AlSayyida Basma Al Said

A well-established Mental Health Clinical Counselor, founder of the first mental health clinic in Oman, Whispers of Serenity and founder of mental health campaign Not Alone. She is also a hypnotherapist and PTSD trainer with over 21 years of experience seeing and treating patients from a wide array of disorders. She holds a master’s degree in Health Counseling in 2008 from Curtin University of Technology in Australia. Sayyida Basma is a pioneer in mental health issues awareness and is renowned for dealing head on with taboo subjects in the Middle East such as abuse and eating disorders. She is one of the few psychotherapists in the Gulf to use techniques such Hypnotherapy as well as her most recently earned training of Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET) for PTSD from Harvard University. On 2014, Her Highness initiated “Not Alone” an ongoing campaign to create societal awareness of the importance of mental well- being. This is a living proof of her dedication and ambition towards the betterment of the society. Not Alone campaign has opened a messaging support line on the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic where it provides a psychological and emotional support dedicated to teens, the elderly and most importantly, the frontline health workers. She also spearheaded on providing free counseling for individuals and groups during the second wave of COVID-19 in India, Beirut incident and the current situation for Palestinians. Moreover, she is the current Honorary President of Oman Heritage – a team that looks after and preserves Omani practices and culture. Recognized not only in the Arab world but also internationally, she has attended and delivered a total of 800 in governmental and 400 in private institutional talks, workshop and webinars. She also has been featured and interviewed by prominent networks and media such as CNN Arabia, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar Arabia to name a few. Awarded as International Social Responsibility Ambassador by The International Union for Social Responsibility (IUSR) for 2020 and 2021, and has been honored as one of the 50 Omani women who have played a significant role in the country’s development and for their achievements in the field of their work by the Honorable Lady, Wife of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik on Omani Women’s Day 2020. On February 2022, World Humanitarian Forum has welcomed Sayyida Basma as one of the new members of Medical and Health Programming board while The Diana Award- the only charity named after the legacy of Princess Diana has announced about her being the first Arab to judge young candidates around the world who have excelled in social work. Moreover, she was also one of the speakers to the Inaugural of Forbes USA for World’s Most Powerful Women for International Women’s Day where HE Hillary Clinton had headlined last March this year.