Portrait of Nayaab Rais in soft light

Psychologist Executive Coach

Nayaab Rais

Thoughtful, structured support for the patterns that keep you stuck in life, in relationships and at work.

  • Therapy
  • Leadership Coaching
  • Corporate Wellbeing
Book a session Where do I start?

A place to start

What's weighing on you?

Choose whatever feels closest. There are no wrong answers, and you don't need a diagnosis to begin.

Your answer will appear here.

This is a starting point, not an assessment. If you're in crisis or at risk of harm, call 999.

About

Two fluencies,
one conversation

Nayaab Rais smiling in warm natural light

I'm a counselling psychologist and executive coach. I bring active therapeutic practice together with nearly two decades of leading people inside demanding global businesses.

That combination shapes how I listen. I understand what pressure, ambition, burnout and quiet self-doubt look like from the inside, and I have the clinical training to help you work with them, not just around them.

My therapy practice, The Rida Room, is built on one idea: everyone deserves a safe space to work towards real contentment. It isn't tied to one method. I work across thoughts, emotions, the body, relationships and meaning, depending on what you bring and what you want to change.

18+
years leading teams
5+
years coaching
3+
years therapeutic experience
Masters in Science
Psychology, Northumbria University, UK

Offerings

Three ways to work with me

One-to-one therapy, coaching for leaders, and wellbeing work for organisations.

Nayaab Rais seated in an armchair, listening

01

Individual therapy

Space to understand what you're carrying, and practical ways to carry it differently.

For
Adults
Format
One-to-one · Online by secure video
Helps with
Anxiety, stress, depression and low mood, grief and life transitions, relationships, identity and self-worth, emotional regulation, burnout and perfectionism, women's wellbeing, faith and mental health, and the things you're struggling to understand or put into words
Approach
CBT and my RIDA framework, Compassionate Inquiry, faith-integrated counselling, trauma-informed care
Book a session
Nayaab Rais leading a leadership training session

02

Executive & leadership coaching

Psychological insight from someone who has led teams under pressure for nearly two decades.

For
Leaders, founders and senior professionals
Format
One-to-one · Online by secure video
Helps with
Burnout, confidence, perfectionism, professional identity, career transitions, difficult conversations, performance
Start a conversation
Nayaab Rais speaking on a wellness programme panel

03

Workplace wellbeing

Psychology turned into tools your people can actually use.

For
Organisations, HR and people teams
Format
Workshops, talks and panels, multi-session programmes
Topics
Stress and burnout, resilience, emotional regulation, communication, conflict and team dynamics, mental load, boundaries
Enquire for your team

Not sure which fits? Start with what's weighing on you or send me a message.

Approach

Integrative, structured, human

Each modality does a different job. Together, they let us work at the level your difficulty actually lives.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

To identify and test the unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaviour that keep distress going, with practical tools you can use between sessions.

Trained with the Beck Institute

Compassionate Inquiry

To gently explore the emotional, bodily and relational patterns underneath distress, and the beliefs that formed them.

Trained with Dr Gabor Maté & Sat Dharam

Faith-integrated counselling

For clients for whom spirituality, values and meaning are central, so your faith can be part of the work if you'd like it to be.

Islamic Psychotherapy & Counselling, Al Balagh Academy

Trauma-informed care

Pacing, safety and choice are built into how we work, informed by trauma-recovery training.

S.A.F.E. Trauma Recovery Framework, Trauma Research Foundation

The Rida Room

Rida رضا

An Arabic word for the highest form of inner peace: complete contentment with reality, exactly as it is right now.

It isn't giving up. It's choosing to stop fighting against life, so the mind can finally become still, and nothing happening on the outside can shake the peace on the inside.

The Rida Room is the home of my CBT practice, where I've worked with clients for over three years. It exists to build safe spaces for seeking the highest emotion of all: ultimate contentment.

The RIDA framework, in four CBT steps

  1. RRecogniseNotice the thought, feeling or pattern as it happens.
  2. IInvestigateLook at what's driving it, and what the evidence really says.
  3. DDebateChallenge it, question it, test it, and try other ways of seeing it.
  4. AAcceptMake peace with what can't change, and act on what can.

In the room

Teaching and mentoring

Nayaab Rais with a group of mentees
Mentoring & group work
Nayaab Rais in conversation at a mentoring event
Workshops & facilitation

Credentials

Training & background

Clinical training

  • Cognitive Behavioural TherapyBeck Institute
  • Compassionate Inquiry Professional TrainingDr Gabor Maté & Sat Dharam
  • Islamic Psychotherapy & Counselling, Level 2Al Balagh Academy
  • S.A.F.E. Trauma Recovery FrameworkTrauma Research Foundation

Experience

  • Counselling PsychologistThe Rida Room, independent telehealth practice, 2023 to present
  • Executive Coach & Wellbeing FacilitatorOrganisations & private clients, 2021 to present
  • Executive Creative DirectorMcCann Worldgroup, Dubai, 2012 to present

Licensing: Community Development Authority (CDA), Dubai. Psychologist, Social Therapist category. Eligibility approved.

Questions

Before you book

Are sessions online?

Yes. Sessions are held online by secure video, so you can join from home, the office or wherever you feel most at ease.

What is your licence, and what does it cover?

My eligibility is approved by the Community Development Authority (CDA), Dubai, as a Psychologist in the Social Therapist category. My work covers counselling, psychotherapy and coaching. I don't prescribe medication or provide psychiatric treatment. If you'd benefit from either, I'll help you find the right specialist.

What happens in the first session?

We talk about what's bringing you here, what you'd like to be different, and whether we're a good fit. There's no pressure to share everything at once.

What is Rida, and The Rida Room?

Rida (رضا) is an Arabic word for the highest form of contentment. It's the name of my practice, The Rida Room, and of my CBT framework: Recognise, Investigate, Debate, Accept. The framework gives us a clear structure for working with difficult thoughts, and a tool you can use on your own between sessions.

Do I have to want faith-integrated therapy?

Not at all. Faith is part of the work only if you want it to be central to your sessions and journey. Many clients choose a purely clinical approach.

Is what I share confidential?

Yes. Everything you share is kept confidential, within the legal and ethical limits I'll explain clearly in our first session.

Is this an emergency service?

No. If you are in crisis or at risk of harm, please call 999 in the UAE or go to your nearest emergency department.

Get in touch

Taking the first step is enough

Book a session directly, or send a message if you'd like to ask something first.

Book a session Message on WhatsApp theridaroom@gmail.com Instagram @entertheridaroom

For organisations and leaders: Please mention “workplace” in your message and I'll send programme details.