About

Discovery Psychological Services

Calgary psychology services for children, teens, and adults, with assessments also available in the East Kootenay area.

About

Discovery Psychological Services

Calgary psychology services for children, teens, and adults, with assessments also available in the East Kootenay area.

A Calgary Psychology Practice Built on Understanding

Discovery Psychological Services is a Calgary psychology practice offering psychoeducational assessments, therapy for children, teens, and adults, and support for parents. We serve families across Alberta and British Columbia. Whether you are looking for answers, support, or simply a place to start, our goal is for you to leave feeling understood, hopeful, and clear on your next step.

Why We Are Called Discovery

The name fits the work we do. Whether someone comes to us for an assessment or for therapy, the journey is about coming to understand themselves, or their child, a little better. Our job is to guide that discovery with warmth, honesty, and expertise.

The practice has grown the same way. Bobbi Jo Gaetz has been offering psychological services through Discovery for close to 20 years, first alongside other work and for the past five years from our Calgary office. As more families came looking for help, it was time to grow the team, and Gabriella Russo has now joined us. Our goal for the years ahead is simple: quality therapy and assessments, provided with warmth and expertise.

Our Philosophy and Approach

Understanding is the first step toward meaningful change. Whether we are meeting with a child, a teenager, an adult, or a family, our goal is to help people make sense of what they are experiencing and leave with greater clarity, practical strategies, and renewed confidence.

Our approach is warm, collaborative, and down-to-earth. We strive to create an environment where people feel comfortable asking questions, sharing their concerns, and being themselves. While we take our work seriously, we don’t believe therapy always has to feel heavy. Humour, when appropriate, can help people feel at ease, build connection, and remind us that growth can occur alongside moments of laughter.

Every individual has unique strengths, and we believe those strengths should form the foundation for growth. Rather than focusing solely on challenges, we work to understand the whole person and provide recommendations that are practical, individualized, and meaningful.

Psychological assessments should do more than provide diagnoses. They should answer questions, explain why difficulties are occurring, and offer practical strategies that make everyday life easier at home, at school, at work, and in relationships.

Bobbi Jo Gaetz

What We Offer

Psychoeducational Assessments in Calgary

Our psychoeducational assessments help children, teens, and adults understand how they learn, think, and focus. We assess for ADHD, learning disabilities, and giftedness, and we offer autism assessments for children and adults. Many people search for a psychoeducational assessment, a gifted assessment, a learning assessment, or an autism assessment, and each of these can be completed with us. A thorough assessment also looks at the emotional and mental health factors that can affect learning and daily life.

Therapy for Children, Teens, and Adults

We provide child therapy, therapy for teens, and adult therapy in Calgary, including anxiety therapy for children and teens, emotional regulation, parenting concerns, and life transitions. We draw on mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to build practical plans that fit real life, not just a textbook. Parents are welcome to book parent-only sessions whenever they want guidance on how to support their child or teen.

OCD Treatment

Gabriella leads our treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), using Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the gold standard in OCD treatment. We know starting ERP can feel scary, so we keep it approachable for children, teens, and families by weaving in mindfulness, art-based techniques, humour, and play where it helps.

Reports That Help in Real Life

Parents and schools consistently tell us our reports are detailed and helpful, and that is by design. We don’t just list scores. We explain what they mean and how to use them every day to support the student.

Our reports can support funding applications such as Alberta Education funding, school accommodations and strategies, and post-secondary disability services and accommodations.

Any time families require support, we encourage them to come to us with questions.

Serving Alberta and British Columbia

Our office is in Calgary, and we serve clients across Alberta and British Columbia. We offer in-person, virtual, and phone sessions, along with direct billing to most insurance companies.

Families in the East Kootenay area can access psychoeducational assessments for ADHD, learning disabilities, and giftedness in Cranbrook. Cranbrook assessments follow the same process as those in Calgary. The direct testing happens in person over two sessions, across one or two days. Everything else, including the parent interview, rating scales, scoring, interpretation, report writing, and feedback meeting, is completed virtually.

Meet Our Team

Our psychologists consult with one another and refer within the practice, so you are matched with the right person for your needs.

Both psychologists are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists. Bobbi Jo is also registered with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC.

Bobbi Jo Gaetz, R.Psych.

Bobbi-Jo Gaetz, R.Psych.

Bobbi Jo has more than 25 years of experience supporting children, teens, parents, and adults. She began her career as a teacher of diverse learners and is also the parent of a diverse learner, so she knows these experiences from the classroom, from home, and from the psychologist’s chair. She has supervised numerous provisional psychologists as they begin their careers, and presented to audiences on a variety of topics, including social, emotional, and behavioural strategies and understanding assessments.

Gabriella Russo, MSc, R.Psych.

Gabriella Russo, MSc, R.Psych.

Gabriella works with children, teens, and adults in Calgary. She leads our OCD treatment, provides autism assessments for children and adults, and offers gifted, ADHD, and learning assessments, along with general therapy.

Our Mission Is to Help You Find Clarity and a Clear Path Forward

If you are wondering about an assessment, looking for therapy for your child or teen, or seeking support for yourself, we would be glad to hear from you. Request a consultation through our website and one of us will call you back to talk through your questions and next steps.