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OCTOBER 2014 | WWW.PSYCH-ME.COM

CONFERENCEPROGRAMME

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International Psychology Conference Dubai2014 2014

Introduction 04

Agenda 07

Keynote Speakers 1 3

Session Summaries 21

Organising Commitee 47

Sponsors 49

Contents


International Psychology Conference Dubai International Psychology Conference Dubai2014 2014

The profession of psychology continues to grow and much has happened in the past year. Following IPCD 2013, several organisations have continued to provide local professional development opportunities. For example, the American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology holds regular training events for clinical psychology and psychiatry. Recently they also hosted the second regional suicide prevention conference offering advice to clinicians and discussing the roles of public and private based professionals. In the organisational field psychologists continue to benefit from training, breakfasts and conferences organised by Innovative HR Solutions (IHS), Strengthscope, and Talent Enterprise to name a few.

In education psychosocial issues of suicide, bullying and substance use have begun to find focus by the government prevention services. Private clinics such as HRI and Lighthouse Arabia have also undertaken work with schools and colleges to provide awareness and prevention workshops.

Graduate students at the flagship MSc Clinical psychology offered at UAE-University have started working in the community as part of their internship scheme and we are pleased to see the encouragement and support of professionals to help these budding psychologists. It is also positive to see the continued growth in students across universities in the UAE choosing psychology as a field of study and potential career where courses are available.

However with these successes there continues to be confusion and disparity in the regulation of psychology across the UAE and wider Gulf Region. Public awareness, while maturing, is still largely dependent on the initiatives of independent clinics and individuals rather than a concerted top down approach from Health authorities. Finally, communication and networking for psychologists in the region still tends to be ad hoc and dependent on informal organisations and email lists such as the Dubai Psych network that underlies the IPCD event.

IPCD 2014 goes some way to respond to these ongoing issues of communication and awareness –this year we have introduced two focused networking events. The first is a catered lunch which aims to bring disparate professionals together through discussion of practice issues; the second is a breakfast on Saturday led by Dr Louise Lambert D’Raven focusing on how to build a regional psychology body.

We are proud and excited to be holding this second event following the huge success of the inaugural IPCD in 2013. We thank all our sponsors and participants who have continued to support the initiative and make the event possible for our psychology community.

We would like to welcome everyone to the

2nd International Psychology Conference in Dubai.

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Furthermore, IPCD 2014 is proud to be a forum for the introduction of the new Middle East Journal for Positive Psychology – a journal aimed at showcasing research and practical application of positive psychology in any area. In this way the MEJPP reflects well the aims of the IPCD and we wish Dr Lambert D’Raven and her team the best of luck with this important initiative.

IPCD continues to be a main avenue for psychologists to update their expertise. Our agenda this year has been tightened with a continued emphasis on quality and relevance to the region. Our Keynotes again bring an international element, presenting current and sometimes controversial topics such as social causes of psychosis, employee engagement, the neuroscience of teenagers and dealing with severe antisocial behavior in children. Our talks and workshops in the three areas of organizational, clinical and child/educational psychology reflect this eclectic and current information base with topics on personality disorders, using mobile Apps and devices in both therapy and organizational contexts, balancing the approaches of western psychology with non-western mental health, dealing with suicide and bullying, language development in children, reflective practice in the workplace, behavioral models for talent management, and several talks on coaching and mentoring masterclasses.

Again the event has been supported by the Australian Psychological Society and Continued Professional Development (CME) recognition from the British Psychological Societyand the local Dubai Health Authority.

We hope that each and every one of you take back good memories, new networking contacts, and new topics and practices to share back with other colleagues. We welcome feedback and hope that this and other initiatives continue to gain strength and support from our professional community.

Enjoy the learning!

With best wishes, The IPCD Team

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AGENDA



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Conference Schedule 2014 Day 1 (Friday 17th October)A (Clinical Psychology) B (Occupational Psychology) C (Educational Psychology)

8.00-9.00 Registration/ Co�ee & Networking (Foyer)

9.15-10:30Opening Session & Keynote Speaker 1: Professor Richard Bentall (The Social Origins of Psychosis) [Auditorium]

Opening Session & Keynote Speaker 1: Professor Richard Bentall (The Social Origins of Psychosis) [Auditorium]

Opening Session & Keynote Speaker 1: Professor Richard Bentall (The Social Origins of Psychosis) [Auditorium]

10:30-10:45 Changing Venue

10:45-12:45 Session IA Session IB Session IC

1. Substance use in you people : Andriotti (CR11) 1. Understanding & Developing Personal Resilience : Davda (CR19)

1. An Evaluation of a School Based Mindfulness Program to Promote Wellness in a UAE Private School : Barrack (CR9)

2. Neuropsychological Assessment with Linguistically & Culturally Diverse Clients: Buraik (CR11) 2. Developing Optimism: A Cognitive Behavioural

Intervention to Reduce Stress : Bryant (CR19)

4. Developing globally relevant & accepted behavioural models for us in talent management context : Hughes (CR19) Cut-e

2. E�ectiveness of multifamily group therapy on improvement of family function and reduction of behavioural problems of you adult girls : Bayazi (CR9)

3. Benefit - finding intervention for Alzheimer Caregivers : Cheng (CR11) 3. An Investigation into the e�ectiveness

of reflective practice for facilitating positive practice behaviours of health professionals : Picknell (CR19) 3. The use of private speech during problem -

solving tasks : Boghani (CR9)

4. Suicide Risk assessment for counsellors and educators : Kirk (CR9)

2:00-3:00

3:15-4:15 Facilitating Work Engagement : Keynote Speaker 2: Professor Dr Arnold B. Bakker [Auditorium]

Facilitating Work Engagement : Keynote Speaker 2: Professor Dr Arnold B. Bakker [Auditorium]

Facilitating Work Engagement : Keynote Speaker 2: Professor Dr Arnold B. Bakker [Auditorium]

4:30-5:30

Registration/ Co�ee & Networking (Foyer)

Changing Venue

Registration/ Co�ee & Networking (Foyer)

12:45-2:00 Networking Lunch & Prayer Break (Foyer & Cafeteria) Networking Lunch & Prayer Break (Foyer & Cafeteria) Networking Lunch & Prayer Break (Foyer & Cafeteria)

Changing Venue

3:00-3:15 Changing Venue/ Co�ee Available Changing Venue/ Co�ee Available Changing Venue/ Co�ee Available

4:15-4:30 Changing Venue/ Co�ee Available

Conference Dinner Conference Dinner Conference Dinner

Changing Venue/ Co�ee Available Changing Venue/ Co�ee Available

4. What is positive psychology & how do you “do” positive pschology research? (CR11)

Session IIA

1. Early maladaptive schemes in borderline personality disorder : Al Mosawi (CR11)

2. Developing an app for stress management : Thompson (CR11)

Session IIIA (Invited Session)

1. Understanding & Working with Personality Disorder : Partridge & Thompson (CR11)

2. Impact of non-cultural norms on the assessment process : Schuilenberg, Justine & Javed (CR13)

Session IIIB (Invited Session)

1. Coaching Masterclass: Accelerating Performance with Strengths Coaching : Brook (CR19) 10Eighty

Session IIIC (Invited Session)

1. Creating an E�ective Child Protection Interagency Approach : Barrack, Mcauley & Bhardwaj (CR9)

3. Practical Considerations in the Assessment, Diagnosis & Amelioration of Conduct Disorder : Aftab Javed (CR13)

4. Communication related working memory deficits : Bajaj (CR13)

Session IIB

1. I thought I did well : Chandran (CR19)

2. Mentoring Cascades - Creating Psychological Wellbeing at the Workplace : Parikh & Chibber (CR19)

3. Creating a feedback Culture withing Organisations : Gohel & Chris (CR21) I H S

4. From Surviving to Thriving : Jones & Von Berg (CR21)

Session IIC

1. Early Social Development & Risk for Autism in Preschoolers with Infant- Onset Epilepsy : Hameed (CR9)

2. An overview of autism and ABA therapy : Naheed (CR9)

3. Speech & language skills & impact on school performance : Najafi (CR8)

4. Eating behaviour, attitudes & awareness levels among undergraduate students : Tahboub-Schulte (CR8)



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Conference Schedule 2014 Day 2 (Saturday 18th October)

