Hi there,

I'm Yassine Tayi Clinical Psychologist and EMDR practitioner, based in Dubai.

If you haven't heard of EMDR, you may have heard of the therapy that uses eye movements. That is part of what I do, though the work itself is more about how memory is processed than about the eyes.

My path to this work began in Casablanca, where I grew up. A passion for French and for psychology took me to France. First to Toulouse, where the university has a long tradition in intercultural and clinical psychology, and where I completed my Bachelor's.

From there to Montpellier for a first Master's in psychoanalysis, and to Aix-Marseille University for a second Master's in clinical psychology, with a double specialisation in adult and child clinical work.

My clinical training was spread across very different settings : private psychiatry, neurological institutions, child-protection services, and trauma-focused structures.

I then moved to the Côte d'Azur region, where I spent five years in a departmental trauma-treatment facility. The work was with children, adolescents and adults living with some of the heaviest experiences a person can carry - sexual abuse, domestic violence, torture, abandonment, complex trauma.

That period is where my interest in trauma became more precise. What stayed with me was not the severity of what people had been through, but the fact that, once given the right conditions : the system that holds those experiences often knows how to begin processing them. The brain has its own capacity for integration. Much of the work is about not interrupting it.

Alongside individual sessions, I have been involved in advocacy for accessible psychological care, children’s right and for the recognition of psychological injury, particularly in domestic violence and in the protection of children.

I’m also a strong believer in mandatory personal therapy for psychologists and continuous recognised training. I am affiliated with EMDR France and continue ongoing training with IFEMDR in Paris (recognised by EMDR Europe and the Francine Shapiro Institute).

After several years in France, I moved to Dubai, where I have now been in private practice for two years. Here I use EMDR to tackle what may seem as everyday difficulties that bring high-functioning adults into a consulting room — anxiety, performance pressure, recurring relational patterns, the reactions that persist even when the cause is already understood. Some of these themes are also explored in my writing on the psychology of expatriation.

I am licensed by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA-P-49254960) as well as by the ARS (Agence Regional de Sante 10010048121).

Sessions are offered in English, French and Arabic, in person at Clearminds, in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), and online. The work is offered in EMDR therapy for adult therapy or children therapy.

If you’re wondering whether this work might be relevant to what you’re carrying — or simply whether we might be a fit — a brief first exchange is a reasonable place to start. You don’t need to know what to say.