A psychology professor at Canadian University of Dubai believes that developing a culture of positive psychology could have far reaching benefits for the country’s residents. Dr. Louise Lambert is an expert in positive psychology, a new branch in psychology that is not widely used in the Middle East. Positive psychology is the scientific study of wellbeing, focusing on what leads to human excellence thereby enabling individuals to live their best lives.

While working for a primary healthcare organization in Canada, Lambert witnessed first-hand the positive impact this new approach had on the overall health and wellbeing of patients. Using positive psychology interventions, Lambert developed a seven-week program designed to increase levels of happiness in individuals.

She found that patients that were given positive psychological interventions rather than standard psychological treatment responded more quickly, maintained the positive gains and lifestyle changes and, remarkably, experienced fewer symptoms of physical pain relative to the start of the program.

Dr Lambert believes that adopting widespread positive psychology interventions would help the UAE reduce its current health and mental issues, like depression, and the over-use of healthcare services. The result may well see dropping health care costs for individuals, as fewer perceptions of pain means fewer doctor visits.

“It’s about helping people find ways to maintain happiness over time and in a manner that allows them to grow as people, rather than focusing on short-term fixes or immediate gratifications, like shopping and luxuries,” she said.

“It’s also about helping people achieve happiness in ways that are consistent with their culture. For example, in the West happiness reflects a more individualistic orientation and is related to personal and work-related achievements as well as a level of individual control and choice.

“In the UAE, we found that helping people, doing things for others and experiencing a sense of belonging made people happy and this reflects a more collective orientation that is more prevalent in the Emirati culture.”

Dr. Lambert will team up with other practitioners in the region and, with help from a research grant she received from the Canadian University of Dubai, will launch the Middle East’s first academic journal of indigenous positive psychology. 

“The focus of the journal is not just studying excellence and well-being, but studying them from the lens of culture to celebrate the distinctive manner in which happiness is expressed, lived, and achieved in health, education, organizations, and other spheres of life across the Middle East.

“There’s a lot of positive developments in the region, but we overlook these simply because we are so focused on trying to fix problems. It’s time to look at the good stuff and discover ways we can replicate it across the region.”

The journal will be published in both Arabic and English.

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