Hello and welcome. I am a Registered Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists, a Certified EMDR Therapist, and the Clinical Director and co-founder of Solasta. I also serve as a clinical supervisor to numerous Registered Provisional Psychologists, and I am Associate Faculty at City University in Canada. I have previously served as an Assistant Professor at Providence University College.
My practice centres on comprehensive psychological assessment across the lifespan, along with clinical supervision and consultation and therapeutic work. I provide psychoeducational assessments of cognitive, academic, executive and emotional functioning, ADHD assessments and differential diagnosis, and autism assessments for children and adults, including complex and late-identified presentations. I use standardized, evidence-based tools, including the ADOS-2, ADI-R and the sensory-based MIGDAS-2, and I also offer trauma-informed assessment for people with histories of complex or developmental trauma. Every assessment includes a comprehensive written report with practical, strengths-based recommendations.
In my therapeutic work, I see children, adolescents and adults, and I offer family and parenting consultation. I support people with trauma and post-traumatic stress, attachment and relational trauma, developmental trauma, anxiety and depression, and living well with chronic illness and disability. My approach is grounded in attachment- and trauma-informed care and may integrate EMDR, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and parts/ego state approaches.
Adoption and kinship care are a central part of my work, including attachment challenges such as blocked trust and blocked care, and parenting in the context of trauma, neurodivergence and disability. My training includes Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (including direct training with Dr. Daniel Hughes), Theraplay and the Marschak Interaction Method (MIM), which continue to inform my assessment and consultation work.
Publications: McKirdy, G. C. (2022). The Lived Experiences of Adoptive Parents Experiencing Blocked Care. California Southern University. McKirdy, G. C., Roughley, R. A., & McKirdy, S. A. (2019). From Proving Perfection to Seeking Support: The Lived Experiences of Adoptive Parents in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 53(3), 276-295. McKirdy, G. C., & Roughley, R. (2018, October). The Experience of Adoptive Parents Accessing Support Services in Alberta: Implications for Counselling. Poster session presented at the Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference, Calgary, Alberta.
