Intensive Outpatient Programs in Dubai for Eating Disorders, Self-Harm and Emotional Dysregulation in Teens

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Mental health concerns are common among young people living in Dubai and the rest of the UAE. Adolescents and young adults may experience a range of mental health disorders, including anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and depression. These conditions affect their well-being, quality of life, and future mental health.

For young people with mental health disorders, accessing effective treatment is fundamental. People living with mental illness usually require additional support to recover and maintain lasting well-being.

There are lots of different types of mental health treatment to choose from, and sometimes this can feel overwhelming. For example, some young people may benefit from residential treatment programs, while for others, outpatient treatment makes more sense. It usually helps to speak with a mental health professional about the most suitable treatment for each young person’s experience. 

The Wave Clinic offers specialist mental health support for young people in various locations around the world. Alongside our residential centre in Malaysia, we offer intensive outpatient programs for teenagers and young adults living in Dubai. We focus on eating disorders, self-harm, and emotional dysregulation as well as other mental health concerns. 

What Are Intensive Outpatient Programs?

Intensive outpatient programs (IOP) are structured treatment programs for mental health disorders like eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and self-harm. They usually offer several hours of treatment a day over several days each week. Unlike residential programs, young people continue to live at home as they engage in treatment, travelling to and from the centre to attend sessions.

Intensive outpatient programs are suitable for young people who don’t require 24-hour medical observation and support to stay safe. Adolescents and young adults can continue some aspects of their daily lives as they attend treatment and maintain close in-person contact with friends and family. 

That said, IOP programs take a lot of time and commitment and can’t just be fitted into life-as-usual. But their intensity enables young people to focus on healing and recovery and achieve meaningful, lasting change.

In Dubai, we offer IOP for young people with eating disorders, self-harm, and emotional dysregulation. We’ll go into a bit more detail about each program below.

IOP for Eating Disorders

Research shows that as many as ⅓ of adolescents and young adults in the UAE may be at risk of developing an eating disorder. Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect their physical and mental health, social lives, family relationships, and school or work. As Western beauty ideals spread across the Gulf region, more and more young people are developing body image concerns and disordered eating behaviours.

A selection of studies have found that:

Eating disorders are complex mental health disorders, but they are treatable. Recovery requires breaking harmful and unhelpful eating patterns and replacing them with positive ones. It also involves addressing the underlying memories, attitudes, and emotions that drive disordered eating behaviours. For young people who have experienced trauma, this process requires particular sensitivity and care.

Our intensive outpatient programs in Dubai combine a diverse selection of evidence-based modalities to provide whole-person support and care. We address the complex causes of disordered eating behaviours through different forms of therapy, nutritional programs, social support, and family interventions. Some of our modalities include:

  • Individual therapy, including CBT-E (enhanced cognitive behavioural therapy for eating disorders) and RO-DBT (radically open dialectical behavioural therapy)
  • Group therapy
  • Interpersonal therapy
  • Nutritional programmes
  • Family therapy
  • Trauma-focused therapy

Intensive Outpatient Therapy for Self-Harm

Worldwide, adolescents and young adults are at a high risk of self-harm. Young people who are non-binary and neurodiverse young people are more likely to self-harm than others. Young people who self-harm may be diagnosed with non-suicidal self-injury disorder (NSSI). Self-harm can also be a symptom of other mental health disorders like borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, and depression.

While data on self-harm among young people in Dubai is lacking, research from other Middle Eastern countries has found that self-harm is common. According to one study, 22.5% of a group of adolescents in Amman, Jordan, had self-harmed at least once in their lives.

It’s important never to overlook or dismiss self-harm. Self-harm is always a mental health need that requires immediate support and care. Professional treatment programs help to keep young people safe while addressing the emotional causes of self-harming behaviours.

Our intensive outpatient programs for self-harm offer a range of treatment approaches, including:

  • Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) 
  • Enhanced Cognitive
  • Behaviour Therapy (CBT-E)
  • Family-Based Treatment (FBT)
  • Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
  • Internal Family Systems Model (IFS)
  • Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Somatic Therapy
  • Yoga 
  • Trauma and Tension Release Exercises (TRE)

We understand how distressing it is for parents when a child self-harms. Our intensive outpatient programs work with parents to understand how they can support their children when they’re not in treatment and keep them as safe as possible. This involves creating crisis plans, understanding warning signs, and developing response skills in emergency situations. 

If we recognise that a young person requires 24-hour observation and support to stay safe, we’ll work with parents to arrange immediate residential care.

IOP for Emotional Dysregulation

Emotional regulation describes the way that people observe and adjust their emotional responses to help them achieve their goals. Young people with emotional dysregulation find it hard to manage their emotions. They may experience very intense emotional reactions to events in their internal or external world and struggle to self-soothe or calm down.

Emotional dysregulation is a core feature of many mental health conditions, including borderline personality disorder (BPD) and eating disorders. When young people struggle to manage their emotions in healthy ways, they may develop harmful coping mechanisms like restrictive eating behaviours, binge eating, self-harm, and other impulsive behaviours. Emotional dysregulation often leads to unstable relationships that, in turn, affect other aspects of a young person’s mental health.

Researchers think that emotional dysregulation may play a key role in developing and maintaining mental health conditions. This means that supporting young people to manage their emotions and develop healthy coping mechanisms can help to both prevent and overcome mental health concerns. Addressing emotional dysregulation is usually central to treatment for both borderline personality disorder and self-harm.

The Wave’s intensive outpatient therapy programs in Dubai use a combination of therapies to help young people develop skills to manage emotions while sensitively addressing past traumas that may make emotional reactions more intense. Our programs may include:

  • Dialectical-behavioural therapy (DBT)
  • Acceptance-based therapy
  • Emotional regulation group therapy
  • Mentalisation-based therapy
  • Interpersonal therapy
  • Internal family systems (IFS)

Exceptional Experience and Expertise

At The Wave, we ensure that all our programs offer the same standards of excellence in young people’s mental health support. Our treatment sessions are designed and delivered by experts in child and adolescent psychiatry, combining leading, evidence-based approaches in individualised programs.

We cater to neurodiverse young people during every stage of treatment, ensuring that sensory experiences and treatment environments are comfortable and welcoming for each individual. We’re passionate that every child deserves exemplary treatment, regardless of their presenting issues.

If you’re interested in our intensive outpatient programs or any other treatment experience, get in touch today to find out more.

Fiona - The Wave Clinic

Fiona Yassin is the founder and clinical director at The Wave Clinic. She is a U.K. and International registered Psychotherapist and Accredited Clinical Supervisor (U.K. and UNCG).

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Teenage girl with a serious expression holding a tulip flower to her mouth, illustrating themes of eating disorders and the pressures surrounding diet and body image.

Intensive Outpatient Programs for Young People with Eating Disorders

IOPs provide opportunities for focused and comprehensive support that addresses the underlying causes of eating disorders. Young people in IOPs have the space and time to work through the multiple aspects of eating disorders, carefully navigating their complexities. Outside of sessions, they can practice and generalise skills they learn in their daily lives.

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