Dr. Sonakshi Ruhela holds a Harvard Certification in Higher Education with a PhD in Psychology, recognized by the Ministry of Education, UAE. She is an accomplished Educationalist with over 12 years of extensive experience in Undergraduate and Postgraduate teaching, training, mentorship, and research of students from different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. She is also a Co-guide for Doctoral Research Scholars in the field of psychology and mental health.

She is a Community Development Authority (CDA Dubai) Licensed Psychologist with a comprehensive experience in the field of Counselling, Psychotherapy, Behavioral-Lifestyle interventions, Neuro- linguistic programming and Psychometric assessment. She has worked extensively in the area of adolescent and adult counselling, Relationship management (Couples and Family), Depression, Anxiety and Emotional- Psychological distress, in both India and UAE. She has authored the Book- ‘Counseling Interventions for Millennials’, published in 9 languages by Lambert Publications in 2020.

She is currently designated as a Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator for Psychological Sciences at Curtin University Dubai. She is the Former Associate Registrar and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Amity University, Dubai. She was pioneer in forming the Department of Psychology at Amity University Dubai in 2016. Previously, she has worked as an Assistant Professor of Psychology with the Amity Institute of Psychology & Allied Sciences, Amity University Noida, India for 6 years.

She has a rich Research profile with interdisciplinary Scopus index publications and Research Projects applied at ICSSR & All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), India and Al-Jalila Foundation, UAE. She is a professional member of the American Psychological Association, Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists and Middle East Psychological Association. She has participated in over 100 national and international events, seminars, talk shows, radio shows, conferences, industrial trainings, community engagement initiatives hosted by various schools, hospitals/clinics, government bodies, corporates in India, UK, and UAE.

She is the recipient of the ‘Leader of Impact’ award by the 8th MENAA awards; the ‘People choice award for Excellence in Mental Health’ by The World Health Awards in 2021; ‘Great Indian Women Leader Category- Education Award’ by Golden Signatures award in 2021; ‘Middle East Women Leaders Award’ by World Women Leadership Congress & Awards in 2020, ‘Academic Leadership Award’ by GISR Foundation in 2019, the ‘Best Paper’ award at the International Conference on Current Practices & Future Trends in Media Communication in 2019 and the ‘Outstanding achievement for Autism Awareness’ award by Maharat group, UAE in 2018.