A (Clinical Psychology) B (Occupational Psychology) C (Educational Psychology)

8.00-8.30 Registration

Lunch & Prayer Break

Changing Venue/ Co ee available

Help or Harm? The relevance of Western Therapeutic Approaches in Non Western Cultural Contexts :Gilbert (CR11)

How mobile devices & video based content will alter the diagnostic lansdcape & user experience on the context of psychometrics and talent assessment :Barrett & Preuss (CR19) Cut-e

Changing Venue/ Co ee available Changing Venue/ Co ee available

Vocational orientation towards high school :Stocker, J (CR9)

What's love got to do with it? Parent-child a ection & callous-unemotional traits in antisocial children :Keynote Speaker 4: Dr Jennifer Allen (Auditorium)



Lunch & Prayer Break Lunch & Prayer Break

10:30-10:45

10:45-12:15

12:15-1:30

1:30-2:30

2:30-2:45

2:45-4:15

Changing Venue

Marriage Counseling 101 : Rider (CR11) Emotional Fitness Coaching improves personal performance, workplace culture & employer brand :Schuilenberg (CR19)

Care to End Cruelty at our Schools: Shaheem (CR9)

Developing a positive mindset and Life Skills in careers guidance and nationalisation programmes - 1 hour workshop :Punshi & Jones (CR21) Talent Enterprise

Measuring Cultural Intelligence in a multi-cultural environment - 30 min presentation : Livermore (CR21)

Changing Venue Changing Venue

8:30-9:30 Professional Psychology association in the GCC: Is there a regional solution? : Networking Breakfast with Louise Lambert D'raven

Professional Psychology association in the GCC: Is there a regional solution? : Networking Breakfast with Louise Lambert D'raven

Professional Psychology association in the GCC: Is there a regional solution? : Networking Breakfast with Louise Lambert D'raven

9:30-10:30 The Social Brain in Adolescence : Keynote Speaker 3: Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (Auditorium)

The Social Brain in Adolescence : Keynote Speaker 3: Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (Auditorium)

The Social Brain in Adolescence : Keynote Speaker 3: Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (Auditorium)

Registration Registration



KEYNOTESPEAKERS



Jennifer Allen is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology and Human Development, Institute of Education, University of London. She received her PhD and a Masters of Clinical Psychology from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her PhD research focused on the contribution of stressors to the development and maintenance of child anxiety disorders. She then completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Basel, Switzerland focusing on the diagnosis and assessment of separation anxiety disorder (SAD) and at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London investigating parenting in young antisocial children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Her main interest is in the area of child psychopathology, specifically child anxiety, conduct problems and CU traits, parenting and family observation methods.

Title: What’s love got to do with it? Parent-child affection and callous-unemotional traits in antisocial children.

In this talk I will discuss findings from studies investigating parent-child affection and links with childhood conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits, along with implications for clinical practice. The deficits in emotion recognition and empathy characteristic of antisocial children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits has been partly attributed to reduced gaze towards the eyes of caregivers when emotion is being expressed (Dadds, Allen et al., 2012). However, past research in this area was conducted in a small sample (n = 24) and relied on maternal self-report to assess the quality of the parent-child relationship, which may provide an alternative explanation for eye gaze deficits in high CU children. The second study (Dadds, Allen et al., 2014) addressed these limitations by examining eye gaze in a larger sample and incorporating an observational measure of maternal feelings towards her child. Children with oppositional defiant disorder (n = 60) and healthy controls (n = 39) were observed during a display of affection from their mother. Eye gaze, verbal and physical affection was assessed during a parental display of affection; maternal sensitivity and feelings towards her child was assessed during free play. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing child CU traits and co-morbid difficulties. Findings will be presented and discussed, along witha description of the development of an innovative new adjunct to parent training which aims to promote shared eye gaze between parents and children during warm, fun, and loving interactions.

Lecturer in Psychology and Human Development,

Institute of Education, University of London, UK

Email: [email protected]

Dr Jennifer AllenKeynote Speaker

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Arnold Bakker is Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Adjunct professor at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China; and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is secretary general of the Alliance for Organizational Psychology and Past President of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (2009-2013). His research interests include positive organizational behavior, employee work engagement, the JD-R model, burnout, and crossover.He publishes regularly in the major I/O journals, and is editor of the book series “Current issues in Work and Organizational Psychology”, and “Advances in Positive Organisational Psychology”.

Title: Facilitating Employee Work engagement.

Engaged employees are enthusiastic about their work and feel full with energy. Academics and organizational practitioners are more and more aware of the importance of employee work engagement, since an increasing numberof studies indicate that engagement has implications for the bottom line. Engaged workers put more effort in their work than non-engaged workers and therefore they perform better. They make fewer mistakes, produce high-quality output, and have clients who are more satisfied. In his presentation, Prof. Bakker will discuss the latest developments in employee work engagement research. He will give an overview of the most important job demands and resources that are the drivers of engagement. Additionally, he will discuss what organizations can do to facilitate employee work engagement, and use the latest research findings to show how employees can use job crafting strategies in order to stay engaged.

Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology, Erasmus

University, The Netherlands


Professor Arnold BakkerKeynote Speaker

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Richard Bentall is one of the most distinguished professors of Clinical Psychology in the UK and widely regarded worldwide. He is a major contributor to our understanding of the psychological factors underlying psychotic disorders. His publications discuss the cognitive and social perspectives on persecutory delusions, auditory hallucinations and treatments for psychotic disorders. He has written several critically acclaimed books on the topic of mental illness and is a regular expert contributor to The Guardian Newspaper in the UK. By observing mental health treatment and prognosis across cultures, Professor Bentall has been critical of the western disease model of mental illness. Instead he supports clinical approaches which look for the sense-making, cognitive processes underneath even the most bizarre delusional states.

Title: The Social Origins of Psychosis.

Recent approaches to psychosis have emphasised genetic determinants, based on the misunderstanding that high heritability indices indicate that the lion’s share of causation must go to genes. In fact, despite dramatic public claims by genetic investigators, research at the molecular level has failed to find genes of major effect. In contrast, recent research, often supported by meta-analyses, has shown large and replicable associations between a variety of social risk factors and psychosis; these risk factors include: poverty, social inequality, exposure to urban environments, belonging to an ethnic minority, inadequate communication style in parents, mistreatment and other types of trauma in childhood and victimisation. Many of these effects seem strongest when exposure occurs in childhood, but there is evidence that a childhood adversity followed by adult adversity is particularly toxic. Some studies have used genetic designs to control for genetic confounding. Our research has found associations between specific kinds of social adversity and specific types of symptoms.

Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool UK


Professor Richard BentallKeynote Speaker

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Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL. She is Leader of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. Her group’s research focuses on brain development in human adolescence. She has published over 100 papers in peer review journals, which have had over 11500 citations, and has won multiple awards for her research. Sarah-Jayne has an interest in the links between neuroscience and education. She co-authored a book with Uta Frith called The Learning Brain: Lessons for Education, was a member of the Royal Society BrainWaves working group for neuroscience, education and lifelong learning, and sits on the Royal Society Vision Committee for Science and Mathematics Education.

Title: The Social Brain in Adolescence.

Adolescence is a formative period of biological and social transition. Social cognitive processes involved in navigating an increasingly complex social world continue to develop throughout adolescence. Research in the past 15 years has revealed significant functional and structural changes in the brain during adolescence. Areas of the social brain - the network of brain regions involved in understanding other people - undergo development during adolescence, possibly reflecting a sensitive period for adapting to one’s social environment. I will discuss the importance of considering the social environment and social rewards in adolescent cognition and behaviour.

Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK


Professor Sarah-Jayne BlakemoreKeynote Speaker

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James is joint Managing Director of Strengths Partnership Ltd, a world leader in providing pragmatic strengths-based solutions to translate individual, team, and organisational strengths into measurable success, innovation and engagement. James is a leadership psychologist and international expert in positive psychology. He has over 20 years’ experience in leadership development, coaching, organisational change and talent management across multiple sectors and geographies. James has worked with a wide range of UK and international brands including ABN AMRO, Facebook, ING Direct, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, PhotoBox, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Tesco and Yahoo!

He is a regular speaker on strengths-based leadership and talent development and has contributed a wide range of business and professional publications in the area. He has a Masters Degree in Organisational Psychology, an MBA and is a member of Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the CIPD.

Title: Accelerating Performance with Strengths Coaching.

The session will introduce an alternative approach to coaching that is grounded in the latest science of human performance from positive and sports psychology as well as neuroscience. Rather than focusing on trying to ‘fix’ people, it helps people achieve performance excellence through focusing on strengths, solutions and successes. This pragmatic and energising session will introduce you to the concepts, techniques and skills required to unlock the energy and full potential of your employees without a major investment in time and money.

Joint Founder and Managing Director, Strengths Partnership Ltd


James Brook

Invited Speaker

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SESSIONSUMMARIES



Safa holds a graduate degree in Applied Psychology, and works with all ages, providing assessmentsand therapy to individuals, families, and couples. She has been in the field of Psychology for over a decade.Her areas of expertise are ADHD (inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity), Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder. Safa utilizes a multi-dimensional approach, combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapyto deal with a variety of behavioral and general psychological issues.

Title: Practical Considerations in the Assessment, Diagnosis, and Amelioration of Conduct Disorder in Arab Population,

Highlighting the Underlying Causes and Exacerbating Factors

Much research focuses on the causes of defiance but few studies examine the perspective of those who have been categorized as Oppositional Defiant/Conduct Disorder. This paper discusses the findings of two case studies of actively defiant clients and the psychologist’s experience with them and their families while completing the assessments .Conduct issues are among the top reasons of school suspensions, expulsions and family stress. School and parents currently use two primary methods to dissuade youth from exhibiting defiant behaviors: punishment and rewards. Neither of these approaches has eradicated anger-guided disobedience from the youth, because the practice appears to be increasing in the Arab world.

Title: Early maladaptive schemas in borderline personality disorder

This study aimed to evaluate the relation between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), to determine the schemas that have more frequency in BPD patients and the differences between them and normal females. Results show existence of different schemas in BPD patients. Schema therapy can be useful for BPD, but the therapist should pay attention to the subtype of borderline and other disorders which can be co morbid with BPD; perhaps other schemas were underlying them due to the present of the (Axis-I) disorders.



Safa Javed Aftab, Msc (Applied Psychology)

Zahraa Al Mosawi, Msc (Psychology)

Clinical Stream - Papers

Elena-Maria Andrioti is currently a PhD Candidate in Psychology and a Counselor at the Carbone Clinic of Dubai. Her research experience lies within the field of substance use and personality differences with young populations (university students). Her clinical training and professional experience is in the field of addiction counseling.

Gagan Bajaj is presently working as an Assistant Professor of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, under Manipal University. He is actively involved in researching the age related changes in various cognitive communicative processes. He has publications in indexed scientific journals and has several conference presentations to his credit at national and international platforms.

Title: Substance use in young people: personality differences, beliefs and religiosity

There is a growing body of research concerning substance use and addictive behaviours in the Middle East region. Prevalence rates relating to the use of a variety of substances are increasing significantly (Degenhardt et. al, 2008). Research in this area is lacking and the hope is to collect further data that will establish patterns of substance use and identify important predictors of this usage. Substance use in Lebanon has been, and is still, a cultural taboo that is frowned upon by the society. Nevertheless, there is a growing popularity of substance use amongst youngsters and prevalence rates are on the rise.

Title: Title: Communication related working memory deficits- does the decline begin as early as fourth decade of life?

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of ageing on communication related working memory. The tasks for the study were divided into four categories i.e., the names, faces, emotions and messages respectively and the stimuli for all the categories were randomly distributed in an n-back task using the paradigm experiment software version 2.1.0.95 (86). The results showed that there was a significant difference between the young & middle aged adults for correct identification of messages, emotions and names. The differences reached a statistical significance across all the four tasks when younger aged adults were compared to the older aged adults.

Email: [email protected] / [email protected] (supervisor)

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Elena-Maria Andrioti, PhD Candidate, Msc (Clinical Psychology & Health Services)

Gagan Bajaj, MASLP (Audiology and Speech Language Pathology)

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Sheung-Tak Cheng is Chair Professor of Psychology and Gerontology at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He is chief editor of the book Successful Aging: Asian Perspectives to be published by Springer in 2014. He serves on the editorial board of several major journals in gerontology. He is elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Psychological Science (APS). He was awarded the Outstanding International Psychologist Award by APA’s Division 52 in 2007, and was honored in 2008 with the Certificate of Appreciation for Contributions as a Humanitarian Worker that was jointly presented by APA’s Division 48 and Psychologists for Social Responsibility, both for his work in aging.

Title: Benefit-finding Intervention for Alzheimer Caregivers: Conceptual Framework, Implementation Issues,

and Preliminary Efficacy

To describe an intervention promoting benefit-finding in Alzheimer caregivers, to discuss key issues in implementation and ways to resolve them, and to examine whether the intervention reduced burden and depression in a small randomized trial.

Title: Voices of Alzheimer Caregivers on Positive Aspects of Caregiving

To reveal positive gains as constructed by family caregivers of relatives with Alzheimer’s disease.57 Hong Kong Chinese primary caregivers provided 659 diary recordings over an 8-week period, describing daily events and experiences in which positive gains were achieved. The diaries were analyzed independently by two researchers using thematic analysis method.


Sheung-Tak Cheng, Chair Professor of Psychology and Gerontology

Maysaa Buraik has a Psy.D (Doctor in Psychology with specialization in clinical Psychology), M.A., In Clinical Psychology from the American school of professional Psychology, Washington, D.C. Currently working at Johns Hopkins ARAMCO Hospital in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. She has provided different workshops and lectures in Health and Neuropsychology focusing on training and developing interventions and appropriate evaluations of children and adults in KSA.

Title: Neuropsychological Assessment: Working with Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Clients

Discussions about the impact of culture on psychological assessment have been evolving for some time. However, only recently are neuropsychologists beginning to address culture and its influence on neuropsychological assessment measures. This late development may have been the result of neuropsychology being thought to evaluate “universal measures”, (i.e. those things assumed to be unaffected by cultural knowledge). Current research in issues related to brain and cognition has been demonstrating otherwise. Neuropsychology as a field seems to be undergoing a slow theoretical and methodological shift. The present review will focus on the limitations and sensitivities concerning neuropsychological assessment on linguistically and culturally diverse populations.


Maysaa Buraik, Psy.D (Clinical Psychology)

Dr. Louise is an assistant professor in Dubai, registered psychologist (Canada), as well as founder and manager of the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology. She has lived in the UAE for 5 years and is interested in the study of happiness and culture, and seeing the development of an indigenous positive psychology across the Middle East.

Dr. Nausheen is an Assistant Professor of English and Communications in Abu Dhabi. She has a PhD in International Psychology and Master’s degrees in Language Education and Educational Psychology. She has worked with English Language Learners in the US and locally, focusing on ELL programs, teacher training, and the management of behavioural challenges, linguistic and cultural differences, and academic integrity concerns.

Title: What is positive psychology and how do you “do” positive psychology research?

Despite the recent attention on the science of happiness, positive psychology remains a poorly understood science. Considered little more than psychology as usual - only with a happy ending - practitioners, researchers, and consumers alike are unclear as to what the field of positive psychology consists and how research is undertaken in the field. In this short talk, an overview of positive psychology will be briefly explored to illustrate its unique approach to phenomena. Examples of good research will be reviewed in order for participants to consider angles for potential research.


