This chapter describes the counseling profession in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)as well as discussing the influence of cultural ethos and practices on counseling in general and psychotherapy in particular. The role of cultural assumptions and practices will be examined in light of the traditions prevalent in the Emirates culture. An attempt to integrate Western psychology and non-Western practices will be made. The remainder of the chapter highlights issues related to counseling in the UAE as practiced nowadys and the challenges that have ensued in trying to fit Western psychotherapeutic realities into indigenous cultural metaphors, ethos, beliefs, and practices. We will then provide a synopsis of the UAE's sociopolitical and economical realities. These realities help shape the practice of counseling in the UAE, and the burgeoning of the class is setting the stage for even more challenges and oppporttunities. (Several factors have benn shown to account for the variability and disparity we see in traditional Emirati society as people try to deal with differing therapuetic realities of our time.) In addition, we discuss variables that influence therapeutic realities and assumptions, such as help-seeking behavior, the conceptualizing of mental illness, communication styles, the use of metaphors in expressing psychological discomfort, current practices and applications, and barriers and challenges in the provesion of mental health services that are consistent with the cultural traditions of the UAE.