Our second Doughton Fellow – Amira Shahla

Amira Shahla with Berivan Esen and Anni Rowland-Campbell

Intersticia is thrilled to announce that we now have a second Doughton Fellow following on from Chemist Berivan Esen.

The Doughton Scholarship is for Women in Science, and our next Doughton Scholar is Amira Shahla.

I met Amira at the OFEK Group Relations Conference in Israel in February 2019, and was hugely impressed by her courage, energy, tenacity and hopes for the future of the Palestinian people in Israel, and the work she is doing within the Autism community around her.

Amira is a Palestinian Israeli clinical psychologist who has a Masters Degree in Clinical and Educational Psychology from Haifa University.  Amira works in her own clinical practice specialising in psychodynamic therapy, dyadic and play therapy and group therapy for all ages, including those with autism.  Amira is a member of the Israel Psychological Association and OFEK, the Israeli Association for the Study of Group and Organizational Processes.  In addition to her clinical work Amira heads up a therapy team as part of a private organization for children with autism that works with Arab children with Autism inside Kindergartens as an outsourcing to the health ministry of israel, and she is working along with a society of parents and professionals called Jusour (bridges)  towards founding the first school for Arab children with Autism in the Haifa District.

Initially Amira has utilised £1,000 of her Scholarship to fund six Palestinian psychologists to attend “Besod Siach” – the 22nd Conference for the Advancement of Dialogue and its Inquiry:  One Human Tapestry, Unravelings and Connections in times of Dispute.  This conference was held on 23rd – 25th July, 2019 at Batsheba Hotel, Jerusalem.

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