Louise Lambert D’raven, PhD., and Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi, PhD

Dr. Marie Thompson trained in the UK. She has a Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology and a BSc (Honours) in Human Psychology. She is a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society and is registered with the UK Health and Care Professionals’ Council. Dr. Thompson is a Partner of Vivamus Psychologists; a private psychology practice based in the UK and The Netherlands. Before relocating to Dubai, she was Head of Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences at Webster University in The Netherlands. She is experienced in working with clients in the corporate, public and private sectors.

Title: Developing an app for stress management: from concept to delivery

Since the inaugrual download of a mobile application (app) in 2008, app downloads have increased rapidly. The use of apps has infiltrated many sectors including the health and mental health spheres. Some studies have started to suggest the effectiveness of apps in mental health care (Donker et al., 2013). Despite this move, many apps remain available for download, which do not draw on evidence-based techniques (Donker et al., 2013).

Our team of clinical and counselling psychologists aimed to address this gap and in so doing developed an app for stress management, which draws upon evidence-based rationale and strategies (namely Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, CBT). The premise of the app is to allow users to function at an optimal level of stress.


Marie Thompson, PhD (Clinical Psychology)



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The early part of Jane’s career was spent as a Clinical Psychologist within Adult Mental Health Services in the UK. Subsequently she has worked as an independent consultant specializing in the design and delivery of workshops/training on psychological and mental health issues in cross cultural contexts, consultancy to INGOs, and the assessment and evaluation of mental health programmes.

Title: Help or harm? The Relevance of Western Therapeutic Approaches in Non Western Cultural Contexts

The experience of emotional distress is universal, but how it is understood and what people think needs to be done to help is dependent on cultural context. However, the globalization of Western lifestyles has also included the ever increasing spread of Western approaches to distress worldwide. The movement for Global Mental Health also actively promotes the “scaling up” of Western treatments and medication in low income countries.

This workshop will focus specifically on the assumptions underlying Western therapeutic approaches, particularly the emphasis on the individual, and consider whether this is appropriate, helpful, or potentially harmful in different cultural contexts.


Website: www.janegilbert.co.uk

Jane Gilbert, M.A., M.Sc (Clin Psych), C Psychol, AFBPsS (Clinical Psychology)

Safa holds a graduate degree in Applied Psychology, and works with all ages, providing assessments and therapy to individuals, families, and couples. She has been in the field of Psychology for over a decade. Her areas of expertise are ADHD (inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity), Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder. Safa utilizes a multi-dimensional approach, combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapyto deal with a variety of behavioral and general psychological issues.

Title: Considerations in the Assessment, Diagnosis, and Amelioration of Conduct Disorder in Arab Population, Highlighting the

Underlying Causes and Exacerbating Factors

This paper discusses the findings of two case studies of actively defiant clients and the psychologist’s experience with them and their families while completing the assessments. Conduct issues are among the top reasons of school suspensions, expulsions and family stress. School and parents currently use two primary methods to dissuade youth from exhibiting defiant behaviors: punishment and rewards. Neither of these approaches has eradicated anger-guided disobedience from the youth, because the practice appears to be increasing in the Arab world.


Safa Javed Aftab, MSc (Applied Psychology)

Clinical Stream - Workshops

Dr. Kennon Rider, is a trained and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist now practicing in Dubai, as wellas an academic who has focused on marital and family issues at universities in Texas and California in the U.S., and now, in the UAE. Specializing in therapy for couples, he has practiced for 30 years and has learned many lessons the hard way.

Title: Marriage Counselling 101 – Knowledge, Skills and Insights for Working with Couples

Many counsellor and psychology training programs offer only limited exposure to marital therapy, focusing instead on individual pathologies and treatments. However, in the real world of psychotherapy, marital problems represent a sizable if not majority of cases that come through the clinician’s clinic door. This workshop will offer up insights, skills and practical information for helping counsellors and psychologists deal with marital cases when they appear for therapy. Topics will address such issues as who to include in the consultation (partners separately or together) and how to decide; how to manage confidentiality issues when seeing a couple; ways to engage a reluctant partner in therapy; consideration of the use of self in therapy; how to handle high intensity couple interviews and more.


Kennon Rider, Phd (Psychology and Human Services)

Dr. Marie Thompson trained in the UK. She has a Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology and a BSc (Honours) in Human Psychology. She is a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society and is registered with the UK Health and Care Professionals’ Council. Dr. Thompson is a Partner of Vivamus Psychologists; a private psychology practice based in the UK and The Netherlands. Before relocating to Dubai, she was Head of Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences at Webster University in The Netherlands. She is experienced in working with clients in the corporate, public and private sectors.

Title: Developing an app for stress management: from concept to delivery

Since the inaugrual download of a mobile application (app) in 2008, app downloads have increased rapidly. The use of apps has infiltrated many sectors including the health and mental health spheres. Some studies have started to suggest the effectiveness of apps in mental health care (Donker et al., 2013). Despite this move, many apps remain available for download, which do not draw on evidence-based techniques (Donker et al., 2013).

Our team of clinical and counselling psychologists aimed to address this gap and in so doing developed an app for stress management, which draws upon evidence-based rationale and strategies (namely Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, CBT). The premise of the app is to allow users to function at an optimal level of stress.


Marie Thompson, PhD (Clinical Psychology)



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Susan Patridge is the Head of the Psychology Division at the American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, working from their Abu Dhabi office. She is a UK trained clinical psychologist and remains a licensed practitioner psychologist with the Health Professions Council in the UK. She has over 30 years of experience in adult mental health and worked in the UK as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the NHS and private sectors from 1994.

Title: Personality and Behavioural Style Assessment – Normative, Ipsative and Beyond to New Ways

For online personality tests, two formats are established: normative and ipsative. Normative questionnaires are pleasant to answer for test takers because they can indicate for each item to what extent they agree, but often leads to undifferentiated profiles (Murphy, Jako, & Anhalt, 1993) or socially desirable responding (Zickar & Gibby, 2006). The ipsative format yields profiles with a higher degree of differentiation (Bartram, 2006), but is not as pleasant to answer. A third format that strives to combine the advantages of the two formats will be presented: adalloc (adaptive allocation of consent). Adalloc presents items in blocks and test takers have to make a choice, like the ipsative method. However, they are not required to allocate all points, and they may also allocate an equal number of points to all items, like in the normative format. Up to date, over 2,500,000 participants have completed adalloc based questionnaires. These questionnaires yield internal consistencies between .72 and .85 and test-retest reliabilities between .70 and .87. Factorial analyses result in eight factors as found for such measures e.g. by Kurz & Bartram (2002). The method allows for shortening the questionnaire and makes it pleasant for participants to complete and at the same time yields highly differentiated profiles. This presentation will be jointly presented with Katharina Lochner.


Dr Susan Patridge Phd (Clinical Psychology)

Dr Marie Thompson is a Clinical Psychologist, chartered with the British Psychological Society and registered with the Dubai Health Authority and UK Health and Care Professionals’ Council. She trained in the UK and has experience of working in the National Health Service and private practice as well as voluntary and corporate sectors. She is a founding partner of Vivamus Psychologists; a private practice operating in the UK, The Netherlands and Jersey.

Title: Understanding and Working with Personality Disorder.

This workshop consists of three sections but needs to be attended as a single experience as all three are interconnected. The emphasis is on providing an overview of the area with signposts to further reading and resources.

The sections are as follows:1) Models of personality disorder2) Issues of definition and measurement3) Working with personality disorder


Dr Marie Thompson, Phd (Clinical Psychology)



Dr. Louise is an assistant professor in Dubai, registered psychologist (Canada), as well as founder and manager of the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology. She has lived in the UAE for 5 years and is interested in the study of happiness and culture, and seeing the development of an indigenous positive psychology across the Middle East.

