Asst. Prof. Dr. Elif Akdag Gocek

Elif Akdag Gocek founded the Clinical Psychology Master's Program – Child/Adolescent Sub-track at Istanbul Bilgi University in 2012 and directed the program until 2021. She continues to teach graduate courses as a part-time faculty member in the same department. She completed her doctorate in 'School and Child Clinical Psychology' at Canada - University of Toronto (OISE). She holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Bogazici University. Dr. Akdag Gocek worked as a psychologist at Istanbul Medical Faculty Department of Child Psychiatry between 1992-1998. Following her PhD, she worked as a founding faculty member at Yeditepe University Psychology Department between 2007-2012. In her doctoral thesis, she researched mothers' capacity to mentalize their children and emotional availability, and her thesis was published abroad as a book. She served as the President of the Turkey Infant Mental Health Association between 2015-2021. She currently continues as vice president in the same association. Dr. Gocek provides consultation for children, adolescents, and their families, and continues to carry out joint projects with Non-Governmental Organizations in many fields.