Dr. Fabian Saarloos (Dutch Board Certified)

PsyD/PhD
Clinical Psychologist (DHA)
Clinical and Healthcare Psychologist (Dutch Board)
Clinical Psychologist (Omani Board)
Member of European Federation of Psychologists Associations (EFPA)

  • Profile

    Fabian Saarloos is a Dutch clinical and healthcare psychologist. He was born in the Netherlands, but grew up in the 80s and 90s in the U.A.E., where he witnessed the development of the country as one of the first expats and familiarized with the Arabic culture and language. He speaks fluently English, German, Dutch, and Arabic. Having received his full professional education in the Netherlands, he became not only on expert in psychology but also in intercultural problems. 

    Fabian has extensive professional experience in dealing with cognitive, emotional and behavioural problems related to:

    • General issues of coping in life

    • Culture-related problems

    • Adjustment and stress, such as burnout

    • Personality, such as borderline, narcissistic, histrionic personality disorders

    • Identity

    • Mood, such as affective disorders like depression, anxiety and panic disorders

    • Trauma

    • Body and medical issues, such as psychosomatic disorders and adjusting to diseases

    • Relationship issues

    Dr Fabian studied Psychology at Utrecht University, where he specialized in Clinical and Health Psychology, focusing on the integration of Arab and Muslim culture in clinical psychology.

    Having studied Arabic language and Islamic Studies as well, Fabian decided to do another Master in Intercultural Psychology at the University of Damascus, Syria, where he conducted research on personality and cultural factors in patients suffering from anxiety disorders. In his postdoctoral training in clinical and healthcare psychology, Fabian specialized in psychological assessments, in particular personality and projective testing, and specific psychotherapeutic variants such as psychodynamic and cognitive behaviour therapy variants.

    After having received his degrees in Psychology, Fabian returned to Rotterdam and joined the transcultural department of one of the leading institutions for mental health care (Riagg Rijnmond) in the Netherlands. Being the product of a multicultural and multilingual upbringing, Fabian provided psychological assessments and psychotherapeutic services to migrant patients from various backgrounds.

    Working closely together with the regional hospitals, Fabian was also engaged in psychosomatic medicine, in particular patients suffering from psychological and neuropsychological complications after diagnoses of for example diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

    Serving as head of the department for psychological assessment, Fabian not only coordinated healthcare services, but was actively engaged in providing a variety of psychological and neuropsychological assessment, such as personality, neuropsychological, IQ, and more specialized clinical and medical psychological assessments.

    In 2014 Fabian became head of the department of psychotherapy at Sarya Foundation for Transcultural Mental Health, where he provided psychological assessments and psychotherapy to migrants, and was very much engaged with the provision of these services during the Syrian refugee crisis.

    Considering the role his multicultural upbringing and admiration for Arab culture had in his life, Fabian decided to move back to the Gulf, and worked s clinical and healthcare psychologist at Al-Harub Medical Centre in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Besides his clinical work, Fabian was also active providing supervision, academic lectures, research and publishing on the field of psychological assessment, as well as clinical and cultural psychology topics.

    As clinical and healthcare psychologist, Fabian is specialized in evidence-based treatments for a variety of psychological and neuropsychological disorders. Fabian’s therapeutic approach is tailored to the client’s experience of his internal and external environment, based on evidence-based and clinical expertise as well as data acquired from psychological assessments.

    “Psychotherapy has to take all dimensions of the individual into account and provide a customized solution based on the specific resources of the client. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.”

    Fabian is trained in personality tests (e.g. MMPI, NEO), in particular projective techniques (e.g. Rorschach Inkblot Technique, Thematic Apperception Test), neuropsychological and intelligence tests (e.g. WAIS, WMS), as well as specialized tests focusing on particular psychological and medical problem areas (e.g. evaluations prior to medical surgeries).

    Because of his research interest in personality and projective testing, Fabian seeks to understand the patients’ thoughts, emotions and behaviours from his/her perspective, including the developmental, social, cultural and religious, as well as neurological factors that determine his/her experience of psychological discomfort. Being trained and experienced in psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioural variants (e.g. CBT, ACT, RET, EFT, IPT, EMDR), Fabian eclectically combines therapeutic interventions depending on the patient’s characteristics and preferences, in order to promote mental wellbeing and re-integrate the patient into his context.

    Having grown up in a multicultural and multilingual context and having first-hand experience as expat and adjusting to different environments, Fabian understands the specific challenges and their psychological and developmental impact individuals face during their transition, change and adaptation to a new culture and environment. Fabian provides sessions in English, German, Dutch, and Arabic.

© GNC, German Neuroscience Center Dubai (Neurology, Psychiatry, Psychology, Counseling, Dubai, UAE)