Dr. Schuilenberg is currently the clinical coordinator and supervising psychologist for the largest private psychology practice in the Middle East. She is a learning specialist with extensive additional education and experience in trauma evaluation and treatment in general, and academic trauma in particular. She has worked on three continents with a very diverse range of clients, many of whom required evaluation using assessments meant for an American population.

Title: Professional psychology associations in the GCC: Is there a regional solution?

A professional association sets guidelines and standards for professional competency, licensure, practice and ethics, and establishes the means to deal with public and professional complaints. It also legitimizes the field by raising awareness about what psychology is and what psychologists offer towards the development of individual, family, and social capital across health, education, clinical, forensic, and other settings. While there are several professional organizations in the GCC region, few offer the level of leadership required to support and strengthen the field of psychology. These organizations are the officially recognized professional bodies legislating the field, yet their role appears unclear, and in some cases, their duties nonexistent. Consequently, psychologists and the field in general, flounder and are left to their own devices with often detrimental consequences.

Title: The impact of non-cultural norms on the assessment process

The assessment process is inherently ‘manualised’ and as such, provides a framework with which to gauge the educational level, cognitive level, psychological functioning, &/or emotional health of respondents. When the Examiner does not take the issue of norms into account when administering an assessment, the outcome may be inaccurate at best, and damaging at worst. Given the unique and complex challenges of providing quality, ethical psychological evaluation in the Gulf, those professionals who administer assessments would do well to understand the circumstances in which the assessment itself may bias the process.



Louise Lambert D’raven, PhD

Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, PsyD (Psychology), M.A (Counselling Psychology)

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Clinical Stream - Roundtable

Title: An Evaluation of a School-Based Mindfulness Program to Promote Wellness in a UAE Private School

Students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 at the Canadian International School in Abu Dhabi participated in an eight week, school-based Mindfulness program. The curriculum for the program was provided by an organization called Mindful Schools in the United States. Students were exposed to various age-appropriate mindfulness strategies, twice a week for 15 minutes. Teaching staff were also provided with training and mindfulness-based interventions they could use with students throughout each school day. Pre and post evaluations were administered and factors assessed included reported levels of generalized stress, attention, and self-awareness. This paper submission would be an update from last year’s submission. Whereas, last year the program had just begun, by October 2014 the program will have been completed and results tabulated.

Carmen Barrack holds a Master degree in Counselling and is a Certified Canadian Counsellor working toward her registration as a Psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists. She currentlyis the School Counsellor at the Canadian International School in Abu Dhabi. Her background is in education and women’s health.

Dr. Bayazi is currently Assistant Professor in psychology and teaching on Clinical and Health psychology programmes. He works as a CBT therapist in some psychology clinics. He also undertakes research on effectof psychological intervention especially CBT on psychological problems of patients with chronic medical illness.

Title: Effectiveness of multifamily group therapy on improvement of family function and reduction of behavioral problems

of young adult girls

Adolescence is a period of transition in which a child leaves the period of security and is encountered with the new realm of responsibility and adult privileges. It would lead to extrovert and introvert problems if adults do not interfere appropriately with accurate guidance.

The method was chosen to be semi experimental with pre-test, post-test, witness-group and repeated measurement. Research society consisted of 25 young adult girls between 14 and 15 years of age and their parents which were chosen voluntarily among people who came to psychological clinics of regions 4 and 6 of ministry of education in Mashhad. To obtain preliminary data in this research, clinical interview was used. To measure the problematic behavior of adolescents YSR was utilized and the family behavior has been evaluated with Family assessment device. Analysis of variance with repeated measurement and LSD follow up test was used to compare mean values.


Email: bayazi123@ yahoo.com

Carmen Barrack, Msc (Counselling)

Mohammad Hossien Bayazi, PhD (Health Psychology),MSc (Psychology)

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Child Psychology and Educational Psychology Stream – Papers



Rehana Asani is assistant professor at Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh. She teaches Human Developmentand Cognition across Life span courses. Rehana is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, Oxford and London School of Economics. She has worked as a research associate at the Institute of Education, London, with Professor Iram Siraj and has chartered Membership for the British Psychology Society (BPS).

Ms. Hameed is an Instructor at Zayed University Dubai since January 2012 teaching courses in both the College of Education and College of Sustainability Sciences and Humanities. She is engaged in joint research initiatives within the regional community with a particular interest in developing bilingual screening measures and neuropsychology test batteries for children with learning difficulties and special needs that can be used to flag emerging developmental delays, setting a platform for early intervention.

Title: The use of private speech during problem-solving tasks

Private speech is the self-directed speech that emerges during the preschool years, when children start to talk themselves through their activities. Initially, this self-talk is ‘overt’ in the form of ‘private speech’ and occurs among universally developing children. During middle childhood, this self-talk internalises to form ‘inner speech’ often described as the final shift from preverbal thought to fully intrapersonal verbal thinking.

In terms of educational and clinical relevance, there is little research which has been conducted into the practice of overt self-talk in the classroom and its link with self-regulation. Given that previous studies have found significant relations between self-regulation and later academic achievement in children, addressing this gap in future research studies is of critical importance.

Title: Social Development and Risk for Autism in Preschoolers with Infant-Onset Epilepsy

Social-communication difficulties are common in children with epilepsy, and there is growing evidence for a link between epilepsy and autism spectrum disorders, especially true for infant-onset epilepsy. Contemporary research has demonstrated the usefulness of early emerging social orienting behaviours as key indicators for the development of autism. The aim of this study was twofold; firstly to examine social-communication in an identified cohort of children (aged 3.5-5.5 years) who have been followed since their diagnosis with epilepsy when they were under the age of 2 years, and secondly, to screen the affected children for autistic features. The Social Orienting Continuum Response Scale was applied to existing videotapes of the ADOS-G from three-year follow-up and compared to parent reports (i.e. CSBS, M-CHAT) of the children’s social behaviour from one-year follow-up.



Rehana Boghani, MSc (Psychology and Education), Msc (Child Development)

Fiza Hameed, MSc (Applied Paediatric Neuropsychology)

Page 33 Page 34

Carey Kirk is a U.S. trained Counseling Psychologist at The LightHouse Arabia and the Program Coordinator for the Raymee Grief Center. Carey completed her Master’s degree in Professional Counseling from The University of Georgia and has received additional training in :Suicide risk assessment, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Bereavement/grief counseling and Critical Incident Stress Management. With experience in both inpatient and outpatient mental health settings, Carey has provided numerous psychological services including individual therapy, group counseling, family counseling, case management, treatment planning, crisis evaluations, psychosocial assessments, diagnosis, and resource referrals.

Asma holds double Masters Degrees, in Educational Psychology majoring in Curriculum and Instruction and Masters in Special Education both from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia USA. Asma being dedicated to the medical field holds a Post Graduate Special Education Needs Professional License from Virginia, Department of Education and is an exceptionally competent Educational Psychologist, trainerand Special Needs Consultant. She has 15 years of experience providing services in a variety of educational and non-educational settings.

Title: Suicide Risk Assessment for Counsellors and Educators

One person in the world dies every forty seconds. Suicide is the second most leading cause of death in young adults aged 15-29 (WHO). In that, the strongest risk factor is depression. This seminar is meant as an overview of suicide management and risk assessment. We will explore the current status of suicide risk assessment, the multiple pathways to suicide - including distal risk factors, proximal risk factors and protective factors to consider when assessing for suicide risk, current practice standards and recommendations, and important facts to consider when assessing both children and adults for suicide risk.

Title: An Overview of Autism and ABA Therapy

This paper focuses on how Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is used to treat and manage autism spectrum disorder. Thus, the paper appraises ABA, discussing its important components and how it works. The paper also succinctly discusses about the autism spectrum disorders with the options of treatment. Studies have shown that one of the most effective modes of intervention in ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is also termed behavioral treatment or behavioral intervention. According to the research done by Wynn & Groen (2010), ABA produces comprehensive and long-term improvements in the most essential skill areas in children who have ASD, notwithstanding their age (p 809). Finally, the paper concludes with highlighting how Special needs children with Autism struggles with the lack of resources, expensive treatment programs and diagnostic specialists in UAE. “In the UAE, there are not a large number of pediatric psychiatrists, so we’re basically relying on general pediatricians to do the diagnosis.” Dr. Zaniab SKMC.



