Charlene Assenheimer Psychological Services

Hello I'm Charlene Assenheimer. I moved to the Barrhead area 30 years ago to marry my husband and to build a family on a mixed farm. We have two grown children; one who currently resides and works in Edmonton and another who works and lives in Halifax; and our amazing Grandson just turned one!  I love working with children and I worked in Education at Pembina Hills for 20 years.

I began as a program assistant while I finished my undergraduate degree in psychology from Athabasca University. As a program assistant, I learned the importance of building a trusting relationship with the child I was assigned to support. I did this by acknowledging his/her areas of weakness while emphasizing his/her areas of strength.

After attending Concordia University for two years and completing my Bachelor of Education; I became a teacher in 2006. I learned that inclusive education is best for creating the most empowered, empathetic and community minded members of society. I have over 10 years of teaching experience in grades 5-9 with a focus on Language Arts and Social Studies. I am certain that I learned far more from my students than they learned from me and I am eternally grateful. I loved being a teacher and still consider myself one.

While I was teaching, I noticed that many children had emotional problems that needed to be supported so I became a school counsellor. I gained 10 years experience counselling students aged 5-19 as a teacher counsellor. Counselling taught me how to support students and their emotional intelligence. While I have supported many diverse counselling needs, I always focus on empowering students with strategies to learn to solve their own unique problems. I also learned that anxiety is at the root of many problems and chose to focus on specific strategies to cope with it.

While I was very happy as a teacher and counsellor, I knew I could do more to support our most vulnerable students. I started a Master's of Applied School and Child Psychology with the University of Calgary which I completed in 2018. Completing this degree while working full time was very challenging. I learned how assessment can be used to very specifically identify a student's strengths and weaknesses. I then combine my expertise with the student, their family and school team to create programs to support them to be their best.

In 2014, I became the principal of a small K-9 school and after two years transferred to a large 7-12 school as an associate principal and student services coordinator. As a leader, I learned how to bring out the best in people, created welcoming, inclusive spaces and effective teams to do what's best for kids. In 2018, I moved to work with our district team and served the district as a Provisional Psychologist and Coordinator. In this role, I was able to hone my skills as a psychologist and supported some of the most vulnerable students, their teachers and families. I finally became the psychologist I wanted to be.

In December 2019, I received my registration as a Psychologist from the College of Alberta Psychologists. I accepted a position in January 2020 as a Psychologist with Children's Autism Services of Edmonton and have enjoyed the privilege of working with some very special kids and their families.

After completing over 100 Autism Spectrum Disorder assessments and supporting staff and families I have finely tuned my differential assessment and intervention skills. I have learned that a compassionate professional relationship continues to be vital for success and that inspiring hope even in the most challenging situations is always more important than any diagnosis. I continue to believe that all solutions lie within the individual and by carefully listening and learning, powerful solutions can be found together.

I am excited to be able to continue to serve my community through my private practice. My office is located at FCSS in Barrhead. Virtual sessions are available upon request. I am also travelling to serve our treasured indigenous communities. Please contact me. I look forward to working with you.