Carly McMorris, PhD

Dr. Carly McMorris has a PhD in Clinical-Developmental Psychology from York University (Toronto, Ontario). She completed her clinical internship at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids; Toronto, Ontario), and is a registered psychologist in Alberta (#4997). In the fall of 2015, she moved to Calgary and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary and the Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Dr. McMorris joined the Werklund School of Education in 2016 as an Assistant Professor in the School and Applied Child Psychology program.

Dr. McMorris’ program of research focuses on how to improve the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), such as autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and cerebral palsy. She is particularly interested in understanding the risk/protective factors for the development of mental health issues in NDDs. She also investigates the underlying neuropsychological, social, neurological, and physiological mechanisms of mental health issues in NDDs, and how such issues impact children and families. Additionally, she examines the service use patterns and needs, and barriers/facilitators to accessing services for families of individuals with NDDs and co-occurring mental health issues. Lastly, her research aims to determine the effectiveness of psychological (e.g., CBT) and pharmacological interventions for individuals with NDDs and mental health issues.