You

You may be unsure whether what you are seeing is a real problem or just a phase, a personality, a hard year. That doubt is one of the most common reasons people put off asking. It often sits alongside a quieter worry: that naming the concern out loud will make it permanent, or will attach a label to someone you love.

Perhaps you have been keeping mental notes for months about the same situations going sideways, and you still cannot explain to anyone else what the pattern actually is. Perhaps you have already tried the obvious adjustments, changed the routine, changed the response, and the behaviour keeps returning in a slightly different shape. Perhaps a school, a workplace, or a family member has said something that left you wondering whether you have been missing something.

Noticing a pattern and not being able to explain it is not a failure of attention. Behaviour is shaped by many things at once, including health, environment, relationships, and history, and those threads are genuinely difficult to separate from the inside. Wanting a clearer picture is a reasonable response to an unclear situation.

If you are trying to work out whether this kind of structured look would be useful, the sections below describe what a behavioural assessment involves here, what it can and cannot tell you, and what it costs. You can read as much or as little as is useful.

Who We Help

A behavioural assessment may be a reasonable fit if:

• You want to understand how particular behaviours occur in context rather than receive a quick explanation.
• Behavioural patterns are affecting home life, school, work, relationships, routines, or participation in everyday activities.
• You are a parent or caregiver gathering information before deciding what to do next.
• You are supporting an adult family member and want a structured way to describe what you have been observing.
• You want to identify strengths and workable next steps alongside the concerns.
• You have questions and want them answered before committing to anything.

This service may not be the right fit if:

• You or someone else is in immediate danger or crisis. Please use the resources in the next section instead.
• You need a forensic, custody, court-directed, or litigation-support evaluation. Those are distinct services with different requirements and are not covered by this page.
• You need a decision made about eligibility, placement, or entitlement. An assessment may inform such decisions, but the organization making the decision sets its own requirements.
• You are looking for medical investigation of a physical health cause. That belongs with a physician, and a psychologist cannot substitute for it.
• You are looking for ongoing therapy rather than an assessment. Counselling is offered separately at Wholesome Psychology.

If you need help right now

A behavioural assessment appointment is not an emergency service and cannot respond to urgent situations.

• 9-1-1 for immediate danger or urgent medical support.
• 9-8-8, call or text, for suicide-related crisis support, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Alberta Mental Health Help Line: 1-877-303-2642.

Wholesome Psychology is not an emergency or crisis service.

What This Service Is

A behavioural assessment is a structured, collaborative process for exploring how particular behaviours occur in context. Rather than starting from a conclusion, it works backwards from what is actually happening: when, where, around whom, following what, and what has already been tried. The scope is agreed with you before any work begins, so the process reflects the concerns, goals, and practical needs you bring forward.

It is worth being clear about the boundaries. This is not a legal service, an investigative process, or a crisis intervention. It does not establish the cause of a behaviour, and it does not promise a particular finding, recommendation, or diagnostic outcome. Behaviour usually has several interacting contributors, and a careful assessment does not assume there is one explanation waiting to be found.

The pace is set with you, not imposed on you. You can ask what any part of the process is for, how information will be used, and what your options are at each stage. Information shared during an assessment is handled privately, with limits explained during consent, and those limits are described in full further down this page.

Clinicians work within their scope of practice and their registration. A psychologist does not prescribe or adjust medication, does not provide medical diagnosis of physical conditions, and does not decide whether a school, employer, insurer, or court will accept a given document.

Signs a Behavioural Assessment May Be Worth Considering

People often arrive with observations rather than symptoms. Some of the patterns that bring people to this kind of assessment include:

• The same difficult situation repeating in a predictable way, without anyone being able to say why.
• Behaviour that looks very different at home than it does at school, at work, or with other people.
• Strategies that used to work quietly stopping working.
• Skills or routines that were previously steady becoming harder to maintain.
• Withdrawal from activities, people, or places that used to be manageable.
• Escalation that seems out of proportion to what triggered it, followed by regret or exhaustion.
• Ongoing friction with a school, workplace, or family system that no one has been able to resolve.
• A sense that something has shifted, without a clear account of what.

Noticing several of these does not mean something is permanently wrong, and it does not indicate a diagnosis. Behaviour is one of the most visible ways that people communicate distress, unmet need, or a mismatch with their environment, and those are common human responses rather than defects. A structured look can make an unclear picture easier to describe, which is often what makes the next decision possible.

