Conducting Psychology Research in the Lab: Challenges in the UAE

Abstract

Given the extraordinary economic and educational advancements in the UAE throughout four decades of nationhood, it would be easy for outside observers to assume that psychology, like most globalized professions, was advancing at a similar pace within the country. That assumption would be only partially correct. On a positive note, clinical psychology has a significant and widespread presence in the UAE, not only due to expatriate demand but also through support from the government and the use of clinical services by citizens, especially in the last decade. Increased demand for therapeutic approaches to illnesses and disorders has been evident in the increasing number of therapists and clinicians establishing new practices or joining existing clinics (Eapen & El-Rufaie, 2011).