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Guide to choosing therapies in Dubai

Choosing therapies. What should we know?

Dr Millia, First Psychiatry Clinic, Dubai

When someone begins their healing journey, a common and deeply understandable confusion arises. Choosing therapists and therapies in Dubai can be a challenging task. Questions are “Which therapy should I choose?“ Or should I try counselling?

There is a growing pool of therapists, clinics, and modalities. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), EMDR, Hypnotherapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), psychodynamic therapy, counselling, and so on—the choices are endless.

therapies in dubai
Choosing Therapies in Dubai

CLICK HERE TO CHECK YOUR SCORE: ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES SCORE

The key question is- Have you checked your ACE score? Read more here.

The Adverse Childhood Experiences Score is essential in determining whether your current mental health and physical health symptoms are related to past life experiences.

ACE Questionnaire Categories

The ten categories evaluated in the ACE questionnaire are:

  1. Emotional abuse
  2. Physical abuse
  3. Sexual abuse
  4. Emotional neglect
  5. Physical neglect
  6. Witnessing domestic violence
  7. Household substance abuse
  8. Household mental illness
  9. Parental separation or divorce
  10. Incarcerated household member

Each affirmative response to these categories adds one point to the ACE score, resulting in a total score ranging from 0 to 10.

Interpreting ACE Scores

Research indicates a graded relationship between ACE scores and the risk of various health and social problems:

  • ACE Score 0–3: Lower risk for toxic stress-related health issues.
  • ACE Score 4 or more: Significantly higher risk for chronic diseases, mental health disorders, and behavioral problems.

For instance, individuals with an ACE score of 4 or more are:

  • Twice as likely to smoke.
  • Seven times more likely to be alcoholics.
  • Ten times more likely to have injected street drugs.
  • Twelve times more likely to have attempted suicide.

These findings underscore the importance of early intervention and support for individuals with high ACE scores.

Resilience and Recovery

While a high ACE score indicates increased risk, it does not determine destiny. Protective factors such as supportive relationships, therapy, and healthy lifestyle choices can mitigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences. Interventions focusing on building resilience are crucial in helping individuals overcome the challenges associated with high ACE scores.

Is Your ACE Score 4 or More?

If your ACE Score is four or higher, you may wish to consider seeking therapies that are not just talk therapies. You may want to consider seeking trauma-focused therapies. Even if you do not think these are traumas, it is vital to meet a therapist with high levels of experience in this field to find out more.

Many therapies offer a space to “talk” about feelings and experiences. While talking can bring temporary relief and some clarity, the impact of trauma cannot simply be “talked out” of the nervous system.

We cannot logically think and talk ourselves out of our emotions, especially if emotions are from unresolved trauma.

Having strong human feelings is normal, but those that emerge from traumatic life experiences have an even stronger felt-sense. The trauma emotions are felt as magnified, overwhelming, and often frightening.

When therapy remains at a surface level—circling thoughts and behaviors without touching the deeper emotional wounds—the heart of the trauma remains unhealed. Trauma therapy, by contrast, is designed to gently and skillfully reach the injuries of past experiences, meeting them with the care, safety, and pace they require to heal.

Why Are Trauma Related Emotions So Overwhelming?

One of the most common questions people ask is:

“Why does my trauma feel so intense, even after so many years?”

Here’s why:

  • Overwhelming emotions from trauma memories are encoded or imprinted in the body and mind.
  • They have not been processed like everyday memories.
  • The memories flood the system with feelings, sensations, and images that can feel as vivid as the original event.

Numbing, Dissociation are protective responses

n we attempt to avoid, suppress, or “numb out” these feelings, they don’t disappear—they become fragmented and leak out in ways like:

  • Flashbacks
  • Nightmares
  • Sudden surges of panic or rage
  • Numbness and dissociation
  • Derealisation and Depersonalisation

Rather than feeling fully integrated, trauma memory remains fractured—scattered across the mind and body in emotions, beliefs, and physical sensations that don’t feel coherent. It is hard to make sense of why we cannot talk ourselves through this logically.

Emotional Memories Are Not Like Regular Memories

In regular memory, events have:

  • A clear beginning, middle, and end.
  • Coherence—meaning they make sense logically and emotionally.

Trauma memories can be fragmented

  • Sensations, emotions, thoughts, and images are stored separately without proper sequencing.
  • The memory feels “alive” and happening now, rather than something that happened in the past.

The Shame and Guilt Trap of Trauma

Trauma may also be trapped in feelings of shame and guilt.

For example:

  • The person may blame themselves for what happened.
  • They may feel intense shame about their anger, rage, and hate toward others. This can come from being a good child who learnt not to upset others. A child who feels distress of others’ feelings, prefer to take the blame into themselves.
  • Some may feel wrong or feel disloyal if blame is assigned to others and learnt even as far back as a child to take the guilt and blame on themselves.

Trauma Patterns can be repeated

In relationships, particularly for those who endured childhood emotional neglect or betrayal trauma, there can also be painful patterns like:

  • Seeking love and validation in unsafe place leading to further bad events.
  • Falling into repeated relationships with narcissistic or abusive partners, as love may have been associated with abuse and hurt.
  • Feeling drawn toward familiar yet dangerous dynamics

Trauma therapy works carefully with these deeply entangled emotions, helping survivors untangle guilt, shame, and misplaced responsibility with profound compassion.

Trauma Therapy Offered at the First Psychiatry Clinic

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

They are designed to carefully work with the emotional memory system, help integrate the fragmented parts, and restore a sense of wholeness in the survivor.

Unsafe Trauma Therapy Practices

In Dubai’s growing mental health scene, it’s easy to find therapists offering “general therapy.”
However, trauma is not a general issue—it requires specific expertise.

How to spot unsafe practices around trauma?

  • The distressing experiences are probed with an intention to be released. This is UNSAFE as a practice.
  • The memories are exposed and re-exposed to, until one no longer feels anything. This is NOT SAFE either.
  • Reliving memories has the potential to re-traumatise the person.
  • Pushing the person to feel when they are not ready to do so.
  • Not respecting the person’s boundaries that have previously been violated.
  • Having an agenda to get to the heart of the trauma and find ways to overcome it.
  • Not respecting the layers of protective systems around the core trauma.

Safe Trauma Practices

Trauma Therapy has to offer safety and trust

  • The therapy progresses at a safe, respectful pace—neither pushing too fast nor avoiding the pain entirely.
  • Your nervous system’s survival responses are understood and honored.

If you’ve struggled with therapy before—felt misunderstood, pushed too quickly, or left sessions feeling worse—speak to the therapist. Because repair can bring healing as well. It might simply be that your trauma needed a different kind of therapy.

Final Reflection: Trust the Wisdom of Your Emotions

At its heart, trauma therapy is not just about “fixing” symptoms.
It’s about helping you reclaim your wholeness, your strength, and your voice—at your own pace, in your own way.

Additional Resources

Booking a Session

If you’re seeking trauma therapy in Dubai with a specialist who understands the complexity of trauma emotions and healing, you’re welcome to book a confidential consultation.

Dr. Millia is a Level 3 Advanced Internal Family Systems therapist trained with world’s leading trainers Dr Richard Schwartz and others. Dr Millia is based at the First Psychiatry Clinic.

Contact Details

Dr Millia

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