Carey Kirk, Med (Counselling Psychology)

Asma Naheed, Msc (Educational Psychology), Med (Special Education)



Page 35

Maryam Najafi is Speech Therapist holding Master degree in counseling. She has 15 years experiencein speech therapy and guiding counseling. Maryam has been doing speech and language formal assessment for age group of 3 years and above and informal assessment for children under this age. She provides therapysessions for children and adults above 4 years old and Guidance consultation to parents of children under age 3. Her experience includes treatment of speech and language delay, language disorders, speech problems such as stuttering, articulation errors, speech and language delay followed by hearing loss, stuttering, etc.

Title: Speech and Language Skills and its impact on School Performance

Speech and language development is closely related to the educational performance. Most of the activities in school include receptive and expressive vocabulary, syntax, semantics, and pragmatic skills of language. Children with delay or disorder in speech and language will find it difficult to understand and follow teachers’ instructions. They may also face problemsin reading and writing followed by speech articulation errors, reading comprehension, creative writing. This lack of understanding might lead to manifestation of AD/HD symptoms as the child feels bored and fails to attend the class as needed. It is important to know if a child’s weak performance in school is because of his poor speech and language skills or other factors. Formal assessments of speech and language prove to be very helpful in this aspect and provide the parents and the clinicians the appropriate diagnosis and interventions.


Maryam Najafi, Msc (Counselling)

Dr Sabrina Tahboub-Schulte is Assistant Professor at AUS teaching a range of undergraduate psychology courses. She is actively involved in regional eating disorders research and holds the position of the MEEDA research director.

Title: Eating behavior, attitudes and awareness levels among undergraduate students in three Arabic countries

(on-going research)

Worldwide, eating disorders are on the increase. However, our understanding of the nature and extent of such problem behaviors in the Middle East remains limited. Existing data are inconsistent and limited to selected Arab countries (Soh, Touyz, & Surgenor, 2006; Wildes, Emery, & Simons, 2001). Moreover, comparisons across findings are difficult due to methodological differences in variable selection and measurements used. Still, the existing data highlight concerning levels of eating disturbances and body dissatisfaction in this part of the world (e.g. Schulte & Thomas, 2013). Our cross-national study aims to strengthen the current evidence base in this region by collecting data from multiple sites (Lebanon, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates) using the same set of instruments.


Sabrina Tahboub-Schulte, PhD, MSc, BSc (Psychology)

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Page 37

As well as lecturing for the last 16 years, Samineh Shaheem’s on-going research, extending from her doctorate, combines her psychology background and academic career. Being a cross-cultural psychologist, and appreciating the importance of uncovering cultural similarities and differences in psychological traits and behaviours, she examines the identity transformation and the adaptation /acculturation process of international students (especially from the Gulf region), studying in the UK, during period of education and upon return.

Title: Care to End Cruelty at our Schools – Bolt Down on Bullying Campaign

The Bolt Down on Bullying campaign started in 2009 and back then there was little awareness in schools of UAE and throughout the community about this type of psychological violence. A common question asked was, ‘what are the percentages of children bullied here?’ Even though most children don’t speak up and incident numbers are inaccurately low because bullying is seriously under reported, even 1 child bullied is 1 child too many. Since then I’ve worked closely with psychologists, TV, radio, counselors, principles and organizations such as the Dubai Health Authority to raise awareness, confront cases, and to try and prevent bullying both at schools and in the workplace.


Samineh I. Shaheem, PhD (Psychology/Education)

Joana Stocker is a PhD holder in Psychology (College of Psychology and Sciences of Education of University of Porto – Portugal) and her research focuses, generally, on Educational Psychology, and, specifically, on motivational factors related to the learning process and academic success. Constructs related to self-theories, as self-concept, personal conceptions of intelligence, causal attributions, self-efficacy, and emotional competence, are the core of her investigation.

Title: Vocational orientation towards high school – A project proposal

What courses should I take? What area/specialization should I choose? What school? How will high school be like? These and many other questions arise when students begin to think about their future entrance in high school. Going through this process without guidance from a professional may origin higher levels of doubts and anxiety, as well as lower levels of self-confidence. Ultimately, it may lead to non-adaptive choices and decisions, based on random factors, that may compromise and jeopardize students’ academic and/or professional future. More than anything, vocational orientation, also known as career guidance, has its foundations on students’ self-knowledge: the more the student knows him/herself, the better he/she will be able to explore, equate, and consciously decide his/her own academic and professional path (Coimbra, Campos, & Imaginario, 1994).


Joana Stocker, PhD (Psychology)

Child and Educational Psychology Stream – Workshops

Carmen Barrack has just completed a book chapter titled, School Psychology in the UAE which explores a universal school-based mindfulness intervention implemented with children ages KG – Grade 12 as well comments on the state of school psychology in the UAE.

Title: Creating an Effective Child Protection Interagency Approach

Professionals are currently working in a reactive way to child protection and within isolation. Counsellors, psychologists, and child protection professionals are trained to consider the legal requirements as well as their ethics and morals within their practice. Are professionals within the UAE inadvertently setting these ethics and morals to one side due to a lack of policy when a disclosure is made? How do professionals balance the competing need of legally safeguarding the child in the current vacuum which exists and being pragmatic on supporting the child by doing what they can, even if this is justto listen? Is offering emotional support enough until government policy is disseminated? Children come to the attention of educators on a daily basis, either at nursery or school and professionals in these settings are often the first to observe changes in behaviour or to have a disclosure of child protection made to them.


Carmen Barrack, Msc (Counselling), and Priya Mitchell

Page 38

Child and Educational Psychology Stream – Roundtable



Page 39

Danielle is currently a Senior Business Psychologist at Emirates Group. Her background is in using psychological theories and approaches to identify and enhance performance within a variety of domains including, sport, military and aviation. She has experience both lecturing in and applying performance psychology within public and private sectors.

Anjana Chandran is a Post Graduate Demonstrator at Heriot- Watt University, Visiting Scholar at the American University of Sharjah and Recruitment Consultant at Storm Piper, a multi-national Executive Search company. Having graduated in Computer Science and Engineering and worked in the IT industry for 3 years, Anjana is deeply interested in studying person perception in Organizational settings. She has been pursuing Social Psychological research in the area for more than 2 years, co-authored a published paper and presented at the International Conferences SPSP and IPCD in 2013.

Title: Developing Optimism: A Cognitive-Behavioural Intervention to Reduce Stress in Student Teachers

Optimistic explanatory style refers to the way in which individual’s routinely attribute cause to the events in their lives (Ambramson et al., 1978) and can be successfully enhanced through the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) group-based workshops (Buchanan et al., 1999; Seligman et al., 2007). It has been successfully measured via the self-report Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ: Peterson et al., 1982) and has been associated with better performance and lower levels of state anxiety following negative feedback (Martin-Krumm et al., 2003), a lower incidence of stress-related physical illness (Jackson et al., 2002; Buchanan et al., 1999), and lower levels of job-related emotional distress (Hershberger et al., 2000). In 2005, teaching was identified as the second most stressful job undertaken within the UK (Johnson et al., 2005) and two independent reviews of the teacher-stress literature both concluded that further research is required todevelop effective stress-management interventions (Kyriacou, 2000; Jarvis, 2002).

Title: ‘I thought I did well’ – Impression Management and Formation at the workplace

The present study aimed to analyze impression-management and impression formation during recruitment. It focused particularly on LinkedIn – a tool that is growing rapidly as the first step in the recruitment process in many organizations.Research on recruitment has shown that varying impression management tactics used by candidates have differential effects on recruiter impressions. Further, initial recruiter impressions have shown to affect subsequent Competency Based Interview evaluations. This study employed a Social-Psychological framework called the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) to understand how impressions are managed and formed. This model captures first impressions using two dimensions – competence and warmth. The SCM has been studied across countries and contexts and has established neurological roots. It shows considerable promise for applied research at the workplace.



