Staff profiles

Gráinne Parish (née Boyle) – Head of Department

Gráinne has been working in the Middle East since 2009 and she is passionate about the delivery of world class psychology services in the UAE and wider gulf region.

Gráinne is an assessment specialist, and she conducts assessments from the early years (developmental assessments), and school based assessments (psycho-educational assessments), right up to assessments for neuro-diverse adults in the workplace.

She believes in education and inclusion as a human right and she enjoys enabling people to realise their own potential and reach for their dreams. She brings fresh eyes, a pragmatic and honest approach to supporting the people in her care.

Her areas of specialization include: Learning difficulties in the mainstream setting, autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorders, and language impairments. Gráinne is a trained administrator for the ADOS-II and Griffiths-3.

Dr Haneen Jarrar

During the three years pursuing her PhD, Haneen has worked as an ABA program supervisor at stepping stones center Dubai, as well as a regional director, where her role as director was to monitor screening tests, develop therapy plans, supervise speech therapy & occupational therapy planning, and conduct parental advisory sessions. In 2011 Haneen moved back to Amman, Jordan where she set up a clinic “Atfalona” that aims to provide high quality services to children with special needs. Such service included ABA therapy, developmental assessments, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and psychological counselling. Dr Haneen also helped develop special education sections in mainstream schools, train teachers on inclusion strategies, design and plan community-based intervention plans, and spread awareness utilizing workshops for parents.
Back in Dubai Dr. Haneen has over five years of experience in early intervention work, assessing diagnosing and planning early intervention strategies, as well as supporting children with mental health issues such as Anxiety and Depression. Dr. Haneen uses cognitive behavioural techniques and is patient centred in her approach. Dr. Haneen has an is hoping to share her expertise with families and children at Insights. Dr Haneen is a trained administrator for the ADOS-2.

Kelly Pugin

Kelly believes that every single person is unique. And every single person faces their own set of challenges in their own unique way. Walking alongside individuals on their life paths, helping them discover, accept, appreciate and respect this uniqueness as well as their own methods of negotiating these paths is a passion and a privilege. The passion to support others is inherent, however, the want to pursue educational psychology was borne of her previous career as a teacher, during which she longed to be better equipped to help students discover and embrace their individual strengths, and to ultimately be able to achieve a sense of joy through personal investment into their own journeys.

She has practiced in the areas of psychoeducational assessment, play therapy, school readiness, individual therapies, and counselling. Kelly is a trained administrator for wide range of diagnostic psychology assessments including WISC-V, WIAT-3, CTOPP-2, BASC-3 and Connors-2.

Cynthia Downey

Cynthia Downey is an accomplished, result-oriented psychologist with an extensive track record of assessing emotional, psychosocial and educationally related difficulties in children of school-going age. She is an expert in designing and evaluating standardized measures in order to assess students from diverse backgrounds. Prior to relocating to the UAE in 2018, Cynthia held a number of practitioner and administrator positions for school districts in California, USA. Throughout her career, Cynthia has maintained ties to academia. This included Adjunct Professor positions at the University of California, Riverside Extension, where she lectured in Assessment, Counselling, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties.

Cynthia has a passion for learning and the application of new methods and instruments to her practice. Cynthia’s achievements have been recognized by the Who’s Who Among American Educators (2006-2007), International Academic Honor Society and Professional Association in Education Phi Beta Theta, and an Academic Fellowship Claremont Graduate University.

Contact Cynthia for counselling, assessment or consultation at Insights Psychology.

Jolene Palmer

She has worked with children with special educational needs in a wide range of school settings in South Africa, the US and the UAE.  Jolene has a strong belief that all children have the right to an education regardless of what difficulties they may be facing.

Jolene has extensive knowledge as an Early Intervention Specialist. She has worked extensively with children, and families of children who present with general learning difficulties and specific learning difficulties; including dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism, ADHD, auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder, delayed communication skills, delays in fine and gross motor development, emotional regulation difficulties, behavioural difficulties as well as complex genetic disorders.  Jolene works with older students up to the age of 18 years. She provides children and adolescents with assessment and support in the academic, emotional and social domains. 

Jolene does not only believe in supporting and empowering children with needs but also strongly believes in the importance of supporting and empowering schools, teachers as well as parents / care givers with the right knowledge and understanding to help the children in their care.

Jolene is a registered test user for the ADOS-2 and Griffiths-3.

Jacqui Lawson

Although Jacqui has worked with clients of all ages and backgrounds, her passion is working with children and adolescents. Jacqui uses an integrative approach to counselling; she recognises the individuality of each client and thus tailors therapeutic interventions to specific needs. Jacqui enjoys working with young people holistically, discovering unique strengths and where necessary incorporating support networks from the environment including parents, siblings and teachers.

