Dr. Fiona Desira
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
UK-trained Clinical Psychologist with over 16 years of experience specializing in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
About Dr. Fiona Desira
Dr. Fiona Desira is a UK-trained Clinical Psychologist with over 16 years of experience in the field of mental health. She specializes in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Fiona is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC PYL24240) in the UK and is a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS 168252). She has extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and adults with various mental health concerns.
Qualifications
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy)
- BSc (Hons) Psychology
- Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC PYL24240), UK
- Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS 168252)
- Experienced ADOS-2 Trainer (WPS Certified)
- Experienced international speaker
Clinical Services
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Assessment
Comprehensive ASD evaluations for children, adolescents & adults, adhering to UK best practice guidelines, using gold-standard tools including ADI-R & ADOS-2.
What's Included:
- Initial screening
- Full diagnostic assessment
- Comprehensive report with recommendations
- Detailed feedback session
Fiona ensures all assessments are neuroaffirming and supports people to understand their diagnoses by sharing helpful information about ASD, developing a strengths-based profile and incorporating helpful recommendations into reports.
Fee: £1,950.00 (payable in installments)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Assessment
In-depth ADHD evaluations tailored for children, adolescents, and adults.
What's Included:
- Clinical interview
- Standardized assessment
- Comprehensive report with recommendations
- Detailed feedback session
Fiona utilises standardised assessment tools and clinical interviews to develop a clear understanding of a person's needs and provides recommendations and helpful strategies to support individuals to meet their potential.
Fee: £1,200.00 (payable in installments)
Therapeutic Support
Fiona works therapeutically with a range of neurodevelopmental and mental health needs in children and young people. She also supports parents with managing behaviours that challenge.
What's Included:
- Initial assessment
- Evidence-based interventions
- Relapse prevention
Price on request
Supervision & Training
Clinical Supervision
Fiona completed supervisor training immediately after qualifying and has provided clinical supervision for the last 15 years. Fiona offers supervision to a range of clinicians, including Consultant Clinical Psychologists. Fiona is able to provide general CAMHS supervision and specialist supervision in relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Fiona also has experience of offering safeguarding supervision to mental health, social care and educational professionals.
Price on request
ADOS-2 Training
Certified under the WPS scheme, Fiona provides comprehensive ADOS training including clinical and research validation. She has been an ADOS trainer for 14 years and has offered trainings in the UK and the gulf region.
Fiona offers ADOS supervision to clinicians from a range of disciplines to ensure ongoing validity of administration and coding, and to support understanding of the ADOS in the contact of the broader assessment.
Fiona offers both fully facilitated courses and bespoke in-house training packages.
Price on request
Corporate Wellbeing
In recognition of the importance of organisations looking after their staff, Fiona offers bespoke corporate wellbeing support. This includes teaching and training on mental health in the workplace and neurodiversity in the workplace, and individual support as required.
Price on request
Testimonials
"Dr. Fiona's expertise and compassion made a huge difference in our lives. Her thorough assessment was invaluable."
Parent
"Fiona is by far one of the most experienced Psychologists I have had the pleasure to work with. She is reliable, hardworking, consistent, professional and very personable. Fiona approaches all of her work holistically and incorporates a patient-centered approach, which shows in her support of families."
Dr. Reem Mudawi, Consultant Psychiatrist
"It was a great pleasure to have such an informative and practical ADOS training with Dr.Fiona. It really helped me with my daily clinical assessment and empowered me to feel more confident when coming to diagnosis of ASD. I highly recommend this course for all physicians interested in Autism."
Dr. Randa Akram – Specialist Psychiatrist
Conferences
Dr Fiona Desira is an experienced and passionate speaker who enjoys sharing lectures and workshops at international conferences. Fiona has been an invited speaker at many conferences throughout her career to date, sharing knowledge and experience relating to Neurodevelopmental Disorders and staff wellbeing.
EHS Best Practices in Quality and Patient Safety Conference
Location: Dubai
Date: November 2023
Lecture:
Mental Health Matters: The Importance of Mental Health in the Workplace
Maudsley Health Conference
Location: Abu Dhabi
Date: October 2023
Lecture:
Supporting the Families of People of Determination
EHS International Mental Health Conference
Location: Dubai
Date: February 2023
Lecture:
Mindfulness in the Workplace
EHS Annual Regional Conference
Location: Dubai
Date: November 2022
Lecture:
Mindfulness for Staff Wellbeing
Maudsley Health Conference
Location: Dubai
Date: October 2021
Lecture:
Staff Wellbeing: Implementation of a Program in a Mental Health Facility in the UAE
Workshop:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders
1st Gulf Autism Conference
Location: Oman
Date: January 2020
Workshop:
A Best Practice Model for Assessing Children with ASD
Intellectual Disabilities Forum
Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Date: March 2019
Lectures:
- Understanding Intellectual Disabilities
- The Impact of Intellectual Disabilities on Families
GCC Autism Inclusion Conference
Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Date: February 2019
Lectures:
- Best Practice Assessment for School-Aged Children with Additional Needs
- Understanding Learning Difficulties and Intellectual Disabilities in Children
Autism Around The World Conference
Location: Dubai, UAE
Date: May 2018
Workshop:
A Best Practice Model for Multi-Disciplinary Autism Assessment