Staff profiles

Senior Management Team
Gráinne Parish

Managing Director

Gráinne (pronounced Grawn.ya) is an Irish qualified Psychologist with a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology from University College Dublin. Having worked in the UAE since 2009, she founded Insights Psychology, a small specialist psychology practice in Dubai in 2017. She is motivated to provide high quality and high integrity support services to the community in the UAE and wider Gulf region.
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Jolene Palmer

Senior and Supervising Psychologist

Jolene Palmer is a South African national, and professional masters graduate, with over ten years experience in South Africa, US and UAE. She is a registered Psychologist with the Community Development Authority Dubai. Jolene is a senior and supervising psychologist at Insights, with oversight of the assessment team and supervision of complex assessment cases. Jolene also holds a limited caseload of counselling clients.
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Sarah Wedel

Clinical Director and Head of Speech and Language Services

Sarah Wedel is a DHA licensed Speech and Language Therapist with ten years clinical experience in Dubai and the UK. In addition to her role as head of speech and language therapy, Sarah is the designated DHA clinical director of services, responsible for implementation of DHA regulations, monitoring standards of care and safeguarding for clients and staff.
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Natalie Reed

Head of Occupational Therapy Services

Natalie Reed is the Head of the Occupational Therapy Department at Insights. Natalie is an Occupational Therapist with an Honours degree from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and has worked in both clinical and educational settings in South Africa and the Middle East. Having lived in Dubai since January 2016, Natalie has extensive multi-cultural experience and a deep understanding of the education and health systems in the UAE. Natalie is Certified in Ayres’ Sensory Integration and is licensed with the Dubai Healthcare Authority.
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Psychology: Assessment Specialists
Kelly Pugin

Educational Psychologist

Kelly Pugin holds a professional Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology and is registered Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the Community Development Authority, Dubai.
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Dr Leanne O'Brien

Educational Psychologist

Dr Leanne O’Brien holds a Doctorate in Applied Educational Psychology (DAppEdPsy) from Newcastle University, accredited by The British Psychological Society (BPS). She is a registered Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the UK. She is a licensed Psychologist with the Community Development Authority Dubai.
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Jacqui Lawson

Counselling Psychologist

Jacqueline Lawson (Jacqui) holds a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology and an Honours Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of South Africa. She is also qualified as a NLP practitioner, clinical hypnotherapist and Time Line therapist with the American Board of NLP. Jacqui is licensed with the Community Development Authority Dubai and is registered with the British Psychological Society and the Australian Counselling Association.
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Helen Douglas

Educational Psychologist

Helen Douglas holds a Masters of Science (MSc) in Educational Psychology from Nottingham University, accredited by The British Psychological Society, of which she is an Associate Fellow (AFBPsS). She is a registered Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the UK.
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Dr Katie Kemp

Educational Psychologist

Dr Katie Kemp holds a Doctorate in Applied Educational Psychology (DAppEdPsy) from University of Nottingham accredited by The British Psychological Society (BPS). She is a registered Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the UK. She has practiced as an Educational Psychologist for local authorities within the UK.
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Dr Dean Woliter

Educational Psychologist

Dr Dean Woliter holds a Doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Birmingham England. He is both a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate fellow (AFBPsS) of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Dr Woliter is a registered Psychologist with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC) in the UK.
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Psychology: Counselling and Therapy Specialists
Leyli Afsari

Psychotherapist

Leyli is a UK trained Psychotherapist specializing in working with children, adolescents, and parents. She holds a Master’s degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy from the University of Strathclyde, a Bachelor’s Honors degree in Psychology with Counselling Skills from Middlesex University, and she is currently pursuing her PhD in Psychology at Hariot-Watt University. She has worked as a counsellor in both Dubai and the UK and she is registered with the Community Development Authority, Dubai.
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Lindi Nhlapo

Counselling Psychologist

Lindi holds a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology from South Africa. She is a licensed Psychologist with the Community Development Authority Dubai. She has 10 years experience working as a Counselling Psychologist. Lindi is a mental health specialist with a keen interest in family mental health, and competencies across age groups including adolescents and adults. As an experienced and flexible practitioner, Lindi uses a range of blended therapies to meet the needs of clients in her care including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Supportive Psychotherapy, Person Centered Approach and Systemic Approach.
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Muna Al Khezam

Group Therapy Coordinator

Muna holds a BA in Psychology from New York University Abu Dhabi and a MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is also a member of the British Psychology Society and is a licensed Assistant Psychologist with the Community Development Authority.
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Remo Poulsen

Clinical Psychologist

Remo is a psychologist from Denmark who holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Copenhagen. He is a registered Psychologist with the Community Development Authority, Dubai.
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Kati Mencer

Play Therapist

Kati Mencer is a Play Therapist and Parent Coach. She has a Master of Science in Counselling, Child, Family and Marriage Therapy from California State University, Hayward, USA. Kati is a seasoned practitioner with 20 years of experience working with children and adolescents.
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Therapists
Leah Karacinski

Speech and Language Therapist

Leah Karacinski is a paediatric Speech and Language Therapist with a BSc. Honours degree from Birmingham City University in the UK. Since graduating in 2010, Leah has worked in both clinical and educational settings in Dubai. She is licensed with the Dubai Healthcare Authority.
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Jazz Bumbra

Speech and Language Therapist

Jazz is a DHA Licensed and UK trained Speech and Language Therapist with eleven years of experience, who has worked with children with a wide range of speech and language difficulties in mainstream schools, special educational needs schools, hospitals, and early intervention clinics internationally.
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Steph Love

Speech and Language therapist

Steph Love is a Speech and Language Therapist with a Bachelor of Science (BSc, Hons) from the University of Reading. She completed a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree in 2020 adding to her experience in the UK where she remains registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). She is licensed with the Dubai Health Authority.
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Miriam Mahdi

Occupational therapist

Miriam is an occupational therapist registered with The Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) in the UK and The Irish Regulatory Body for Health & Social Care Professionals, CORU. She is also licensed with the Dubai Healthcare Authority (DHA). She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science from University College of Cork, in 2011 focusing on Special Education and Psychology. Miriam went on to study Occupational Therapy at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh where she received a Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Therapy in 2014.
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Administration and Support Staff
Swimmu Zacharias

Swimmu is the administration assistant at Insights. She is from Kerala, India, and she has an MBA in Human Relations
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Jeniffer Posas

Jeniffer is an administration assistant at Insights. She is from Manila, Philippines and completed Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
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Claude Elemos

Claude is an Admin Assistant at Insights and the first point of contact for enquiries. She is originally from Philippines and finished her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts.
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