Amarylis Harris is a CDA-licensed psychologist with over 20 years of experience supporting adolescents, adults, families, and professionals. She specialises in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), an evidence-based approach grounded in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and behavioural science. Her work also draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), integrating these models within a Person Centered approach to support meaningful change and emotional wellbeing.
She is a member of the British Psychological Society and the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science, and brings to her work a unique combination of clinical expertise, strategic leadership experience, and a deep commitment to compassionate, science-informed care. Amarylis has lived in Dubai for over a decade and offers culturally attuned psychological support to individuals and organisations across the UAE.
She is the founder of Compassionate Minds, a Dubai-based psychology clinic offering therapy and assessment for children, adolescents, and adults. The clinic reflects her belief that effective psychological support should be personalised, collaborative, and grounded in both evidence and empathy. Amarylis designed the clinic around community values, including a group space to bring communities together, departing from the traditional design which centers on the individual.
What Amarylis Offers
Individual, Couples and Group Therapy
Amarylis works with adolescents and adults facing a wide range of emotional, behavioural, and relational challenges. She supports clients with anxiety, depression, trauma, perfectionism, identity issues, disordered eating, addictive patterns, and school or work avoidance. Her therapeutic style is thoughtful, engaging, and deeply contextual, helping people understand themselves and the processes taking place at a less conscious level, to move toward lasting change.
Parenting Support
Trained in Compassion Focused Parenting and licensed in the Triple P Positive Parenting Programme, Amarylis offers one-to-one guidance and group-based support to help parents navigate conflict, behavioural struggles, emotional regulation difficulties, and the pressures of modern parenting. She also delivers free online and in-person workshops to strengthen the wider parenting community.
Workshops and Psychological Wellbeing Programmes
Amarylis develops and delivers tailored workshops for organisations, schools, and parent groups, designed to enhance emotional resilience, team dynamics, and long-term wellbeing. Her sessions are known for being practical, science-based, and engaging often blending insight, humour, and actionable strategies in equal measure. Leaning on her experience delivering a wide range of accredited psychological programmes, she develops and writes workshops to fit the need.
Supervision and Professional Development
With a strong leadership background across public and private sectors, Amarylis offers individual and group supervision to counsellors and psychologists. She supports reflective, growth-focused practice and also leads collaboration gatherings and professional workshops for mental health professionals. Her experience spans both strategic leadership and front-line clinical supervision, giving her a unique lens on supporting practitioner development.
Training for Early-Career Psychologists
Amarylis is committed to mentoring the next generation of psychologists. She offers structured feedback and skills-based workshops, drawing on her experience as a treatment manager and clinical lead. Her training includes analysis of live and recorded sessions, designed to build confidence and clinical excellence in new practitioners.
Programme Design and Strategic Development
With a background in conducting needs assessments and designing group interventions, Amarylis has created a range of bespoke therapeutic programmes. These include a recent skills-based group for young psychologists, a transition programme for women navigating separation and divorce, and rehabilitative interventions for individuals recovering from addiction. Her work is informed by a strong understanding of systems, strategy, and the real-world application of psychological models.
Training and accreditation
Areas of specialism
Dr Amy Bailey is a UK-trained Clinical Psychologist with over two decades of experience supporting children, adolescents, and families. At Compassionate Minds, she leads the child assessment pathway as Director of Children’s Services, where she oversees the delivery of psychological assessments and risk evaluations. Amy brings extensive clinical expertise in understanding emotional development, trauma, and child-centred care, ensuring that all assessments conducted within the clinic meet the highest standards of professional and ethical practice.
Amy’s practice is rooted in compassion and evidence-based care. Her approach integrates knowledge from developmental psychology, attachment theory, and trauma-informed practice. She is known for her calm, grounded presence and a deep commitment to helping children feel safe, understood, and supported throughout the assessment process.
What Amy Offers
Comprehensive Psychological Assessment
Amy conducts and supervises psychological assessments for children and adolescents who may be experiencing difficulties at home, in school, or with peers. Her assessments offer in-depth psychological understanding and clear recommendations for home and school support.
Individual Therapy for Children and Adolescents
Amy delivers one-to-one psychological therapy using developmentally tailored approaches such as CBT and EMDR. She supports young people experiencing a wide range of emotional and behavioural difficulties in a safe and child-centred therapeutic environment.
