Stephen Butler, Ph.D., Registered Psychologist
Dr. Stephen Butler is a child clinical psychologist and full professor at the University of Prince Edward Island, dedicated to helping children, adolescents, young adults, parents and families thrive. With over 30 years of experience, he brings warmth, expertise and a deep commitment to evidence-based care. Dr. Butler earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Ottawa and has worked in child mental health services across Ontario and London, United Kingdom, providing assessment and treatment in both community and private practice settings. He has also held leadership roles training and supervising psychologists, shaping service development and teaching doctoral students and mental health professionals for more than two decades.
Dr. Butler’s approach is collaborative, compassionate and grounded in current research. He works with clients to build a shared understanding of their challenges and strengths, then develops treatment plans tailored to their values, preferences and pace. His style emphasizes ongoing reflection—reviewing progress, adjusting strategies, and ensuring that care remains meaningful and effective. Whether working with individuals or families, he focuses on fostering self-awareness, self-compassion, stronger communication and practical skills that lead to lasting change.
Dr. Butler has extensive experience providing evidence-informed assessment and treatment for emotional, behavioural and social difficulties in children, adolescents and young adults. His clinical work spans a wide range of concerns, including ADHD, anxiety disorders, panic and fears, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, behavioural challenges and periods of unhappiness or distress. He also supports families navigating conflict, parent-child relationship difficulties and stress related to life transitions.
In addition to therapeutic care, Dr. Butler conducts psychoeducational assessments for learning difficulties, offering tailored recommendations to parents and schools that help children succeed academically and socially. His expertise further extends to court-related assessments involving parent-child conflict, child maltreatment and youth offending. Across all areas of practice, Dr. Butler integrates the latest psychological knowledge with a recognition of each client’s uniqueness—helping people discover what works best for them and supporting meaningful improvements in their lives and relationships.
At CRUX, Dr. Butler provides individual therapy and family therapy online through easy-to-use technologies like Zoom. He works with children (5 to 10 years of age), adolescents (11 to 18 years of age) and young adults (19 to 25 years of age). Dr. Butler is a licensed psychologist registered with the Prince Edward Island Psychologists Registration Board. Psychologists who are fully registered in other Canadian jurisdictions (such as Prince Edward Island) can provide online services to residents of other provinces. Dr. Butler works with clients from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. For a copy of Dr. Butler’s CV, click here.