MindWell is a leading mental health care center in Kuwait
Our mission is to provide the highest caliber mental health assessments, counseling, services and treatments through qualified professionals at the highest international standards.
Founder and Clinical Director
At MindWell we believe in providing our clients with the full scope of mental health services. For some patients this requires a referral to a psychiatrist for an assessment from a medical perspective and possible biological treatments such as medications or brain stimulation therapies. In this regard we have an exclusive partnership with Alsuwaidan Clinic, a leading private psychiatry clinic licensed under the Kuwait Ministry of Health and led by Dr. Mohammad Alsuwaidan.
Dr. Alsuwaidan is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Canada, where he is appointed to both the division of Neurosciences & Clinical Translation and the division of Psychotherapy, Humanities & Psychosocial Interventions.
Following the completion of his medical training, Dr. Alsuwaidan completed his psychiatry residency training with advanced training in mood & anxiety disorders and medical education at the University of Toronto, Canada. He also trained in mood disorders at Stanford University in California and Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He completed a Masters of Public Health (MPH) at Johns Hopkins University. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is certified in public health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners in the United States.
Dr. Alsuwaidan has previously served in numerous leadership positions including as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Kuwait University, Head of the Mental Health Unit at Mubarak Alkabeer Hospital, Founding Head of the Mood & Anxiety Disorders Unit, Inaugural Director of Education and Chief of Psychiatry at the Kuwait Center for Mental Health - Kuwait's national mental health hospital. He has also served as Residency Program Director and Faculty Chair for the Kuwait Board of Psychiatry, President of the Kuwait Psychiatric Association and Kuwait's representative for Mental Health to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr. Alsuwaidan is widely-sought internationally as a speaker and educator in mental health. He is an expert in psychopharmacology and has received numerous awards and grants for his work. He has consulted to large organizations such as the UAE Ministry of Health, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, the National Bank of Kuwait and the Kuwait Society of Engineers, on mental wellbeing, burnout, mental health awareness and empathy. Having lived equal portions of his life between Kuwait, Canada and the US, he is fluent at the level of a native speaker in Arabic and English.
Dr. Mohammad Alsuwaidan
Consultant Psychiatrist
Founder and Clinical Director
Team
Dr. Sami Ouanes
Consultant Psychiatrist
Dr. Sami Ouanes is a Consultant Psychiatrist with more than 12 years of experience in psychiatry in university hospitals in Tunisia, Switzerland and Qatar.
He graduated as Valedictorian from the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis in 2008 and obtained his Medical Doctorate in 2012.
He is an active researcher in psychiatry and neurosciences, and has been involved in research projects with the Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers Research Unit in Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar, as well as with Weill Cornell Medical College - Qatar.
He also has an experience in teaching psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy, research methodology and biostatistics in Tunisia and Qatar, and served as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Qatar University.
Dr. Ouanes trained in psychiatry and psychotherapy at Razi University Hospital, Tunis, at Valais Hospital, Sion, Switzerland, and at Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland. He also holds a university degree in Statistics and Methodology, as well as Master's Degrees in Old Age Psychiatry and in Epileptology. He also has a university degree in perinatality.
He trained on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Switzerland, and has a certificate in Interpersonal Therapy from the Circle of Interpersonal Therapy, France. He also has a certificate in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
He served as President of the Association of Young Psychiatrists and Psychiatry Residents in Tunisia (2013-2014), as well as a member of the Executive Board of one of the sections of the World Psychiatric Association. He has authored 100+ publications, including articles, published abstracts, and book chapters, and has been a regular speaker in national and international conferences since 2011. He is a regular invited speaker at the World Congress of Psychiatry. Dr. Ouanes can speak Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
Dr. Sara AlSayed
Counseling Psychologist
Director of Psychotherapy and Counseling
Dr. Sara AlSayed is a Counseling Psychologist who graduated with a Bachelors degree in Psychology from Concordia University in Canada and completed her PhD in the United Kingdom at the University of Wolverhampton. She is also a chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society. Her doctorate research focused on stigma towards mental health in Kuwait as well as the impact of an educational intervention to decrease stigma and discrimination within the youth.
Dr. AlSayed previously worked in the Mood & Anxiety Disorders unit at the Kuwait Center for Mental Health under the supervision of Dr. Mohammad Alsuwaidan. Moreover, she worked with the NHS for three years at a primary health care clinic in the United Kingdom.
Dr. AlSayed’s clinical practice includes individual therapy, couples’ therapy and family therapy. She has extensive experience working with clients with a variety of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, bereavement, trauma, bipolar disorder, OCD, domestic violence, relationship issues, sexual and emotional abuse, phobias, eating disorders and others. She also has experience working with children with learning disabilities and autism. Dr. AlSayed is an integrative practitioner and incorporates a variety of different approaches to meet the client’s specific and unique needs. Dr. AlSayed provides therapy in English, French and Arabic.
Dr. Abdullah Habib
Clinical Psychologist
Director of Clinical Neuropsychology
Dr. Abdullah Habib graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Missouri St. Louis, a Masters in Clinical Child Psychology from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge before completing his Doctorate degree in Psychiatry at the University of Glasgow where he was placed in both the Medical department and the institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, making him qualified to work with children, adolescents and adults. Dr. Habib also has a diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) from the Institute of Counselling in Glasgow, a certificate in The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule with clinical and research reliability and a Clinical Certificate in Clinical Psychopharmacology from the British Association of Psychopharmacology in Cambridge.