How the Assessment Process Works Here

• Find your clinician. You can use the Match with a Therapist tool or read individual profiles on the Our Therapists page. If you would rather talk it through, the admin team can be reached at 780-904-4880.
• Book your first appointment. The first appointment covers consent and confidentiality, what you are hoping to understand, and what the assessment would and would not cover. Bring any requirements you already know about, such as a form a school or insurer has asked for, so the clinic can tell you whether that scope is available before you go further.
• Agree the scope together. What the assessment includes depends on the referral question, what information is available, consent, and clinical judgment. This is a conversation, not a fixed package, and you can decline any component.
• Gather information. Depending on the agreed scope, this may involve further conversation, questionnaires or other assessment activities, review of records you choose to provide, observation where appropriate, and input from caregivers, educators, partners, or others when relevant and consented to.
• Feedback and next steps. Where agreed in advance, the assessment may conclude with a feedback conversation about themes, considerations, and possible options, and with documentation. What is produced, and when, is settled during scoping rather than assumed.

Appointments are 50 minutes. There is no fixed number of appointments for an assessment, because the work depends on the question being asked and what is already known. Your questions and priorities shape the scope at every stage, and you can pause or stop at any point.

Evidence and Approaches

The research payload supplied for this page supports description of how careful assessment is structured. It does not support claims about accuracy, effectiveness, or outcomes for any specific assessment method, so none are made below.

Clinical interview and contextual history

What it helps with: Building a picture of when a behaviour occurs, what surrounds it, and what people hope will change.

Evidence summary: Published work on evidence-based psychological assessment frames assessment as the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise, in the context of the person's characteristics, culture, and preferences (Bornstein, 2017). Public guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE] describes an assessment as a meeting held to learn more about a concern and consider what support is needed, with its purpose and expected length explained beforehand (NICE, 2016).

Limitations: Neither source establishes that a particular interview format produces a particular result. Interviews depend on what people recall and choose to share.

Behaviour rating scales and questionnaires

What it helps with: Adding a structured, comparable view of patterns that are difficult to describe from memory alone.

Evidence summary: A Statistics Canada Health Reports study examined a widely used parent-rated behaviour and mental health questionnaire in a nationally representative sample of 7,451 Canadian children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years (Statistics Canada, 2020). The measure's original five-part structure fit the Canadian data acceptably, showed evidence of reliability, and performed consistently across sex, age group, and survey language (Statistics Canada, 2020).

Limitations: That study assessed how a measure behaves across a population, not what any single score means for one child. A questionnaire result is one input among several and is not a conclusion on its own.

Health and environment screening before behavioural conclusions

What it helps with: Checking whether pain, illness, medication effects, or a poorly matched environment may be driving a change in behaviour.

Evidence summary: A Centre for Addiction and Mental Health [CAMH] resource describes a systematic approach that reviews health, environment, life experiences, and psychiatric factors before behaviour is attributed to a psychiatric cause (Lunsky & Lake, 2019). Its stated rationale is that reviewing each component reduces the chance of missing a contributor and reaching an inaccurate conclusion (Lunsky & Lake, 2019).

Limitations: That resource addresses intellectual and developmental disability care in primary care settings, so it does not transfer directly to every person or referral question. Medical questions sit outside a psychologist's scope and belong with a physician.

Collateral input from caregivers, schools, and others involved

What it helps with: Understanding how behaviour appears across settings rather than in one room on one day.

Evidence summary: NICE public guidance states that the people someone wants involved should be included in an assessment, while the person should still have the opportunity to speak with staff alone if they wish (NICE, 2016). It also notes that more than one assessment is sometimes needed before it becomes clear what is happening (NICE, 2016).

Limitations: Accounts from different people reflect different vantage points and may not agree. Whether anyone else is involved at all depends on consent and on the scope agreed in advance.

What Results to Expect

Understanding rarely arrives in a single step, and it is not always linear. Some people leave a feedback conversation with a clearer way to describe a pattern and one or two things to try. Others find that the picture is more complicated than expected, and that the useful outcome is a better question rather than an answer.

Several factors influence what an assessment can offer: how clearly the referral question can be framed, how much relevant information is available, how many settings can be considered, and whether the people who see the behaviour day to day are able to contribute. The fit between you and your clinician matters as well, and changing clinician or adjusting the approach is always an option.

No assessment guarantees an outcome. A behavioural assessment does not promise a diagnosis, a particular finding, a specific recommendation, or acceptance of any document by a third party. Where documentation is agreed in advance, timelines are confirmed with you rather than assumed, and the clinic does not commit to a turnaround it has not discussed with you.

Confidentiality and Privacy

What you share during an assessment is confidential. Records are handled under Alberta's Health Information Act (HIA) and Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which set out how health and personal information must be collected, used, stored, and disclosed.

Clinicians are also bound by professional obligations. Psychologists at Wholesome Psychology are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP), the regulatory body for the profession in this province, and practice is guided by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Code of Ethics.

Confidentiality is strong, but it is not absolute. Information may need to be disclosed when:

• There is a risk of serious harm to you or to someone else.
• There is suspected abuse or neglect of a child, which carries a mandatory reporting duty under Alberta law.
• A court orders disclosure.

