Kate Holmberg is a Registered
Provisional Psychologist at Kids Reconnect
who uses her strengths-focused,
caring and empathetic
Superpowers to help Calgary children,
(including neurodivergent kids,
whose brains work a little differently)
to explore and develop their own
Superpower skills and strengths.
Kate’s Superhero Story
Attention Parents
Before your first session, you can share this story
with your child. Parents can also scroll below
to read about Kate’s professional experience
as a Registered Provisional Psychologist
in her professional bio.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Kate, and when this story starts, she felt invisible.
“Invisible? How was Kate invisible?” you might ask
Well, it wasn’t the typical fun superpower of invisibility. You know, where you can walk through walls or pull pranks without getting caught?
No, this kind of invisibility came from her brain working a little bit differently than other people’s. She wasn’t really invisible; she just felt that others did not really see her or understand her.
“Am I invisible?” Kate would sigh. She wondered sadly, just asking why.
She couldn’t walk through walls or hide, she just felt unseen, deep down inside.
Grown-ups told Kate that she “talked too fast”. They also said that she was “too sensitive” and ”too dramatic” because she cried easily.
How did what grown-ups say make her feel?
Well, she didn’t like it one bit.
It hurt Kate’s feelings. It felt like a lightning bolt hit her heart.
She didn’t think she was being dramatic or acting out. She just felt just passionate about life!
Kate knew she felt things deeply but didn’t like how others made her feel like she was dramatic for having big feelings.
What was going on with Kate? Was she really “too much”?
No! Kate was just super excited about an idea she had and wanted to share it. And she had lots and lots of ideas.
Her mind worked so fast, building interesting ideas. It was like having a big garden, full of feelings, with lots of sunshine and lovely flowers that bloomed really fast.
This all meant that she felt feelings deeply and experienced the world a little differently.
Not wrong. Not better or worse than any other kid. Not “too much” at all. Just a little differently.
But when she kept hearing that she was “too much”, over and over, for a while, she started to feel that maybe she was wrong or a bad kid for expressing herself.
She felt that nobody understood her. That was a very sad and lonely feeling. But fortunately, it did not last!
So how did Kate realize that having big feelings and being talkative were actually Superhero strengths?
Well, one day, Kate began working with kids who also experienced the world differently.
That’s when she realized that a lot of kids (amazing, wonderful kids, just like her!) also felt invisible, or different, and that they are often told that they are “too much” or “too dramatic”. But they’re not.
Kate figured out that she was not the only one who felt deeply. In fact, feeling deeply is a Superpower!
Her Superpower to feel big emotions helped her connect to other people’s feelings.
She also realized she wasn’t “too much” of anything, but rather was fully herself. A passionate, expressive, and positive person with so much to give the world!
When she grew up, Kate went to university to become a psychologist. Now she shares her Superhero strengths with other kids, teens, and adults, in playful child therapy sessions at Kids Reconnect. Kate loves helping kids and teens explore and discover their own Superpower strengths to sparkle as bright as the sun.
“Caring and empathic responding is a key stepping-stone for change.
Every child is different and requires different nourishment to grow and thrive.”
—Kate Holmberg, Registered Provisional Psychologist
Kate’s Professional Bio
Kate Holmberg is a Registered Provisional Psychologist on the Kids Reconnect child therapist team. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Distinction from the University of Calgary, and a Master of Counselling in Counselling Psychology from Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada. Kate is provisionally registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) and is currently completing her hours towards full CAP registration under the supervision of Natalie Bergman, DCP, RPsych at the Kids Reconnect child psychology clinic.
Kate loves helping kids overcome different kinds of challenges.
As a strengths-focused therapist, Kate has an emotional clarity and compassion that enable her to visualize and bring to the forefront the strong Superhero sparkle in every child, even when it’s hiding behind complex diagnoses or a variety of challenges.
Whether a challenge is big or small, super difficult or just a little bit hard, it can feel overwhelming for a child, adolescent, or their parents. Kate is highly experienced at supporting kids with all kinds of different challenges they might be facing, such as struggling with identity, difficulty making friends, communicating their needs, or developing a positive, healthy sense of self, and tapping into their many strengths to overcome them, grow, and thrive.
She has a special place in her heart for kids and teens whose brains are neurodivergent, and supporting and engaging parents in family systems. Her professional experience includes counselling neurodivergent children and youth, early childhood intervention for children who have a primary diagnosis of ASD, group counselling facilitation for neurodivergent kids, social skills counselling for youth, crisis intervention, and facilitating psychoeducation and skill training for parents and caregivers.
Every child’s brain, whether neurotypical or neurodiverse, is super special. Kate’s specialty is helping it sparkle and shine.
Kate is passionate about supporting kids, teens, and their parents and families with the challenges that often come with neurodivergent brains, such as ADHD, autism, and learning differences. In her work with kids and teens, she uses a variety of strengths-based approaches, including narrative therapy, motivational interviewing, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help children and adolescents overcome challenges and grow towards their fullest potential.
Whether your child, adolescent, or family’s social, emotional, and relational challenge is smaller, like difficulty making friends and moving to a new school, or more complex, such as figuring out how to use your neurodivergent brain Superpowers, Kate believes in you. She is excited to meet you and your Superhero child or teen where you are, and can’t wait to see your sparkle grow and shine ever brighter.