Jacqui has supported clients with a range of different challenges such as anxiety, ADHD, social communication difficulties, grief and learning difficulties. Having worked extensively in international schools, Jacqui is also able to conduct psychological and educational assessments.

In addition to counselling, Jacqui has also offered staff and parent training on topics such as emotional intelligence for children, behavioural, social and emotional difficulties and functional behaviour assessments. Jacqui has also delivered workshops for young persons aimed at encouraging resiliency by teaching coping skills, self - regulation strategies and mindfulness.

Jacqui’s ultimate goal is to help her clients gain insight and to equip them with the necessary tools, so that they may feel empowered to make their own choices and positive changes.

Dr Claire Lewis

Dr. Claire has expertise in working with a range of clinical and nonclinical conditions including anxiety, depression and stress as well as alcohol and drug use. She is particularly interested in helping clients who are experiencing distress in the context of significant life events, including traumatic experiences and the impact of major life transitions such as childbirth, separation, illness, retirement and bereavement. She works within an individual therapy model as well as offering couple therapy and family interventions.

Working collaboratively with the people she sees to find the right therapeutic ‘fit’ for them. Claire is able draw on a range of therapy models. She has experience and training in a range of evidence-based treatments including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and mindfulness-based therapies. She also has training in trauma-focused interventions (Cognitive Processing Therapy) in addition to providing psychoeducation and skills training. Claire has trained to Level 2 with the Gottman institute for couples therapy.

Claire’s work is informed by many years of experience. During her Doctoral training she gained experience working within a range of services including Child and Family Services, Learning Disabilities Services, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adult Mental Health Services and Forensics. She has been able to draw on these various aspects of her training throughout her career, initially working as a Clinical Psychologist within the NHS and later practicing as a Clinical Psychologist in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and most recently working for five years as a Clinical Psychologist in Australia. Over the course of her experience she has also worked in the corporate setting developing and running workshops aimed at improving employee’s well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace.

Sarah Wedel

Sarah is experienced in assessing and providing interventions for children with a broad range of speech, language and communication difficulties including; developmental language disorders, language delay, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), social communication disorders and speech sound delays/disorders.

Sarah has been a key member in multi-disciplinary teams and her work focuses on collaborating with relevant professionals to assess, diagnose and provide specialised intervention plans for children and their families. Sarah has a keen interest in working with children with social communication difficulties and ASD and is trained in using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale-2 (ADOS2). Sarah has worked in a range of settings including; mainstream schools, specialist resource provisions, child development centres and clinics.

Sarah’s clinical trainings include: Hanen ‘More than Words’, SCERTS, Michael Palin Stammering Training (school aged children), DIR Introduction to Floortime Therapy, Auditory Processing Disorder, Makaton, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, Social Thinking and PECS.

Emily Alderson

Emily has significant experience in providing assessment, diagnosis and therapeutic interventions to children presenting with a variety of speech, language and communication needs including Developmental Language Disorder, Language Delay, Dyspraxia, Phonological Delay/Disorder, Stammering, Autistic Spectrum Condition, Pragmatic Language Difficulties and Selective Mutism.

Emily is skilled in building trusting relationships with parents/carers and education staff to bring about positive change and help young people achieve their full potential. She is passionate about working with Developmental Language Disorder, as well as Phonological Delay/Disorder and believes that coaching and empowering others is the key to success.

Emily’s clinical trainings include: SCERTS, PECS, Talking Mats, Elklan, Talkboost, Shape Coding, Michael Palin Primary School Children Who Stammer; Realising Potential, Michael Palin Parent Child Interaction and Makaton.

Ashely Green

She has created many resources for educators and parents to share with children to encourage them to flourish. She has also recently published a children’s book which focuses on supporting children to discuss feelings and emotions.

Ashley believes that the absence of mental illness is not conducive to wellness; everyone can go beyond and flourish in life.

Areas of specialization include; primary education, positive psychology and coaching towards personal goals of clients.

Swimmu Zacharias

Swimmu has been living in the UAE since 2014, and she has been working with Insights since August 2018. She is a friendly, approachable member of the Insights team. She works from Sunday to Thursday at the Insights office in Dome Tower, JLT. You can call her or visit reception with any enquiries, and she will always be willing to help.

She deals with new client enquiries, client relations, payments and insurance receipts. Swimmu speaks English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. In her spare time, Swimmu is likes cooking, baking and keeping fit, always with a smile on her face.

Jeniffer Posas

She has been in UAE since 2012 and has been working with Insights since March 2020. She has worked as a customer service in her previous job and is confident to be able to deliver assistance to everyone with a smiling face. She mainly assists Psychologists at Insights and deals with Insurance forms, pre-approval letters and basic admin.

Whenever she is not working, she enjoys playing ukulele and guitar and watching movies/series.