Risk Assessment and Training
She is skilled in evaluating self-harm, emotional instability, and presenting behaviours that may raise concern. These assessments ensure young people’s needs are met with appropriate care and urgency. She also trains other psychologists on child protection procedures and best practice.
Parental Consultation and Feedback
Amy works collaboratively with parents and caregivers, offering support and guidance in understanding their child’s emotional world and helping them feel empowered to respond with clarity and compassion.
School Collaboration
With parental consent, her work involves liaising closely with schools to ensure a joined-up approach to supporting children’s learning, behaviour, and emotional wellbeing. She provides clear, tailored recommendations for educators and pastoral teams.
Support for Complex Emotional Needs
Amy offers deep insight into areas such as developmental trauma, attachment disruption, anxiety, and low mood, guiding families through challenges with a warm and collaborative approach.
Supervision of Assessments
As Director of Children’s Services, she oversees the work of psychologists providing assessments within the clinic, offering supervision, review, and quality assurance.
Professional Development
Amy also provides workshops, training, and supervision to other professionals supporting children across education and mental health.
Training and Accreditation
Amy is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a structured, evidence-based psychotherapy used to treat trauma and PTSD, endorsed by the World Health Organization. She is also certified in FRIENDS Resilience, a programme recognised by the WHO for the prevention and treatment of anxiety in children.
Areas of Specialism
Amy has supported hundreds of children and families across a wide spectrum of psychological and emotional challenges. Her areas of expertise include:
Kate Baseley is a UK-trained psychotherapist with a background in education and extensive experience supporting adolescents, adults, and families. Her work is grounded in the Person-Centred approach, an evidence-based modality that prioritises empathy, acceptance, and the therapeutic relationship as central to emotional healing and psychological growth.
Kate is licensed with the Community Development Authority (Dubai), is a member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (UK) and holds an MSc in Counselling & Psychotherapy from Keele University, UK. She also has additional training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (BPS-accredited) and maintains a strong commitment to ongoing professional development in trauma-focused modalities and adolescent mental health.
Kate brings to her role a warm, grounded therapeutic style informed by her former career as a teacher, giving her a deep understanding of school-based challenges and youth development. Her therapy sessions offer a non-judgemental space where clients feel heard, empowered, and equipped to explore their emotional world with confidence.
What Kate offers
Individual Therapy for Adolescents and Adults
Kate provides tailored therapeutic support for clients navigating a wide range of emotional, behavioural, and relational difficulties. Drawing on Person-Centred foundations, her work promotes emotional healing through trust, empathy, and self-awareness. Clients are supported to explore anxiety, low mood, trauma, identity struggles, and school-based stress.
Support for Trauma Recovery
With significant experience working with survivors of abuse across emotional, physical, and sexual domains, Kate delivers trauma-informed therapy that is sensitive and responsive to the client’s pace. Her time in UK-based charities provided her with the expertise to handle complex trauma cases with compassion and care.
Psychological Support for School-Related Stress
Having previously worked as a teacher, Kate understands the dynamics of school environments. She works effectively with adolescents experiencing peer pressure, bullying, exam stress, and identity confusion. Her support often includes collaboration with schools and families.
Parent and Family Consultation
Kate provides consultation and support for parents and families, particularly when navigating difficult transitions, communication breakdowns, or challenges with neurodivergent family members. Her approach is collaborative and focused on restoring connection and understanding.
Specialist Counselling for Bereavement and Life Transitions
Kate supports clients through grief, including complicated bereavement, and helps them adjust to major life changes such as relocating to the UAE. Her approach enables individuals and families to navigate emotional upheaval while building resilience and coping strategies.
Group Work and Workshops
In addition to individual therapy Kate has experience facilitating psychoeducational and therapeutic groups for both teens and adults. These group settings focus on shared experiences such as anxiety, self-esteem, and transitions, and provide clients with peer support in a structured environment.
Specialist Training
To enhance skills and knowledge on specific topics for other professionals working in child support services, e.g. understanding self-harm and managing our personal reactions to harmful behaviours to encourage safety.
Training and Accreditation
Kate’s training is rooted in the Person-Centred approach, enhanced by Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tools and trauma-informed practices. She is committed to ongoing professional development and is currently furthering her expertise in adolescent wellbeing and trauma work.
Areas of Specialism
Kate works across a broad range of psychological concerns and adapts her approach to each individual’s developmental stage and life context. Her particular areas of expertise include:
Kate sees therapy as a collaborative journey. She offers a grounded, empathic presence while clients bring their lived experience and innate potential for change. Together, they create a therapeutic space that fosters psychological growth, resilience, and self-acceptance.
