Marie Thérèse Abi Akel

Head of Allied Health Services & Senior Speech and Language Therapist at Aman Lil Afia Clinic. With over two decades of experience, Marie Thérèse Abi Akel has demonstrated a deep commitment to improving the lives of individuals with communication disorders through clinical excellence, strategic leadership, and innovation in care delivery.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Speech and Language Therapy in 2002 from the Higher School of Speech and Language Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University in Beirut, and completed a clinical internship in cochlear implants at the Roger Salengro CHR Cochlear Implant Centre in Lille, France.

Early in her career, Ms. Abi Akel established the rehabilitation department of the Cochlear Implant Unit at Clinique du Levant Hospital in Beirut and worked at the Military Hospital, while simultaneously running her private practice. She moved to Dubai in 2006 to join the Rashid Centre for People of Determination, where she was promoted to Head of SLT Services in 2012 and later to Medical Director in 2020. In these roles, she managed large, multidisciplinary teams, ensuring high-quality care for students and patients while overseeing operations and staff development. Her tenure was marked by exponential service growth, clinical innovation, and quality enhancement. In 2024, she joined Medcare-Camali Clinic (a mental health joint venture between Medcare Hospitals & Medical Centres and Camali Clinic) as Head of Allied Health, where she established and led a new multidisciplinary department encompassing Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and ABA. She also provided direct therapy services.

Ms. Abi Akel treats a broad range of speech, language, communication, feeding, and learning difficulties, including speech-sound disorders, developmental language disorder (DLD), fluency disorders, auditory processing difficulties, autism-related communication profiles, hearing impairment, and dyslexia. Her clinical approach integrates standardized and dynamic assessments, caregiver collaboration, and functional, neurodivergent-affirming intervention plans, with a focus on early intervention and parent education.

She has pursued extensive post-qualification training, including:

• SOS Approach to Feeding
• More Than Words® — The Hanen Program®
• Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme (NDP3® Levels 1–4)
• It Takes Two to Talk® — The Hanen Program®
• Makaton (Levels 1–4)
• TalkTools® 3-Part Treatment Plan for OPT™
• AAC Intervention
• Lidcombe Programme

Committed to inclusive, accessible, and evidence-based care, she works closely with culturally and neurodivergent diverse populations, supporting families across the region, fostering the next generation of allied health professionals, and offering services in Arabic, English, and French.

Outside of her professional life, Marie Thérèse is a proud mother of Soraya and Sherif, and dog-mom to her spirited King Charles Spaniel, Toffee. In her spare time, she enjoys good food, exploring new destinations, and sharing meaningful moments with her loved ones.