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In this episode of Behind the Stigma, I sit down with Dr. Prince Kouassi, Assistant Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at the American University of Dubai, to explore the landscape of mental health in the UAE. We discuss whether we are over-diagnosing mental health, careers in psychology in the UAE, using AI in the classroom and his thoughts on digital mental health apps. Timestamps added!

About Dr. Prince Kouassi
Dr. Kouassi is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and the Chair of the Department of Psychology at the American University of Dubai. He completed his Ph.D. at City, University of London (UK) in computational psychology, and after completing his PhD accepted a Teaching Fellowship in Psychology at Coventry University (UK). Dr. Kouassi has a wide range of active research interests in psychology which include but not limited to cognitive modeling, quantum probability applications, research participation, psychology education, and the practical application of psychological principles in the workplace.

Find him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-prince-kouassi-phd-0616a71aa/

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In this episode, I speak with Professor Edouard Machery to explore experimental philosophy and the question of whether morality is truly universal. We discuss why humans need morals in the first place, why we often fail to live up to our own moral ideals. We also look at cross-cultural differences in moral judgments, the limits of relying on intuition in philosophy, and what new technologies like VR reveal about the gap between moral judgment and moral action. Timestamps added!

About Edouard Machery

Professor Machery is the Director of the Center for Philosophy of Science and Professor at The University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on the philosophical issues raised by the cognitive sciences, currently focusing on the methodology of experimental psychology. His recent research projects and publications also include the nature and origin of racial categorization, the application of evolutionary theories to human cognition, the nature of culture, and the structure of moral concepts. Finally, he is involved in the development of experimental philosophy, and has used experimental and quasi-experimental methods to study intuitions about reference, folk judgments about intentional action, causation, the folk concept of race, and the folk concept of phenomenal consciousness.

Website: https://www.edouardmachery.com/

Books

Doing without concepts - https://global.oup.com/academic/product/doing-without-concepts-9780195306880?cc=ae&lang=en&

Philosophy within its proper bounds - https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Within-Its-Proper-Bounds/dp/019880752X

Book Chapter: Experimental Philosophy of Science: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118661666.ch33

Bluesky: @edouardmachery.bsky.social

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In this episode of Behind the Stigma, Seiara speaks with Dr. Carme Isern-Mas about the rise of “therapy-speak”, the popular use of psychological language in everyday life. Together, they explore how these phrases can help us express emotions and foster self-awareness, but also how they risk becoming disingenuous, individualistic, or even weaponized in relationships and society.

About Carme Isern-Mas

Dr. Isern-Mas is an Assistant Professor in Moral Philosophy at the University of the Balearic Islands, with a background in Human Evolution and Cognition for her M.A. and Ph.D. Her research interests lie in the field of moral psychology, with a particular focus on topics such as blame, empathy, moral motivation and self-deception. She is also interested in applied ethics, particularly in mental health ethics.

Profile: https://www.uib.eu/personal/ABjIyMjIzNg/

Unmasking Therapy Speak Paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11017-025-09730-5

Recent Paper - Blunting concepts: The double-edged effect of popularizing psychotherapy language: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515089.2025.2573763

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