Dr. Habib is trained in a variety of treatment and diagnostic methodologies such as brain stimulation, brain imaging, psychometrics, psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. He has been formally trained in brain stimulation and brain imaging at the university of Glasgow one of the world’s top neuroscience centers. Dr. Habib has over 6 years of experience in the field of brain stimulation and is actively involved in brain stimulation clinical research with the aim of making brain stimulation treatment more efficient and more accessible to different groups of patients.
Dr. Habib has extensive experience working with patients with various mental health disorders including Mood disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Neurodevelopmental disorders, Cognitive impairments/ Neurocognitive Disorders, Personality disorders and Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic disorders. Working in both clinical and academic settings made him passionate about his work, always trying to learn new ways to help patients and keeping up with the ever changing scientific literature on best practice and treatment plans.
Dr. Habib has lectured at the University of West Scotland and the University of Glasgow teaching and supervising both Psychology and Medical students. He is also the founder of the Autism Research Group at the University of Glasgow. Dr. Habib is fluent at the level of a native speaker in Arabic and English, and to an intermediate level in German.
Loudy Khalil
Counseling Psychologist
Loudy Khalil is a Counseling Psychologist who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from University of Ottawa in Canada and earned her Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Keele University in the United Kingdom. She also completed a Post Graduate diploma in Couples Therapy from NAOS Institute in the U.K. She is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Loudy has extensive experience working with clients with a variety of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, bereavement, OCD, relationship issues, eating disorders and others. Her previous experience includes working with individuals, families and couples in various mental healthcare settings, NGO and Higher Education in Egypt, U.K. and Kuwait.
Loudy is an integrative practitioner and draws upon different therapeutic approaches to accommodate her client’s needs. Loudy provides therapy in English and Arabic
Services
Intake Assessments
An intake assessment is the first point of contact with our center. Whether a patient's goal is to be referred for talk therapy, psychological testing or to a psychiatrist we require an initial intake assessment. The goal of an initial intake is to conduct a thorough overview of a client’s medical and psychological history and to reach a list of possible diagnosis and an initial plan for further testing, referrals and/or treatment.
Psychometric Testing
MindWell uses some of the best internationally recognized standards in objective psychological testing and scoring. We provide psychological reports as part of this service in a timely manner. Importantly, all staff who conduct psychometric testing have received specific training to do so. This includes tests in both adults and children for IQ, Academic Performance, ADHD, Autism and Personality.
Psychotherapy and Counseling
“Talk Therapy” whether it be in a brief counseling approach or a longer term specific psychotherapy is a key treatment approach for many types of mental, emotional or relational problems. At MindWell our team is trained in multiple forms of therapy and counseling that cover many different mental health disorders through various treatment modalities. This includes, but is not limited to, individual, marriage, couples and group therapy, specific counseling for behavior change such as smoking cessation or improving sleep, CBT, DBT skills.
Psychopharmacology (Medication) Treatment
While not all patients have a diagnosis that requires medication treatment, certain mental health conditions can improve signficantly with medications. Choosing the right medication at the right dose and knowing when to switch or stop is vital. Our clinical partners at Alsuwaidan Clinic are highly-skilled in this aspect of care. In fact, Dr. Alsuwaidan is an expert in the field and teaches psychopharmacology to many doctors regionally and internationally. He and his team are careful to prescribe medications only when and only for as long as required. More importantly, we view medications as only one part, although important, of an integrative therapuetic approach.
Pharmacogenomics (Genetic) Testing
Individualized or Precision medicine is an approach to clinical care that attempts to tailor the best possible treatment for each individual patient. An important part of this approach is choosing a medication for a patient based on their own unique biological characteristics, as opposed to according to statistical averages from large research studies. Our partners at Alsuwaidan Clinic offer the most advanced genetic testing to help in choosing the right medication for a patient who needs it. They have partnered with leading labs from world-renowned hospitals in the United States to assure reliable and quality results.
Virtual Reality (VR) Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy is an important psychological treatment for several mental conditions related to phobia, social anxiety and trauma. At MindWell we provide the latest innovation in providing therapist-guided exposure therapy using virtual reality (VR) technology. This allows guided and supervised exposure to situations that normally could not be done in the constraints of an office or clinic.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a revolutionary new biological treatment for depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). While medications help fix brain networks that lead to depression or OCD using chemical signaling, TMS works by stimulating brain networks using powerful magnetic fields. TMS has been approved by all major regulators in the USA, Canada, UK and EU. It has been shown to be safer and more effective than medications. Our partners at Alsuwaidan Clinic are experts in using TMS for patients, having trained with some of the world's top TMS experts and have a track record of achieving results.
Conditions We Treat
Alzheimer's Disease, Anorexia, ADHD/ADD, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia, Depression, Dementia, Eating Disorders, Insomnia, Marriage & Relationship Problems, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Personality Disorders, Phobia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Schizophrenia, Sexual Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Smoking Cessation, Social Anxiety, Stress
Contact Us
Location
Al Tijaria Tower, 23rd Floor, Soor Street, Kuwait City