RelatedMinds Psychological Services
Dr. Jim Roche, PhD, JD, CAGS
B.C. Lic. Psych. 1610
CRHSP (Canadian Register of Health Service Psychologists)
email: drjimroche@gmail.com
Phone: (825) 773-3715

Services: Diagnostic Assessment for ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder
and Educational Issues (Psychoeducational Assessments)
Behavioural (CBT) and Narrative Therapy

Clinical Psychology Practice: What I Do
I am a licensed psychologist. My practice is focused on diagnostic assessments and treatment for ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Specific Learning Disabilities, including psychoeducational assessments. I also see adolescent and adult clients for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Narrative Therapy, and Behaviour Therapy, for issues including anxiety, mild depression, and behavioural concerns. I hold an advanced certificate in cognitive therapy from the Albert Ellis Institute in New York and was supervised by Dr. Albert Ellis.

I currently have openings for adolescent and adult autism and ADHD assessments and therapy, psychoeducational assessments, and parent consultations on behavioural issues. I am available in person and by video or phone when appropriate. Initial contact is often best by email. Just press the email button above. You can also contact me by phone at: (825) 773-3715. Please, when leaving any messages or emails, always include a phone number. I will respond within ten days at the most. If you don't hear from me in that time, please try again.

Background
My career started in the classroom as a special education teacher. After earning my doctorate in psychology, I became a behaviour management specialist in New York, California, and then here in British Columbia. I trained and supervised special education teachers and psychologists. I became Chief Psychologist at Kirby Forensic Hospital in New York and was appointed to the clinical faculty at NYU and Bellevue hospitals. I later earned a law degree, focusing on mental health issues, and served as an expert witness for the state in civil and criminal cases in New York.

Off and on, for over a decade, I consulted with military members and their families through the Department of Defense, working with DoD schools in Europe and Asia. When my family moved to the Bay Area, I returned to school-based work as a behaviour specialist for a SELPA, a consortium of school districts, again training teachers and psychologists and handling the more complex legal cases. Here in British Columbia, I have worked with school districts across the province, from Maple Ridge to Northern BC, providing assessments and training programs for teachers as a provincial outreach worker in the field of behaviour and autism..

This range of experience is not incidental. I feel strongly that assessments and recommendations are only useful if they take account of how families, schools, and workplaces actually function. A recommendation that a teacher or employer cannot realistically implement is not a useful recommendation. I know that from having been in the classroom, from having supervised other teachers, from having been in the room when implementation goes wrong.

About Therapy
Therapy costs are $260 per hour Canadian. My focus with testing and assessment is complemented with intervention and individual therapy. I usually use a variety of techniques, starting with CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). CBT is a therapy that focuses on how we think and process information. How we think influences how we feel and CBT addresses these thinking issues. CBT is designed as a short-term intervention. It is about learning and practicing a set of cognitive skills. It is a widely researched and usually an effective process that, after a while, you should be able to use on your own, independently. I am also trained in other talk-therapy methods. I was a registered Marriage and Family Therapist for over 20 years, and received my advanced certificate in the field as well as a year of supervised training. Family Systems Therapy is the main focus in this process. Many people come to me for what is referred to as “Narrative Therapy,” which looks at how we see ourselves and our own story, and how we can use skills to change that narrative. Each session usually uses CBT to teach skills to address thinking patterns, anxiety, and depressive thoughts, and then a period of a more narrative approach where you guide our direction as much as I do. We work collaboratively. Then, we usually summarize our session, maybe plan some homework or skill practice, and plan for the next session. All of this is flexible and responsive to you being comfortable and confident in what we are doing. I also work with clients with OCD and Selective Mutism, teaching patients, caregivers and teachers behavioural strategies they can use.

Current Availability
I have openings for the following:
Individual Therapy
Adolescent and Adult Autism Assessments
Comprehensive Adolescent and Adult ADHD Assessments and Consultation
Psychoeducational Assessments
Parent consultations on behavioural issues
Narrative therapy, CBT, skills training for executive function, and study skills support for students
I also continue to support families with adoption assessments and parenting support.

For my Psychology Today page, click below:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists/jim-roche-burnaby-bc/70682