Innovative Psychologist Is People & Power’s Female Professional of The Year 2016

People & Power has named a professional psychologist as its Female Professional of the Year 2016.

Dr. Morayo Ayopo Jimoh is the founder of Nigeria’s foremost psychology clinic which is based in Lekki, Lagos. The clinic which she named Mobile Health Consult (Brain Dynamics) has made innovative efforts in the practice of neurofeedback and biofeedback therapies in the Nigerian setting. Today, she is a most sought-after psychotherapist both within and outside the shores of her country.

Her clinic has achieved prominence in the application of new approaches in the management and treatment of a wide range of brain-related disorders such as neurodevelopmental disorders, learning disabilities, neurotic disorders and psychotic disorders.

Only last month, this highly innovative Nigerian woman won the PSR Woman of Merit Gold Award. The award was in acknowledgement of her sterling contributions to the development of Nigeria in the sphere of Psychotherapy and Psychological Support Services.

Morayo Jimoh qualified as a Nigerian Registered Nurse in 1993 after training at the Lagos State School of Nursing. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science, Education (BSc.Ed) from the University of Benin, Benin City in 1998.

With a Second Class Upper Division from the University of Benin, she enrolled for a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Health Education at the University of Lagos. She bagged her Master’s in the year 2000. Shortly after, she enrolled for yet another Master’s degree at the University of Lagos. This time it was in Educational Psychology which she obtained in 2004.

She later proceeded to the University of South Africa for her doctorate in Psychology of Education. In the year 2010, she earned the Doctor of Education (D.Ed) of the University of South Africa.

People & Power had an interview with this enigmatic woman where she talked about herself, her work, her achievements and the road she has travelled to success. Read the full interview here.

Setting Up A Psychology Private Practice In Nigeria, I Didn’t Know What To Expect At First –Dr Morayo Jimoh

You were a few weeks ago honoured with the PSR Woman of Merit Gold Award. How did that make you feel?

I feel elated to have been recognized for my contribution in the mental health field in Nigeria.

Significantly, you were recognised for your contribution to the development of Nigeria in the sphere of Psychotherapy and Psychological Support Services. Can you tell readers out there a few things about what your work entails?

Services rendered by my clinical practice are quite encompassing. It all begins with assessments which range from Psycho-educational assessment, Neuropsychological assessment, behavioural assessment and other forms of Psychological testing. Treatment/management is usually wholistic and comprises various forms of Psychotherapy, to more recent cutting edge non-invasive/non-drug treatment techniques such as Neurofeedback therapy, Biofeedback therapy, Audio-visual entrainment therapy, Cognitive enhancement therapy and many others.

You are the Managing Director of Mobile Health Consult also known as Brain Dynamics. What has your experience been running a psychology clinic in Nigeria?

Setting up a Psychology private practice in a country like Nigeria where stigmatization and conservativeness regarding mental health persists, I sincerely didn’t know what to expect initially. However, it’s been quite an adventurous journey for me so far.

How do you attend to your clients? Do they meet you in your clinic as is done in regular hospitals or there are other methods or channels of consultation?

Clients’ appointments are majorly held at the clinic (Mobile Health Consult- Brain Dynamics). Although we also accommodate online consultation, telephonic consultation as well as teleconferences for follow-up sessions for more sensitive situations such as grief counselling and the likes.

You have obviously done a lot of work for corporate and individual clients. What kind of cases or problems do you attend to regularly?

On the regular, some of the cases we provide services for include clients with learning difficulties (Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Language Processing Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder e.t.c), clients with Neurodevelopmental disorders (such as, Autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) e.t.c.). Also clients with Depression, and other brain related disorders. Our services also extend to schools and other corporate organizations where I provide consultancy services which include, Employee Assistance Programs, Peak Performance of Executives and Critical Incidence Stress Management (C.I.S.M).

You are also an educational psychologist. So, what have you been doing in the education sector?

Asides playing consultancy roles with schools to improve students’ Psychological functioning, our contributions in the education sector also include evaluating students and providing specialized educational therapy as well as brain training to enhance cognitive, behavioural and social-emotional  functioning of students that present with various cognitive/learning and behavioural  disorders.

When professionals in your field describe you as a neurofeedback practitioner, what do they mean?

It simply implies that I am certified and skilled to provide Quantitative Electroencephalography (qEEG) evaluation and therapy which basically entails taking brain wave data, analyzing the data, detecting abnormal/irregular brain waves and improving brain functions by normalizing abnormal/irregular brain waves.

You have at different times taught courses related to your field in various institutions. Tell us a bit about this.

My lecturing experience can be best summed up as the kick off point of my career. I enjoyed the opportunity to lecture students on courses in the field of Education, Public Health and Psychology. Currently I serve as an e-tutor at the University of South Africa.

Anybody would have thought you would make a career in nursing since you started out training and qualifying as a nurse. One would say you veered off that path to earn degrees in Health Education and a doctorate in Psychology of Education. Was this the road you wanted to travel or it was sheer happenstance?

Happenstance

So how would Dr Morayo Ayopo Jimoh tell her own story? Who is Morayo Ayopo Jimoh?

Extremely ambitious

People & Power has named you its Female Professional of the Year 2016. What would be your advise for upcoming Nigerian Women?

My advice to upcoming Nigerian women is for them to be hardworking, productively engaged, stay focused, believe in themselves, believe that they can achieve as much and even much more than their male counterparts, try to minimize distractions as much as possible, never try to achieve success in a hurry, persevere in order to become resilient and dream big!

Finally what are you looking up to achieving in the immediate future personally?

Currently, our services go far beyond the shores of Nigeria. In the immediate future, I look forward to having Mobile Health Consult (Brain Dynamics) structured in other states of Nigeria, Africa and beyond.