חלאג’ אסאלה, ד”ר
Background
Dr. Halaj is a senior lecturer in the Department of Community Mental Health at the University of Haifa. She earned her M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her Ph.D. In clinical psychology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she focused on insight in anxiety disorders. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University College London, examining insight and its relationship to metacognition in nonpsychotic disorders.
Her research explores how individuals with nonpsychotic disorders perceive and interpret their experiences, and how these processes are influenced by metacognitive abilities. Her work advances the understanding of insight beyond psychosis, both theoretically and clinically, and highlights its relevance to research and practice.
Selected Publications
- Halaj, A., Konstantakopoulos, G., Ghaemi, N. S., & David, A. S. (2024). Anxiety Disorders: The Relationship between Insight and Metacognition. Psychopathology, 57(5), 434-443.
- Halaj, A., Strauss, A. Y., Zlotnick, E., Zalaznik, D., Fradkin, I., Andersson, G., … & Huppert, J. D. (2024). Clinical and cognitive insight in panic disorder: phenomenology and treatment effects in internet cognitive behavior therapy. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 172, 164-170.
- Halaj, A., Strauss, A. Y., Zalaznik, D., Fradkin, I., Zlotnick, E., Andersson, G., … & Huppert, J. D. (2023). Examining the relationship between cognitive factors and insight in panic disorder before and during treatment. Cognitive behaviour therapy, 52(4), 331-346.
- Halaj, A., & Huppert, J. D. (2022). Insight in nonpsychotic disorders: A new model of insight and a systematic review of measures. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 56(1), 28-38.
- Halaj, A., & Huppert, J. D. (2021). Clinical and cognitive insight in pathological anxiety: relationship to symptoms and cognitive factors. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 14(4), 671-686.
