Catherine (Katie) Musgrove
MEd, RPsych
SHE/HER
REGISTERED PSYCHOLOGIST
CERTIFIED AUTPLAY THERAPY PROVIDER
CERTIFIED SAFE & SOUND PROTOCOL (SSP) PROVIDER
QUALITIES
A silly pun just for FUN!
Click to see if you like this oneWhat did the cow confess to his therapist?
“I feel seen but not herd.”
Katie Musgrove is a Registered Psychologist
in EmPOWERland at Kids Reconnect.
She is super AMOOsing, playful, kind,
and has a brilliant mind.
Katie uses her MOOst awesome Superpowers
as a Registered Psychologist
to help kids their own Superpowers find.
(And In case you wondered,
Registered Psychologist
is just an official, grown-up way
of saying “Feelings Helper.”)
Katie’s Superhero Story
Attention Parents
Before your first session, you can share
this story with your child.
You can also scroll below to read about
Katie’s professional experience and expertise
as a child therapist in her professional bio.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Katie who got in trouble at school.
Well, her actual official name was Catherine, but everyone called her Katie and she loved that. So let’s call her Katie; it’s such a beautiful name, too!
How Katie got in trouble at school
As we were saying, Katie was not exactly behaving super well. When this story starts, she got in trouble with some kids at school. A couple of older kids were throwing rocks at a cow who was eating in the field next to their schoolyard. Katie was scared to say something, but she did. That was so brave.
“It’s not okay to be unkind to anyone,” she explained. She grabbed a rock and yelled at them. “How would you like it if I threw rocks at you!” Just then, a teacher saw her and thought it was Katie who was being unkind.
So Katie got in trouble. The teacher sent her to the principal’s office, and she was given ”A Good Talking To.”
How some tricky terrible feelings started
Katie could not even hear what the principal was saying. She was angry and sad and hurt, all at the same time. She cried so hard that she could not really explain that she did not throw the rocks at the cow.
As Katie felt many feelings, all at once, it seemed to her like nobody understood her or cared. She didn’t know what to do to feel better, so she sort of gave up trying to behave better. For about a whole month she stopped doing well in school. She even stopped playing with her friends!
The worst part was that when they thought she couldn’t hear them, some adults in Katie’s world who did not know any better, said some pretty harsh things.
(But hey grown-ups, kids are always listening! And they need kindness.)
Katie could hear what those grown-ups said about her. Things like: “Ugh, Katie is acting out again”. Or they would even say to her: “Why are you being so difficult?” and “What is wrong with you?”
(Yikes! Well, sometimes we just don’t know any better.)
You can tell that Katie was NOT a terrible child!
One day, Katie heard a grown-up say to another: “Katie is a terrible child.” (Which is a very unkind thing to think or say about a child, by the way!)
Katie did not understand what she heard meant, exactly. She wasn’t trying to be difficult or to act out in terrible ways on purpose. And she was NOT a terrible child. There was nothing wrong with Katie, and by reading her story, you know that – but she didn’t, at the time.
In her heart, when Katie heard grown-ups say those things, she felt terrible. To be clear, she was NOT terrible, but hearing what all these grown-ups said made her feel terrible. So she started to think that maybe she was a terrible child and that maybe something was wrong with her.
That was a terrible feeling for a kid to hold in her hurt heart. But not for long, fortunately, because…
Then Katie met a brilliant psychologist
Everything changed when one day, Katie started seeing a very smart and kind psychologist. She helped Katie to figure out her feelings and what was going on in her world. What her feelings felt like and when they started. They did play therapy and had lots of fun. When she was calm, Katie could talk about everything with her therapist. Together, they figured out what was really behind those tricky behaviours and feelings that were bugging Katie.
Every day, Katie felt safer and stronger. The best part was when she realized that she was NOT a terrible child at all! Terrible things had happened to her, but SHE was not terrible. Just the opposite! Katie was awesome in so many ways.