MSc Psychology (in progress)
Jen leads the Corporate Wellbeing practice at Compassionate Minds, drawing on over 15 years of experience in high-performing, multicultural environments across the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, and the Middle East. She has worked with senior leaders and executive teams to shape strategy, manage complex transformations, and support sustainable performance across a range of industries.
Alongside her corporate work, Jen is retraining as an Assistant Psychologist, currently completing her MSc in Psychology and undergoing supervised clinical practice in the UAE. Her academic research focuses on the psychological impact of menopause and andropause, with a particular interest in how these life transitions affect mental health across genders.
Jen brings a unique combination of commercial insight and psychological expertise to her role. She works with organisations to build resilient cultures and prevent burnout, and supports women and young adults through key transitions in life and work. Her approach is grounded, human, and focused on empowering clients to lead with clarity and confidence.
Dr Afiya Ali is a New Zealand-trained Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years of experience supporting children, adolescents, and families across diverse cultural contexts. At Compassionate Minds, she brings particular expertise in neurodevelopmental assessments and therapeutic care tailored to the emotional, behavioural, and social needs of young people. Her approach integrates deep clinical knowledge with warmth, cultural sensitivity, and a commitment to holistic wellbeing.
Afiya completed her Doctorate (PhD) in Psychology at the University of Otago and her Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology at the University of Waikato. She has worked extensively in both New Zealand and the Maldives, including as Senior Clinical Psychologist in a hospital setting and as the lead psychologist at the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH). Her work has included therapy, assessment, consultation, and supervision of other mental health professionals. Known for her calm and grounded presence, Afiya supports children and their families through complex developmental challenges, trauma, and emotional distress, always prioritising safety, collaboration, and long-term resilience.
What Afiya Offers
Comprehensive Neurodevelopmental Assessments
Afiya offers specialist assessments for children and adolescents presenting with neurodivergent profiles, including autism spectrum conditions and ADHD. Her evaluations are developmentally informed and include collaboration with families and educators to ensure clear, practical recommendations.
Therapeutic Support for Emotional and Behavioural Challenges
Using a range of evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) and play-based techniques. Afiya supports children and families in understanding emotional responses, improving coping skills, and strengthening relational bonds.
Trauma-Informed Therapy
With extensive experience working with PTSD and complex trauma, Afiya provides a safe and attuned therapeutic space for young people processing difficult life experiences. Her work honours the role of attachment, regulation, and meaning-making in recovery.
Family and Systems Work
Afiya’s integrative style includes working with parents and caregivers to build understanding, reduce conflict, and promote attuned caregiving. Her experience includes providing systemic input across hospital, educational, and community settings.
Training and Accreditation
Afiya's training is rooted in psychological science and culturally responsive care. She is licensed with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and brings a wealth of international experience to her role.
Areas of Specialism
Afiya’s clinical interests span a wide range of childhood and adolescent difficulties, with particular strengths in:
Afiya’s therapeutic work is compassionate, evidence-informed, and responsive to the unique needs of each child and family. Her goal is to help young people feel understood, supported, and capable as they move through developmental, emotional, and environmental challenges.
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Marian Gines, better known as Yanie, is the first point of contact at Compassionate Minds, welcoming every client with warmth, professionalism, and compassion. With a strong background in customer service and administrative support across healthcare and educational settings, Marian plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the clinic.
Marian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and has received vocational certifications in caregiving, wellness massage, and healthcare support. Her experience spans a variety of client-facing roles, including receptionist and dental assistant positions in medical clinics, as well as earlier work in pharmacy, education, and hospital environments. This diverse background gives her a unique ability to support both clinicians and clients with empathy, discretion, and attention to detail.
At Compassionate Minds, Marian manages scheduling, coordination of appointments, and administrative support with efficiency and kindness. Her calm presence and approachable manner help to create a welcoming environment where every visitor feels cared for from the moment they enter the clinic.
Compassionate Minds
205 Detroit House
Motor City
Dubai
FREE PARKING SPOTS AVAILABLE
Phone: +971 4438 5000
Whatsapp: +971 4566 9344
E-Mail: info@compassionateminds.ae
Open hours:
Monday - Friday:
9:30am - 7pm
DHA: 00024842
