About:

As a Psychologist, Dounia is deeply passionate about working with children and adolescents.

She believes that supporting young people through their developing and formative years can help them understand themselves better and find their place in an often complex and confusing world. Dounia’s passion for helping others extends beyond her professional work with volunteering experiences across Southeast Asia, including in Cambodia and Thailand, to work with elephants, build houses for families, build a school, work with children affected by AIDS, and teach English. Having lived in Switzerland, Hong Kong, the UK and Singapore. Dounia loves meeting new people from different cultural backgrounds. She loves to travel, try new things and create new experiences/memories. She finds reading, staying active and volunteering extremely enriching.

Specializations:

Dounia works primarily with children and adolescents, supporting them through a range of challenges including anxiety, family dynamics, emotional regulation, behavioural difficulties and building social skills. Having lived an expatriate life and in several countries herself, she has a particular interest in helping young people navigate the unique experiences of being third culture kids and the complexities that come with growing up between cultures. In addition to therapy, Dounia conducts psychological assessments and has a special interest in neurodivergence, working to help young people and their families better understand and embrace their individual profiles. She is dedicated to providing a warm, collaborative, and culturally sensitive space where every child and adolescent feels seen, understood, and supported in their growth.

Qualifications and Experience:

Dounia holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Nottingham and a Master of Science in Child and Adolescent Mental Health from University College London (UCL). Before joining Psychology Blossom, she worked at another private mental health clinic, where she gained extensive experience supporting young people, families, and schools. Dounia has delivered talks to parents, teachers, and students on topics such as ADHD, parenting, screen time, and the pressures of exams/overachievement.

She is trained in the “Tuning into Kids” parenting program and has facilitated parenting groups using this evidence-based approach, as well as received training in the “Developing Dolphins” program for families of young people experiencing eating challenges. Earlier in her career, Dounia worked as a Behavioural Therapist with children and adolescents presenting with social difficulties, Autism, ADHD, special needs, and learning differences.

These experiences have strengthened Dounia’s compassionate, collaborative approach and her commitment to helping young people and their families feel supported, understood, and empowered in their growth.

Approach to Therapy:

When working with young people, Dounia understands that each client is unique and believes it is important to focus on each individual’s strengths. With children, she ensures that sessions are engaging, creative, and suited to each child’s interests. She believes that for therapy to be effective, young people need to feel comfortable, curious, and involved, therefore building trust and keeping sessions dynamic is always at the heart of her approach. She also uses some of her social thinking and behavioural therapy skills where she feels it may be needed.

With Adolescents, Dounia guides them to explore their thoughts and feelings, whilst developing practical strategies for navigating life’s transitions and challenges. Driven by a passion for fostering mental wellness and personal growth, she likes to use different therapy modalities for different individuals. She mainly likes to use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as she believes it can be important to embrace thoughts and feelings rather than fighting them and feeling guilt and/or shame around them.