Kathryn Hardy

Senior Counsellor at Al Yamamah Univeristy

Speaker

Kathryn Hardy is a Senior Student Counsellor and educator at Al Yamamah University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with experience across student counselling, academic support, English language teaching, foundation education, and student development. She holds degrees in psychology, applied linguistics, TESOL, and English language teaching, alongside professional training in counselling, well-being, IELTS preparation, and teacher development.

Her work focuses on supporting students with anxiety, ADHD, neurodivergent learning needs, academic difficulties, and complex personal circumstances. She is particularly interested in how hidden barriers, such as time blindness, masking, emotional regulation difficulties, and fluctuating mental health, affect student performance and engagement. Her current research interests include ADHD in higher education, female ADHD presentation, cultural expectations of time and punctuality, student mental health, and Arabic-English linguistic and cultural transfer.

Kathryn is passionate about building practical, compassionate, and academically responsible support systems that help students move from crisis to progress while maintaining dignity, fairness, and clear educational expectations.