How Katie found her Superpowers
Together, they had the awesome idea of doing a “show and tell” at school about being kind to animals. Katie got permission to bring in a calf (a baby cow) and a baby goat to school. She did a “show and tell” and explained to all the kids how beautiful and kind animals are. Her class loved that! After that day, they were always kind to animals, so don’t worry, the cow was alright. Then all the kids painted rocks in different colours and made a big heart sculpture in the schoolyard.
With her counsellor’s help, Katie discovered how awesome she really was in her heart and mind. Katie was brave, kind, and super smart. What’s more, she was also great at explaining and teaching. Plus, she was also a super funny kid. She could make anyone laugh! Those were her Superpowers to grow and thrive.
How Katie helps kids as a psychologist
With the therapist’s help, Katie discovered what a brilliant kid she really was!
Then she studied a lot, and when she grew up, she became a brilliant psychologist herself. Her specialty is helping kids and teenagers to feel better and shine bright with delight. She also helps parents understand their kids and teens, get along better, and have way more fun.
In her work as a therapist, Katie loves helping kids and teens manage their tricky, yucky feelings that don’t feel all right at all. She helps their hearts heal if they hurt and they figure out fun ways to feel better.
Together, they find out what is really behind big feelings and behaviours that can be a bit “meh”, out of sorts, pretty bad, or even quite terrible. It can mean that something has happened before or is happening now. That’s where a brilliant therapist like Katie can help kids out.
With the help of a kind Feelings Helper,
there’s a lot we can figure out
We can do better and feel better every day.
Our feelings can change – isn’t that great?!
Katie can’t wait to go on a MOOst awesome therapy adventure with you!
Katie’s Professional Bio
Catherine (Katie) Musgrove is a Registered Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP). She holds a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Lethbridge, and is a Certified AutPlay Therapy Provider and a Certified Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) Provider.
Katie’s specialty is working with children and parents, and she has a special place in her heart for adolescents. For over nine years, she has developed her expertise working with kids ages two to seventeen in group therapy, in-home, community agencies, educational, and (playful!) clinical settings.
Her emotional exploration skills run deep. Where parents and caregivers might see a big feeling or meltdown challenge that shows up in their child as anxiety, anger, anguish —or any other presenting condition or concern, such as depression, identity exploration, relational conflict, or trauma— Katie is adept at uncovering what is going on in a child or adolescent’s heart, behind what meets the eye. More importantly, she sees the immense Superpowers within.
Katie believes in kids and their limitless strength and Superpower potential.
With her finely child-attuned heart and mind, Katie sees children’s limitless strength and Superpower potential to overcome any difficulty.
“Focus on the doughnut, not the hole.”
—Dr. Garry L. Landreth
As a child develops their Superpowers and parents connect more closely with them, day-to-day life at home runs smoother and more joyful. That’s when the growing up process —and the parenting experience— become way more fun.
Katie is a highly skilled play therapist and uses a well-honed toolkit of child psychology conceptual frameworks
Katie helps kids and teens to develop their emotional regulation skills, process their emotions, grow, and thrive using a variety of child counselling modalities, including Synergetic Play Therapy, AutPlay Therapy (a neurodiversity-informed and affirming collaborative process designed to value the individual child and highlight their strengths), Sandtray Therapy, and Child-parent Interaction Therapy (Theraplay), Emotion-Focused Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, She also supports parents to better understand their child and their strengths, as well as grow in their own communication and playful parenting skills.
To help children and adolescents, she draws from an impressive roster of both play-based child-led (non-directive) and directive child counselling techniques that are age-appropriate for younger kids, as well as talk-based and art-based therapy modalities suitable for older kids and cool adolescents. The creative splash of humour she brings into therapy makes her sessions both effective and enjoyable.
From their very first session with Katie, feeling seen and heard in an empathetic way —feeling understood, cared about, and joyfully connected with— makes a huge difference in children’s and teens’ lives. She is excited to welcome your child or teen to Kids Reconnect, supporting them on their exciting journey to feeling better and experiencing their life in a fuller, way more fun way.
