Best Psychologist in Dubai
Every month, thousands of people in the UAE search for the ‘best psychologist in Dubai’ or the ‘best therapist in Dubai’. That makes sense to us - taking the decision to seek mental health support is a big one. We can understand that people want to make sure that they will end up seeing a professional psychologist that can help them with the issues that they are facing. At the same time, it isn't very likely that one person can be the best psychologist for everyone and everything. That is why we created this blog post - to help you identify the best psychologists in Dubai for you. Follow these steps to help you figure out who could be an excellent fit in your psychotherapy journey.
Step 1. Identify what you need support with.
The first step is figuring out what it is that you need support with. Therapy and counseling can help in so many ways, but it is a good idea to figure out what you broadly need support with. Here's how to narrow it down.
Start by asking yourself if any of the following apply to you:
Are you experiencing - or about to experience - a life change?
Questioning or thinking about who you are and why it matters?
Noticing that something is affecting daily aspects of your life, like school/work, relationships, and leisure time?
Feeling embarrassed or avoiding other people because of an issue that you are facing?
These questions will help you answer the question: “When should I seek help from a psychologist?”
Screening for Anxiety and Depression
The two most common mental health challenges are anxiety and depression, on both a global scale and in Dubai. We would recommend that you start by taking the free screening tests on our website. The PHQ-9 is widely used to screen for depression. This brief tool identifies the frequency and severity of depression symptoms. The GAD-7 does the same for anxiety symptoms. You can find both interactive tests on our anxiety and depression pages.
Anxiety and depression are the most common, but they are not the only mental health challenges that people can address with a psychologist in Dubai. Other common challenges include ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, grief and loss, obsessive-compulsive disorder, maternal mental health issues, panic, personality disorders, trauma, and relationship challenges.
Step 2. Reflect on the treatment modalities that might be helpful for you, based on your experience and preferences.
Psychologists can use a variety of treatment modalities to help you overcome the issues that you are facing and to achieve your goals. Some of these approaches are more insight-oriented, whereas others are more practical. Some psychologists will use approaches that focus more on the past, while others will focus more on the present. Take some time to reflect on what might be most helpful for you, so that you can find a psychologist that can assist you in the way that you would like to be supported. Let our administrative team know what you are looking for and they will help you hone in on potential therapists that could help you.
Step 3. Select your preferred clinician
The key factor for a successful therapy experience is you. You need to be motivated to do the work. You need to be committed to do it on a regular basis.
At the same time, a very important predictor of therapeutic success is what we call a therapeutic alliance. Basically, this refers to how well you ‘click with’ your therapist. You will be talking about a lot of deeply personal things in therapy - it always helps to do so with someone that you perceive to be compassionate, empathetic, understanding, and non-judgmental. We can't tell you who you will click with, but we can share some profiles of potential counselors for your review. We strongly encourage you to go through the profiles, reading about each psychologists' background and experience, paying attention to which ones resonate with you.
Step 4. Start the psychology journey.
Meet your therapist for an initial assessment. The counseling or clinical psychologist will explore your background, current challenges, and goals for therapy before formulating a treatment plan to work through these things together. This is where Step 1 will come in handy!
A key objective for the first session is to evaluate that ‘click’. Do you think that your therapist really ‘gets’ you? If not, do you think they have the potential to get you? It's not always possible to be sure after the first session - sometimes it takes a few. The important thing is to check in with yourself about how you feel and not ignore your gut. If something is telling you that they're not the right therapist for you, then your journey would be better served by exploring therapy with one of our other psychologists. In that case, it would be helpful to identify what felt off about the connection in order to find someone with whom you are more likely to click.
Step 5. Continue the work
The format of the therapy session will depend on the issue, the modality that the counseling or clinical psychologist uses, and what you bring to session. Again, it is important to be motivated and committed in order to build momentum towards achieving your therapeutic goals.
