Health Psychology UAE

Stressed? Anxious? Depressed? Feeling overwhelmed or out of control? Can't tell anybody?....

I am passionate about enhancing my clients' overall quality of life, as well as their long term adjustment to illness or disease. I also work closely with physicians, families and loved ones as needed.

My aim is to relieve your distress by providing ways to help you positively manage your situation- from the people around you, to the events causing the distress- and empowering you to make significant and long lasting change…as well as learning something about yourself in the meantime.

You do not need to have an illness or disease to see me though!

Specifically, I help clients cope with: stress, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, anger, grief, adjustment issues, sleep difficulties, pain, changes in body image, the initial shock of a disease or illness diagnosis (and learning to cope in the longer term), medical treatments (eg., fear of MRI scans, chemotherapy, surgery), and medical tests (eg., fear of test results, biopsies, and needle phobias). Helping improve and maintain treatment adherence is another important area of my work, as is training in relaxation and visualization.

Much of my work also involves a preventive focus through health education and the provision of general stress management programmes, including a focus on self care and development (eg., self esteem, assertiveness, emotional expression, communication skills) and obtaining a healthy balance in life- few people seem to know what fun is anymore, and stopping to smell the roses is actually okay!

I understand that for many people, talking about your experiences may be a relatively new concept, and you may worry about the integrity of yourself or your family- particularly with respect to confidentiality. Please be assured that everything you choose to tell me will remain confidential. In only very exceptional cases would I suggest the need to break confidentiality, and this would be discussed thoroughly with you beforehand.

I use principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (identifying and modifying irrational or unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours to change your mood / perception of self) to help you learn to cope positively with various events and people around you, and my methodology is Evidence Based Medicine (ie- there is substantial scientific research behind my methods). I do not prescribe medication.

I also like to make it a collaborative and active process- this often means homework- but nothing that you could not handle. In fact, what you learn will be your tools for life.

Some clients also benefit from taking a look into their past- their childhood, prominent role models (the positive and the not so positive ones!) and so on. This does not necessarily need to be long term therapy, but it can be invaluable in helping me to evaluate how you got to this point in time and why you may be struggling now.

Although a certain number of sessions will be recommended, you are under no obligation to complete these sessions.

I have a particular interest in major diseases affecting people in the UAE, and I am keen to do anything I can to raise awareness. From my past research with breast cancer patients, I maintain a strong interest in psychoneuroimmunology (the effect of the mind / brain on the immune system), and emotional control (a coping strategy involving the suppression of negative emotions).

- No stone should be left unturned in your quest for a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life -