Dr. Tamara Pettigrew is a Registered Psychologist with extensive experience working with children and adolescents. She has a warm, collaborative approach that enables children and parents to feel comfortable and empowered.
A native to Calgary, Dr. Pettigrew's post-secondary education began at the University of Calgary where she completed an honours degree in Psychology. Thereafter, she attended Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, where she earned a Master's and PhD in Clinical Psychology (APA and CPA accredited program). While Dr. Pettigrew's clinical program provided in-depth education and training in psychopathology, assessment, and treatment for individuals across the lifespan, the majority of her training and experience has been with children and adolescents.
During her training, Dr. Pettigrew provided assessment and treatment for children and adolescents with severe emotional and behavioral problems, in inpatient mental health and residential treatment settings, and for children and their parents, and young adults in community mental health settings. Subsequently, Dr. Pettigrew completed a one year full-time internship at Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary (APA and CPA accredited internship program) where she gained additional in-depth experience working with children, adolescents, and families. Specifically, she gained extensive experience working with children and adolescents with acute and chronic medical conditions (Diabetes, Endocrine, and Nephrology Clinics), autism-spectrum disorders (Developmental Clinic), and who experienced trauma in the form of neglect or abuse (Child Abuse Service).
Following her graduate training, Dr. Pettigrew worked for 6 years at Alberta Children's Hospital (Gastrointestinal and Metabolic Disorder Clinics, Feeding Consultation Service), thus refining her expertise in pediatric psychology. While providing assessment and treatment services directly related to complex medical conditions and procedures (e.g., fears, adjustment), she also worked with children and adolescents with a variety of presenting problems including anxiety, depression and parent-child relationship problems. She also worked extensively with children and adolescents with learning problems, attention and behavior problems, developmental disabilities, and autism-spectrum disorders.
Dr. Pettigrew's wealth of experience working with children across a wide range of ages and complex presentations enables her to provide comprehensive and individualized assessment, treatment, and consultation services for your child. Her practice therefore specializes in services for children and adolescents, and their parents, in the areas of mental health, behavior, development, and learning difficulties.
Dr. Pettigrew combines a cognitive-behavioral approach with a family-centered, attachment-based perspective. She draws on her experience working with complex problems to determine which therapeutic interventions will be most helpful to your child or adolescent and uses empirically-supported therapeutic interventions. Her approach is always guided by the developmental age and interests of your child, and where appropriate, play therapy and other hands-on activities (e.g., art) may also be incorporated into her practice. She is always happy to consult with other professionals involved in your child's life (e.g., teachers, physicians).
Overall, Dr. Pettigrew strives to offer a comfortable and collaborative experience for children, adolescents and parents. Her goal is to work with you and your child, and other important people in your child's life to understand your child's needs and help him or her thrive.