Dr Wafa Saoud

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Dr Wafa Saoud

Clinical Psychologist, Lead of Children and Adolescent Services

I am committed to developing collaborative and supportive relationships with my patients, to help them meet their treatment goals.

Dr Wafa Saoud is a Canadian Clinical Psychologist, specialized in the treatment of children, adolescents, and emerging adults. She has over 10 years of research, clinical training and experience in the assessment, consultation, and intervention of children and youth with various mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Prior to joining Sage Clinics, Dr Wafa worked as part of various inter-disciplinary teams within several Canadian pediatric and mental health services, including CAMH in Toronto and the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax. She conducted psychoeducational assessments and consultations for Canadian schools. She also worked in Canadian forensic psychology settings to assess and support the risks and needs of youth in the justice system.

Dr Wafa treats children, adolescents, and emerging adults with various mental health needs including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention, learning, emotion dysregulation, disruptive behaviors, self-harm, trauma, and grief. She specializes in concurrent mental health difficulties and neurodevelopmental conditions, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and learning difficulties.  She also offers coaching to parents and caregivers and deliver services to help strengthen parent-child relationships. Additionally, she treats misuse of substances or addictions (e.g., vaping).

Dr Wafa offers comprehensive diagnostic assessments and has extensive training and experience in the assessment and diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions and learning difficulties. She provides psychoeducational and neurodevelopmental assessments of ADHD, ASD, intellectual disorders, and learning disorders/difficulties. She is also trained and specialized in youth forensic assessments, which involves comprehensive psychological evaluations of youth who display conduct problems.

Dr Wafa is passionate about teaching and service development. She has supervised and trained students and allied health professionals and welcome further opportunities for teaching and supervision.

She aims to provide evidence-based interventions, tailored to the unique needs and goals of the youth and families she works with and uses a biopsychosocial approach for a comprehensive understanding of difficulties. Dr Wafa draws from various evidence-based modalities, including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and uses Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques to help build readiness and motivation for change. She also incorporates attachment-based principles in her interventions.

Dr Wafa places a strong emphasis on collaboration, and she values the strengths of the individuals she works with. Her aim is to provide a warm and non-judgmental environment in which youth and their families can feel open and supported. She also values collaborative and interdisciplinary care with other involved professionals.

Languages Spoken: English and Arabic.

Expertise

  • Comprehensive diagnostic assessments of neurodevelopment and mental health for children and adolescents.
  • Assessment and diagnosis of ADHD, intellectual disorders, and learning disorders (e.g., reading, writing, and math disabilities).
  • Mental health difficulties in children, adolescents, and emerging adults, including anxiety (e.g., generalized, social, or separation anxiety), phobia, low mood, OCD, emotion dysregulation, self-harm, grief, and trauma.
  • Substance misuse and concurrent mental health difficulties in youth.
  • Parent-child relationship difficulties.
  • Comprehensive coaching for parents and caregivers.
  • Youth forensic assessments.

Tools

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
  • Attachment-Based Therapy (ABT).
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapies (DBT).

Qualifications & Memberships

  • PhD in Clinical Developmental Psychology, York University in Toronto, Canada.
  • MA in Clinical Developmental Psychology, York University in Toronto, Canada.
  • MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada.
  • BSc with Honours, Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
  • Clinical Residency from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada.
  • Licensed by Nova Scotia Board of Examiners in Psychology (NSBEP) in Halifax, Canada.
  • Licensed by Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

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How it works

We know it’s likely to have been a struggle to get this far, but we are with you every step of the way. Our process is simple – we work with you to develop a unique plan and provide the a level of support according to your needs, whilst ensuring measurable and sustainable outcomes.

Appointment

Book an appointment by calling us on +971 4 575 5684 (or you can book online) and tell us what you are having difficulty with.

Consultation

We offer availability with highly experienced therapists suited to your needs and book the appointment for you.

Therapy

Meet the practitioner and begin the road to self-improvement. Have any concerns? Let us know so we can assist.

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your mental health

Our goal is to support individuals, couples, families and groups experiencing challenges with mental, behavioral or emotional wellbeing to overcome these challenges, learn new skills, and thrive at life.