Your clinician will explain these limits clearly at the first appointment, before you share anything personal. Where an assessment involves other people, such as caregivers or a school, who receives what information is agreed in advance rather than left open. You are welcome to ask questions about any of this first, including what would happen in a specific situation you are worried about.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to describe everything in detail?

No. You decide what you share and how much. Some people find it easier to start with what is happening now, in the last few weeks, rather than working through history. If a question feels like too much on a given day, you can say so and the clinician will work with what you are able to offer. The assessment is built around the question you want answered, not around a fixed list of things you must disclose.

Is what I share kept private?

Yes, within limits set by law and professional obligation. Records are handled under Alberta's Health Information Act and Personal Information Protection Act. Disclosure may be required where there is risk of serious harm, suspected abuse or neglect of a child, or a court order. The Confidentiality and Privacy section above sets this out in more detail, and your clinician will go through it with you before you share anything personal.

How many appointments will this take?

There is no standard number. It depends on the question being asked, how much information is already available, which assessment activities are involved, and whether feedback or documentation has been requested. The clinic can give you a clearer estimate once the scope has been discussed, and that estimate is reviewed with you if the scope changes. Asking for an estimate before you book is reasonable and expected.

What if the clinician is not the right fit?

Fit matters, and it is not always obvious in advance. If the match is not working, you can tell the admin team at 780-904-4880 and they can help you find a different clinician. You are not obliged to explain your reasons or to continue with someone who does not feel right. New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

Can this be done virtually?

Sometimes, and it depends on the assessment. Whether a virtual format is suitable turns on the purpose of the assessment, the methods it requires, privacy at your end, technology access, and other practical factors. Virtual appointments are held to the same confidentiality standards as in-person ones. The clinic can tell you which parts of an assessment could work virtually before anything is booked.

Will I get a report for a school, employer, or insurer?

Only if that has been agreed in advance as part of the scope, and not automatically. Requirements set by schools, employers, insurers, courts, and other organizations differ from one another and change over time, and acceptance of any document cannot be guaranteed by the clinic. If a third party has asked you for something specific, bring their written requirements to the first conversation so the clinic can tell you whether that scope is available here.

Do I need a referral?

No referral is needed to contact the clinic or to ask questions about behavioural assessment options. You can call 780-904-4880 or book online. If another professional has asked you to seek an assessment, bringing their written request helps the clinic understand what question is being asked.

Meet Your Clinicians

Wholesome Psychology's team includes Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers, Certified Canadian Counsellors, Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists. All psychologists are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists. Registered Provisional Psychologists practise under the supervision of a senior registered psychologist.

Many clinicians have training relevant to behavioural concerns, child and youth presentations, family systems, and trauma-informed practice. Clinicians work within their individual scope of practice, and the admin team can tell you which clinicians currently take on behavioural assessment work.

Individual profiles are on the Our Therapists page. If reading through profiles feels like too much, the Match with a Therapist tool narrows it down, or you can call the admin team at 780-904-4880.

Children and Youth

Wholesome Psychology works with children, adolescents, and young people as well as adults. Clinicians working with younger clients use age-appropriate approaches, adjusting language, pacing, and activities to the child's developmental stage and communication preferences.

Caregiver involvement is often helpful, and sometimes necessary, but the shape of that involvement is discussed in advance rather than assumed. What a caregiver is told, what stays between the young person and the clinician, and who else may contribute are all settled during consent and scoping, guided by the young person's age, the assessment purpose, and privacy considerations.

Where a school or other setting is part of the picture, clinicians can work with caregivers to think about how information is shared and what a supportive environment might involve. Any contact with a school happens only with consent.

Getting Started

If you would like to explore whether a behavioural assessment fits your situation, there are a few ways in:

• Book a session online
• Match with a Therapist
• Call the admin team at 780-904-4880
• Email info@wholesomepsychology.ca
• Read Getting Started with Therapy for an overview of how the clinic works

New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

Starting the conversation is enough.

References

• Bornstein, R. F. (2017). Evidence-based psychological assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 99(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2016.1236343
• Government of Canada. (n.d.). Mental health support: Get help. Retrieved September 13, 2026, from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/mental-health-services/mental-health-get-help.html
• Lunsky, Y., & Lake, J. (2019). Intellectual and developmental disabilities. In Psychiatry in primary care. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Adapted by CAMH as Diagnostic framework for understanding behaviours that challenge.
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2016). Mental health problems in people with learning disabilities: Information for the public. https://www.nice.org.uk/
• Statistics Canada. (2020). Evaluating the psychometric properties of the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a nationally representative sample of Canadian children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years. Health Reports (Catalogue no. 82-003-X). https://doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202000800002-eng