REGISTERED PSYCHOLOGIST

Marcella has vast experience as a psychologist in Calgary working with hundreds of children, families, parents, and adults. Her work with clients has been highly influential in shaping her views around the great importance of belonging and security in relationships.

Before opening Nurture Psychology, Marcella worked with traumatized children, youth, and families in a sexual abuse treatment program that she coordinated in Calgary. She has also worked in the Montreal public school system as a school counsellor.

Throughout her career, her work has heavily focused on developmental and attachment traumas. Her specialty is supporting children, youth, families, couples, and adults in a wide range of diverse challenges, including but not limited to attachment insecurity, abuse, neglect, trauma, PTSD, anxiety, including childhood separation anxiety, depression, anger, separation/divorce, parenting/co-parenting, grief and loss, bullying, academic and behavioural challenges, parent-child conflict, and marital dissatisfaction and conflict.

Marcella’s areas of focus with adults is trauma reprocessing through Internal Family Systems (IFS) Treatment or Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Treatment, child and youth psychology through play-based approaches and expressive art, and family and couples counselling through Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT).

She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Guelph University in Guelph, Ontario and obtained a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
Marcella is a Registered Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists and a member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), the Psychologists Association of Alberta (PAA), the Alberta Play Therapy Association (APTA), the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT), and the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA).

She has completed the 75-hour Red Stream Advanced Theory and Techniques in Play Therapy Course and the 75-hour Green Stream Certificate in Foundations of Play Therapy with the Rocky Mountain Play Therapy Institute, as well as additional training in play-based techniques through the Alberta Play Therapy Association, the League of Extraordinary Adlerian Play Therapists, and Learn to Play Events, as well as advanced training for Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy for use with children, youth, adults, and even groups (families or couples!). Marcella has also completed an Externship in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy® and the 52-hour Core Skills Training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy® with the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT).

When Marcella is not seeing clients, she is deeply passionate about spending time with her own family, traveling the world to go on new adventures, and trying out new tasty recipes! She loves singing, storytelling, bouncy castles, playing, and as you can see on the website, bunnies and piglets.

In addition to her private practice at Nurture Psychology, Marcella is a Director and co-founder of Calgary Reconnect Counselling Group, which operates two relational psychology service branches: Kids Reconnect and Couples Reconnect.

Find Marcella’s profile on Psychology Today.

Find Marcella’s profile on the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) Therapist Directory.

As a psychologist in Calgary, Marcella specializes in treating any of the following concerns:

• Child trauma
• Adult trauma or PTSD with EMDR therapy
• Separation anxiety therapy
• Sexual abuse treatment
• Child behavioural concerns or reactive attachment disorder
• Parent counselling
• Couples counselling for healing insecure attachment