Currently accepting assessment and therapy clients for a start date of June 1, 2025. Self-referrals are accepted. Contact now by emailing info@drktm.ca or fill out inquiry form here
Dr. Kim Tan-MacNeill
About
About Dr. Kim
Dr. Kim Tan-MacNeill completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS and did her psychology residency at Surrey Place, Toronto, ON. During her training she specialized in working with children, teens, young adults, and caregivers. Following completion of her doctorate, she provided intervention and assessment for children and teens, and parent support counselling / behavioural coaching to parents and caregivers at IWK Health Community Mental Health & Addictions for 4 years. ​Dr. Kim is registered with the Nova Scotia Board of Examiners in Psychology (NSBEP), and a member of both the Association of Psychologists of Nova Scotia (APNS) and the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA).
Dr. Kim has a gentle, creative, and fun approach to assessment and intervention. She is known for bringing arts and crafts, music, and movie, TV, and game references into the therapy office. She focuses on meeting clients where they're at and journeying with them.
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She takes a child-centric approach to assessment, making sure that clients have plenty of breaks and are motivated to do their best. She believes in empowering children and teens and their parents to understand themselves and how/why their minds work the way they do, then take that knowledge and go make a difference in the world!
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When she's not practicing psychology, Dr. Kim enjoys spending time with her family and playing music. She is the Director of Music at Saint Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Halifax, NS, where she plays the pipe organ and directs several choirs. She was previously Vice President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists Halifax Centre.
Providing High-Quality Assessments
Dr. Kim is highly trained in standardized psychoeducational and psychodiagnostic assessment of children and teens, particularly for assessing ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, learning disorders, intellectual disabilities, and common mental health disorders (anxiety, depression, OCD). She is skilled at differential diagnosis (i.e., distinguishing between whether symptoms are caused by a neurodevelopmental disorder or a mental health concern).
When it comes to assessment, Dr. Kim is extremely passionate about three things:
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1. Providing comprehensive, rigorous, and nuanced assessments for children and youth who may have ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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2. Ensuring that families fully understand the results of the assessment at the feedback session.
3. Ensuring that the final written assessment report is practical, user-friendly, and written in language that makes sense to parents and teachers, not just other health professionals.
Specialized Therapy & Intervention
​Dr. Kim draws from extensive training and experience providing evidence based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), and applied behavioural interventions. She incorporates narrative therapy and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) strategies as needed.
Dr. Kim tailors strategies to meet every child's unique needs and interests. She is known for bringing arts, crafts, music, and media into the therapy office -- from squashing "worry bugs" to discussing how cool axolotls are to finding parallels between a client's personal story and their favourite TV show. Dr. Kim loves helping children, teens, and parents understand and shape their stories (a long time ago, she did a degree in English and Creative Writing!).
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Dr. Kim works with school-age children, teenagers, and young adults. She upholds parents/caregivers as an integral part of their children's lives and strongly includes them in the therapy process. The younger a child is, the more parents can expect to be in the therapy office with their child. For very young children (approximately age 5 and younger), Dr. Kim works directly with parents to empower and coach them on how to manage difficult behaviours.