Danielle Bryant, Phd (Psychology), Msc (Performance Psychology)

Anjana Chandran, Msc (Business Psychology)

Occupational Stream – Papers

Alex is a Business Psychologist at Ashridge Business School based in the Middle East. Alex has helped UK and Middle East better assess and develop their workforce, from high potential talent to middle management and senior leadership. Alex’s specific research interests are in the areas of positive psychology, resilience and well-being at work, having written and spoken in these areas. Alongside Dr Jill Flint Taylor he is currently working a funded research project (with DFID, Oxfam and the British) looking at resilience in conflict affected regions.

Title: Understanding and developing personal resilience

This conference presentation will focus on personal resilience in the context of work, with a particular emphasis on how building resilience can deliver sustainable performance over time. The audience of this paper is both academic and practitioner psychologists and HR and L&D professionals who are interested in understanding and developing resilience in organisations. This paper will discuss existing literature in the field, provide a clear perspective on personal resilience and consider applications in a Middle East context. In line with the current literature on resilience development and adult resilience (Reich, Zautra, & Hall, 2010), we take the view that resilience is best understood in terms of process and outcome - the process of working through difficult challenges, and the outcome of quicker recovery combined with an increased capacity to cope with pressure (Cooper, Flint-Taylor, & Pearn, 2013). Viewing resilience in this way makes it easier for individuals, their managers and human resource professionals to appreciate that it is not a fixed trait or set of traits and that resilience development is something worth investing in.


Alex Davda (MSc Occupational Psychology)

Page 40

Amelia Hughes is a chartered occupational psychologist and head of assessment services at PwC UK.She has any years of experience working in the area of talent management , competency design, psychometrics and their applications in talent context to achieve great organisational results.

Title: Developing globally relevant and accepted behavioural models for us to in talent management context

PWC is an international organisation with a need to represent core capabilities to clients globally whilst at the same operating effectively at a national and local level. Amelia Hughes from PWC explores the professional journey, the benefits and challenges around the design and implementation of a global professional services behavioural model. Insights will be gained on how these types of approaches are designed, communicated and applied into selection and development contexts.


Amelia Hughes (Clinical Psychology)



Page 41

Dr. Samir Parikh is a Consultant Psychiatrist and has done MD in Psychiatry from Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, and at present he is the Director of Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis National Mental Health Program, Fortis Healthcare India. Under the leadership of Dr. Parikh, the department has a robust program on Organizational Psychology, Fortis Organizational Psychological Initiative, where the team engages with various business and corporate organizations to conducts programs in psychological well-being.

Gareth is currently Head of Health Promotion and Education for the Health and Sports Medicine Centre - Abu Dhabi, which aims to enhance the health, fitness and well-being of military personnel. He is currently completing a part time PhD with Swansea University – UK, investigating the effectiveness of reflective practice for health practitioners.

Title: Mentoring Cascades - Creating Psychological Well-Being at the Workplace

Employees are the greatest resource of any enterprise and the effects of employee ill-mental health directly impact the productivity and performance of an organization. Growing challenges in the workplace like long working hours, rising competition and increasing performance pressures lead to frustration, stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health related issues. Issues of absenteeism, lack of motivation, decreased productivity, high attrition rate and employee dissatisfaction are all symptoms of a single malaise - employee mental ill-health. The mentoring cascade combines basic counseling skills and peer support and creates an atmosphere of well-being in the organization. We have utilized it in various organizations and schools we are associated with and we would describe and discuss the methodology of the same through this paper.

Title: An investigation into the effectiveness of reflective practice for facilitating positive practice behaviours

of health professionals.

The importance of reflective practice is frequently noted in the health promotion literature. Indeed, reflecting on experiences is regarded by many as an essential characteristic for achieving and maintaining professional competence (Mann, Gordon, & MacLeod, 2009). However, the evidence-base to support its usefulness is largely theoretical and/or anecdotal, with limited empirical investigations identified within the literature (Jayatilleke & Mackie, 2013). Additionally, much of the research conducted thus far has merely considered the development of reflective skills or the impact of reflective interventions on practitioner effectiveness. To better understand the role of reflective practice for promoting professionalism across disciplines, these two categories of research need not be treated as mutually exclusive but rather as interactional where improved reflective skills impacts on practice endeavours.



Dr. Samir Parikh, MD (Psychiatry)

Gareth Picknell, PhD Candidate (Sport Science), MSc (Sport Psychology).

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Marcia is the Senior Consulting Manager at The Talent Enterprise. Marcia has led human capital projects as an external consultant in internal human resource advisory roles across the Middle East and Australia, covering HR transformation, change management, organisational design, talent management projects

David is the Managing Director of The Talent Enterprise heading thought leadership in developing sustainable and pragmatic talent strategies across the MENA region. David is also the co-author of the best-selling book titled “Unlocking the Paradox of Plenty’.

Title: From Surviving to Thriving: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Talent in the Region?

Motivation. This paper presentation will showcase some of latest research and thinking in terms of and engagement within the GCC, in education and also for the workforce at large. It will address some of the common stereotypes and assumptions about what most matters most to youth, females, national talent and expatriates. The presenters will share data and leading-edge insights from primary research conducted with over 20,000 respondents in the region over 3 years through select case studies and practical examples on how to get the best of your people. This session will be relevant for those working within education, as well as those from an HR / organisational background.


Marcia von Berg and David Jones (Talent Enterprise)

Sharan is the Director for Consulting Services at Innovative HR Solutions. She is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, and an Associate Fellow and Registered Assessor for the British Psychological Society. She holds MSc in Work Psychology from Aston University UK and BSc from University of Hertfordshire. She has been working across the GCC since 2009 implementing a number of landmark talent development programmes, leadership programmes and more.

Chris launched CRSytems in 1996 with the original aim of providing custom 360° feedback solutions for corporations. Today CRSystems’ reach has extended to almost any form individual or group survey or psychometric. Chris holds a degree in Systems Engineering and an MBA from Cranfield and was previously one of the youngest Managing Directors within a FTSE 100 conglomerate.

Title: Driving a Feedback Culture

Most world-class organisations have long recognised that in order to improve business performance, they must promote and embed an open and constructive feedback culture. This in turn will enable individual, team and organisational learning.

This workshop will discuss: 1. Eliciting feedback for development purposes2. Feedback culture in the GCC region3. Organisation Readiness – steps to promote a feedback culture


Sharan Gohel and Chris Ryan (I H S)



Page 43

Occupational Stream - Workshops

David Barrett & Dr. Achim Preuss have worked in the area of psychometrics, business psychology and talent for with combined total of 50 years experience between them. They have worked at cutting edge of how assessment, the internet and globalisation have developed to create great possibilities for organisations seeking to improve their talent identification, attraction, screening, selection and development. Achim leads the research, development and technology unit for cut-e group in Hamburg and david works as the COO for the cut-e group helping to build globally useful services and applications for cut-e clients.

Title: How mobile devices and video based content will alter the diagnostic landscape and user experience on the context

of psychometrics and talent assessment

With up to 85% of people searching for jobs primarily online,45% wanting to apply online and 80% of new internet users having a mobile device as the primary access we are about to see a dramatic change in how psychometric assessment in the context of attraction, self assessment, screening, selection and development takes place. This will have many impacts from a user experience, quality of measure, data integrity, innovation and utility perspective.


David Barrett and Dr. Achim Preuss (Cut-e)

Bill Schuilenberg has extensive experience as a facilitator and has presented workshops for international conferences in Canada and the Middle East. He has worked with various organizations in the area of human potential, leadership development, and executive assessment. For the past five years, he has been working as a Counselling Psychologist and Executive Coach, providing individual therapy, coaching and psychological services within the private and corporate sectors of Kuwait.

