Psychoeducational Assessment · Calgary
An honest, in-depth look at how your child learns — cognitive, academic, and social-emotional. The kind of assessment that gives you real answers, and a written report your school can actually use. About 12–14 hours of work, billed hourly — you only pay for what gets done.
How a psychoed unfolds
Every psychoed at Bench follows the same arc — so you and your child always know what's coming next. No surprises along the way.
Phase 1
A 1-hour video call. You share what you've been noticing — at home, at school, in homework. I help you figure out whether a full psychoed is the right fit for your child, or whether something more targeted makes more sense.
~1 hour · billed · video
Phase 2
About 4–5 hours of testing, split across two visits in two-hour blocks. Built around what your child can actually focus on — hoodies, candy on the desk, testing breaks built in. Not a lab coat in sight.
4–5 hours total · in person · across two visits
Phase 3
A 1-hour feedback call to walk you through what we found, followed by a plain-language written report. The kind your school will read carefully — and act on.
Feedback ~3–4 weeks after testing Report ~1 week later
Want the full walkthrough? See what to expect →
If any of this sounds familiar
You’re in the right place. A psychoed is exactly the kind of assessment built to sort through this.
Reading is still hard by grade 3. The IPP isn't doing what you hoped it would.
School feels harder than it should — even though your child is bright. You can't quite figure out why.
You're trying to tell if it's ADHD, anxiety, a learning difference — or something underneath all of it.
The work, in plain language
A psychoed is how we figure out how your child's brain learns — what's coming easily, what's getting in the way, and what specifically the school can do about it.
It starts with a 1-hour video call. You tell me what you’ve been noticing at home, what the school’s been saying, and we look at any prior reports, IPPs, or doctor’s notes you’ve gathered. That conversation is where we figure out whether a psychoed is the right fit for your child.
Then testing — about 4–5 hours, split into two-hour blocks across two visits. I follow up with your child’s teacher by email for a sense of what they’re seeing in the classroom. Then a 1-hour feedback call to walk you through what came up, and a written report about a week after that.
Standardized instruments used
WISC-V — cognitive measures (ages 6–16).
WIAT-4 — academic measures.
CBRS — Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales (parent, teacher, and self-report for ages 11+).
If the intake suggests a specific question — anxiety, executive function, language, adaptive skills — we’ll add the relevant tools (like the Vineland) and I’ll explain which ones and why before testing starts.
Split across separate visits. Built around how a child can actually focus — no marathon days.
Something tactile and sweet within reach. A small thing that takes the pressure off.
Casual on purpose. Children relax faster when no one's performing authority — and a relaxed child gives you a real picture.
When they need a few minutes to switch off, they switch off. Then we come back.
Want the full walkthrough of testing day, hour by hour? See what to expect →
The report
The written report is built for the educators who’ll read it — designed to support an Individualized Program Plan under the Calgary Board of Education, or a Learning Support Plan under Calgary Catholic.
It names your child’s strengths and challenges in plain language. It recommends specific accommodations the testing data supports. It suggests strategies for home and homework. And where outside-school programs would help — tutoring, OT, speech-language, counselling — it points to those too.
Start the conversationBench Psychology · Calgary
A diagnosis is a description of how your child’s brain works. It’s not a sentence.
Pricing
A full psychoed runs about 12–14 hours of work — intake, testing, teacher consult, scoring, feedback, and the written report. We bill hourly at $240, and you only pay for what gets done. In the intake call, I’ll talk you through a real range scoped to your child’s specific situation. No flat-fee guess, no surprise add-ons.
Full pricing & FAQ$240/ hour
Billed hourly. About 12–14 hours total for a full psychoed.
The intake is the first hour of the assessment, billed at $240.
About Vanessa
“I’m Vanessa. I’m a registered psychologist in Alberta, and I built Bench because I wanted to do assessment work the way it should be done — patiently, in plain language, and in a setting that doesn’t make children feel like they’re being studied. My master’s at the University of Calgary was three years focused on one thing: assessment. Since 2022 I’ve worked with Calgary school boards and with families from every income tier. I wear hoodies to work. I work in two-hour blocks because that’s how a child actually sits. There’s candy on the desk.”
Vanessa Rankin, M.Ed., R. Psych. · More about Vanessa →
Frequently asked
The four questions that come up most often during psychoed intakes — covered here so you can read them on your own time before the call.
When you’re ready
An intake is a 1-hour video call. You tell me what you’ve been seeing, what you’ve already tried, and what you’re hoping to learn. I’ll tell you whether a psychoed is the right fit for your child — and if something else makes more sense, I’ll tell you that too. You’ll leave the call with more clarity than you came in with. That part I can promise.
The intake is the first hour of the assessment, billed at $240. A free 15-minute consult call or email is always an option first.
