Dubai Women's College to host Counseling Arabia Conference 2007

This year's theme focuses on Coaching, Counseling and Well Being.

The conference will address organizational health, special needs in education, Emiratization, cross cultural counseling, innovations practice, programs and training, assessment tools and techniques for the Gulf Region, standards of practice, as well as international models of practice and systems and theoretical constructs appropriate for the region.

The conference aims to bring together approximately 500 practitioners, who are employed in professional organizations in both public and private sector and educational institutions. The target audience will consist mainly of employer based practitioners, i.e. HR and organizational development professionals, counselors, educators, social workers and career development practitioners.

"This year's theme looks at "helping people with life balance and transition, the importance of self-care; challenges to Emiratization and working within the growing multicultural population of the UAE", said Claire Smith Victor, Counseling Arabia Chair. "We have attracted many high caliber presenters for our Arabic speaking audience."

Counseling Arabia 2007 has also announced the participation of Emirates National Development Program as Platinum sponsor. The contribution will be used in part to sponsor fully Prof. Dr. Qassim Hussein Salih a Psychologist who will facilitate training and workshops and a number of social workers from the various Emirates to attend the conference.

The British Council has been an ongoing supporter of the annual conference and this year they have sponsored one of the distinguished keynote speakers. Kaplan, in keeping with their mission of helping individuals achieve their educational and career goals and as one of the world's leading providers of life long education, are gold sponsors of this year's conference. Their contribution will help provide conference kits to all delegates, sponsor some social workers from across the emirates and also sponsor one of our Trainers, Mr. Charles Nutt, from the National Academic Advising Association USA.

Other keynote speakers include:

Ms. Deirdre Hughes, MSc, Director for the Centre of Guidance Studies, University of Derby, UK, has extensive experience working at a senior level with government policy-makers, leaders, managers and practitioners within both the public and private sectors. She has developed specific research expertise within the context of youth policy, adult guidance and workforce development issues. In 2004 she was invited to present written and oral evidence to the House of Commons Education and Select Committee advising on matters related to the national Skills Strategy: 14-19 Education. She is currently working on the development of a National Guidance Research Forum website and is a key contributor to a major five-year longitudinal study, being carried out by the Institute for Employment Research, on what constitutes effective guidance. Deirdre has written various academic and practitioner-oriented papers. Her research interests include examining the future of career development services in the UK.

Dr, Abdel-Sattar Ibrahim, PhD is presently a Senior Consulting Psychologist at the American University in Cairo. He has over 35 years of university teaching experience in psychology and therapeutic and counseling experiences. He has worked with a variety of socio-cultural clients. He is a fully licensed Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist in USA (Michigan), Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. He is a Fellow of the American Academy Board of Behavioral Medicine (IABMCP) and the American Academy Board of Professional Psychotherapy and Counseling (IABMCP). Dr. Ibrahim has facilitated numerous workshops and seminars at international conferences such as the WHO and the International Counseling of Psychologists. He has authored and co-authored over 15 books in English and Arabic on cognitive-behavior therapy, depression, stress management and positive psychology.

Shirley Attenborough BSc (Psych); MSc (Psych) is an Organisational Psychologist with over 15 years experience as an internal and external consultant, defining and delivering targeted performance in both the public and private sector. As a qualified Executive Coach, she has worked with a wide range of individuals drawn from all levels of management, from a diverse range of organizations and a cross section of cultures. The majority of her work is in the finance, telecommunications, oil and gas sectors. Her particular field is 'solution-focused' coaching and she has been trained to use a variety of coaching frameworks based upon empirically validated techniques and cognitive behavioral approaches. She is also trained in the practice of 'Clean Language Symbolic Modeling' techniques. This method of exploration helps individuals facilitate their own change process in solving their problems. Shirley is an accredited assessor with the Department of Education in the UK.