Title: Emotional Fitness Coaching improves personal performance, workplace culture & employer brand.

The most common hindrance to a person’s ability to perform well is the emotional fitness. Technical skills can become inoperative when emotional distress is present. Sometimes there is a gap between emotional strengths and the capacities needed for effective performance. But people can become stronger when given an opportunity. When the employer addresses this challenge creatively; the reputation improves and the workplace culture is enhanced. Can corporations demand high team performance without promoting individual emotional fitness? Distress, low self-confidence, or anxiety are all emotional challenges which are always present in some degree for some of the workforce. The successful development of a performance improvement culture must address these challenges. All employees do not need personal coaching or counselling. Perhaps 10% of the workforce does. An employer can gain great respect from all the employees when coaching or counselling is provided in a way that is careful of the individual’s privacy and yet structured enough to be measurable.


Bill Schuilenberg, MA, Executive Coach (Social Psychology)

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Radhika Punshi is the Consulting Director at The Talent Enterprise. Her prime focus is on employability and local talent development, with an emphasis on gender and youth inclusion. Radhika is the first person from the MENASA region to be awarded a degree in Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania and served on founding Board of Directors of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) for two terms.

David Jones is the Managing Director of The Talent Enterprise. David has over 24 years of work experience, is a senior advisor to governments and organisational leaders on their people & talent strategies and a frequent lecturer at universities including the University of Cambridge.

Title: Developing a Positive Mindset & Critical Life Skills in Career Guidance & Nationalisation Programs

One of the most critical priorities for career guidance & HR professionals is to help assess and develop critical life skills, such as confidence, resilience, grit, social intelligence, purpose and a positive mindset amongst Gen Y & Z and the millennials. There is also a urgent need in setting realistic expectations and helping youth make the best academic and career choices based on a balanced view of their interests, strengths, aspirations and abilities. This interactive workshop will provide participants with the latest insights on the current challenges and opportunities in better aligning education with employment. All participants will also receive their own ‘workbook’ with best-in-class tools, techniques and practices towards fostering employability and work ready skills both with the educational and organisational context. This session would be of special relevance to career counsellors, coaches and HR professionals, including those focusing on youth and nationalisation programs.


Radhika Punshi and David Jones (The Talent Enterprise)



Page 45 Page 46

INTRODUCING IPCD 2014 STUDENT EVENT

Starting Your Psychology Career In The GCC Dr Wahass Saeed (Student Event Keynote Speaker)

Student Event Main Talks

IPCD 2014 aims to grow psychology in the region and we understand that encouraging and supporting young people to undertake study and careers in psychology is a key part of this. Students are welcomed at IPCD and we hope that our many presentations and keynotes showcase the range of opportunities available to them in our field.

IPCD 2013 was indeed attended by a number of students from around the region and this year we wanted to provide a more consolidated event for our audience-in-training. We are honoured to have teamed up with the UAE-University and the Human Relations Institute to present a special student event on Day Two as part of a new Student Stream in IPCD.

Student participants (both graduate and undergraduate levels) will attend any of the sessions on Day One including all the keynotes and networking events. Then, on Day Two we have designed a special programme to help students gain a greater understanding of where their studies can take them, what they will need to go into careers in psychology, and importantly to highlight the future graduate employment opportunities for psychology in the region.

The student event includes the following sessions between 10:45 and 12:30 on Day Two. Students attend the final two international keynotes before and after this session to complete their programme.

Dr Raymond Hamden (Director Human Relations Institute): Discussing the rise of psychology in the region. Ms. Salama Al Qubaisi (Graduate Student, UAE-U); Psychology in the UAE. Dr Alia Al Serkal (Head of Training and Development, DU Telecom): Preparing graduate psychologists to the arena of Occupational Psychology. Ms. Fiona Barron (UAE-U Graduate Student): Discussing the challenges & lessons in psychology in the region

Ph.D. CPsychol. Pg/Dip. App. Neuropsy. AFBPsS. Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences in Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Dammam And Subspecialty Consultant in Clinical Psychology/Neuropsychology, Head, the Section of Clinical Psychology, The National Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, Saudi Arabia.

Talk abstract

Clinical psychology is an applied field within the professional psychology. It concerns about the applications of psychological knowledge and skills in diagnosing/formulating individuals’ psychological dysfunctions and the way they can be treated and prevented. However, its clinical applications exceeded mental health to the physical health as well. Clinical psychology is a science, having sold scientific background, at the same time it is a profession, providing psychological healthcare for needed populations. From professional wise, the minimum standard requirement for being a clinical psychologist worldwide is the doctorate level, showing to what extent preparing clinical psychologist is difficult, it requires years of learning, training and practicing. Internationally, most of doctorate programs in clinical psychology are accredited by professional psychological associations/societies.

It is really sad to say that our Arabic/Gulf countries may have nil structured training programs in clinical psychology. The only existent ones are just academic/theoretical programs in general psychology. Moreover, getting an acceptance in clinical psychology worldwide is much hard. More complicated, we import clinical psychologists usually from the West, theymay find difficulties/barriers to understand social/culture issues related to mental and physical health, affecting negatively the quality of care for patients. Based on all, the time comes up to have our local training programs in clinical psychology.

This presentation describes a structured-training model for preparing clinical psychologists in our Arabic/Gulf countries. It includes; (a) the basic knowledge in human behavior, followed with detailed knowledge in descriptive and explanatory psychopathology and theories of evaluations/assessment and psychotherapy; (b) the professional skills in both assessments and interventions; and (c) standards and ethical behavior. It, however requires infrastructure which will be addressed.




Organising Committee

Nanette has been in the region for over 20 years in various roles in the Occupational Psychology field. Her major interest lies in the identification and development of potential and leadership talent. Post her studies in occupational psychology she completed an MBA and since then has qualified both to use, and train others, on a myriad of diagnostic and developmental tools. She is currently responsible for the delivery of a broad business and clinical psychological service for an international airline.

Annie currently works as Academic Leader for the School of Life Sciencesat Heriot Watt University’s Dubai campus. She has been in the UAE for 8 years working for UK Higher Education Institutions helping to set up and run their psychology programmes (both UG and PG). Prior to this she was employed as a lecturer at the University of Leicester, UK. She holds both a PhD in cognitive psychology and an MSc in International Addiction Studies from UK institutions. She has taught extensively across a broad range of applied and core psychology subject areas and worked closely with industry professionals.

Nanette Fairley

Dr Annie Crookes (Heriot Watt University)

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WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO

HWUD Psychology student volunteers: Archana Raveendran; Puja Shivlani; Shravanti Shankar; Ayesha Malik; Khaji Kushumbayev; Sadiya Rafiq Valli; Amal

Hindash; Eman Obeid; Yovela Murzello; Daania Fazal; Aneeyat GardeziHWUD student Sana Deeba (web developer)

Rob Perryman Creative

Alia Al Serkal has over 10 years of experience in Applied Psychology, having worked in various organisations related to telecommunication and aviation.

Her specialty includes identifying talent in the organisation, setting up talent pool programmes, as well as succession planning. She is a firm believer in

utilising psychometric testing and assessment centers to assist in selection and development as well as focusing on Emiratisation. Her interests lie in

personality, stress and coping, emotional labour, well-being, work engagement, psychometric testing and norm creation just to name a few. She obtained her PhD in Psychology from the University of Leeds (UK). She is a member of the

EPA, APA and a Chartered Member of the BPS.

Fiona has been in the UAE for almost 5 years, working predominantly in the conference and exhibition industry. She has extensive cross sector experience

in managing and organising large-scale international events. She is currently working as a part time consultant for a boutique events agency whilst studying

for her Masters in Clinical Psychology at UAE University in Al Ain.

IPCD 2014 REVIEW PANEL

Dr Matt Gould; Dr Jacqueline Widmer; Asma Naheed; Dr Susannah Schuilenberg; Radhika Punshi; Marcia von Berg

Dr Alia Al Serkal

Fiona Barron

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SPONSORED BY

GOLD SPONSOR

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