Foundation Identity

Z.Kısmet Bakioglu was born in 1972 in Istanbul, Turkey. She studied International Business Economics in Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Along with experience she gained in family business while studying for a degree, Mrs. Bakioglu got the chance to work at Fako Pharmaceutical Factory by Arthur Andersen Consultancy.

She participated first aid trainings by Red Cross, Mrs.Bakioglu attended the 7th Child Protection Congress on October, 2014 and International Psychological Trauma Meetings. Upon successfully completed “Forensic Medicinal and Psychological Approach to Child Abuse and Neglect” certification program by Istanbul University, Continuing Education Centre and Institute of Forensic Sciences, she’s been granted t “The Certificate of Achievement”.

Apart from being a certified Amateur Seaman and Open Water Diver, Mrs.Bakioglu is also interested in photography and reiki. She has good knowledge of English and intermediate level knowledge of German. She’s married and a mother of two.

She was born on October 15, 1974 in İzmir. She attended primary and secondary school in İzmir. She received her B.A. in Labour Economics and Industrial Relations at Dokuz Eylül University in 1997. She started her career at Bilginoğlu Industrial Materials Industry and Trade Inc. in 1998. She’s also attended trainings on personal development coaching. She has a good knowledge of English as well.

She’s currently Executive Board member at Bilginoğlu Industrial Materials Industry and Trade Inc. and she’s married and has two children.

Nur Sökmen was born in 1974 at Samsun, Turkey where she attended primary and middle school. After she received her B.S. in Psychology at Ankara University, she worked as a school counselor at Urfa Regional Primary Boarding School for 2 years and at Samsun Private Ar College for 2 years as well. Then, she was appointed to Konak Guidance and Research Centre and worked there in total of 14 years, of which 5 years as a head of department. She’s been carrying out her duty as psychological counselor in Seferihisar Atatürk Secondary School for 2 years.

She’s been attending courses on “Intervention to Trauma and Crisis”, “Neglect and Abuse” since 2001, and she’s pioneered to create “Trauma and Crisis Response Team” in İzmir. Apart from responding to various cases of trauma and crisis, she’s actively participated in training trauma response teams. She was also a program trainer, supervisor, and master trainer between 2007 and 2014.

Mrs .Nur Sökmen is currently attending trainings on Gestalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis in Schools and Psychological Counselling, 1st level EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Child’ Adolescence.

Upon receiving her B.S. in Psychology at METU (Middle East Technical University) in 1984, Prof. Dr. Figen Çok started her M.A. in the department of Psychological Services in Education at Ankara University, and joined the faculty of Educational Sciences as a full-time research assistant in 1987. She got her Ph.D. in 1993 and was appointed as an assistant professor same year. She was previously a visiting scholar at Oregon State University, USA hosted by Dr. Liz Gray from the department of Psychological Counselling of Faculty of Educational Sciences and carried out the operations in Turkey as a part of an international project on “Sexual Behaviours of College Students and HIV/AIDS” between 1994 and 1995. She got her associate professorship on Educational Psychology in 1997 and she became professor while she was working at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Ankara University. She retired from Ankara University in 2010 where she worked in various positions including the head of department of Educational Psychology, head of Psychological Services in Education, Member of Institute of Educational Sciences and Executive Board and assistant director of Centre for Research on Child Culture and started working at Başkent University, Faculty of Educational Sciences. She worked as the head of Educational Sciences in the Faculty of Educational Sciences and faculty member in the department of Guidance and Psychological Counselling. She worked as the head of Educational Sciences department in Educational Sciences Faculty of TED University between 2012 and 2017. She is currently working at Başkent University, Faculty of Education as a full professor of psychological Counseling and Guidabce program and chairing the Department of Educational Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Figen Cok has many projects and publications on psychosocial development in adolescence, sexual development and education, transition to adulthood, youth and participation. Her research interests are as follows: psychosocial development in adolescence, self-construal, self-concealing, risk-taking behavior of adolescence, coping with stress in adolescence, romantic relationships, emerging adulthood, identity development, HIV/AIDS and adolescents, sexulaity education, body image, adolescents and media, youth and participation. Along with writing essays in both Turkish and English essays, she also translated a textbook titled “Book and Adolescence” and it was granted University Textbooks award by TÜBA in 2009. She’s taken part in various projects within the scope of 7TH European Commission Framework Program, TÜBİTAK, Ankara University BAP (Scientific Research Projects), EU Life-long Learning, mostly as a coordinator, on LDV and IP levels. She’s also involved in a project titled ERDEP conducted by Turkish Ministry of National Education and “Raising Health Awareness among Adolescents” by İKGV (Human Resources Development Foundation) and YÖK (Council of Higher Education). Prof. Dr. Çok is member of several academic institutions and has participated in scientific councils of various national and international meetings. Furthermore, she is the president of European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA). Prof. Dr. Çok is also married and has two children.

Ümran Korkmazlar completed her undergraduate studies at İstanbul University, in the department of Pedagogy, in 1977 and she received her master degrees at Boğaziçi University on “Guidance and Psychological Counselling” and in İstanbul University Child Health Institute on “Developmental Neurology”. She received her Ph.D. from İstanbul University, Institute of Medical Sciences upon submitting her doctoral thesis on “Specific Learning Disability and Diagnostic Procedures for Children aged 6-11” and she was granted Turkish Psychiatry Society Mualla Öztürk Research Award for her thesis. Korkmazlar became associate professor at İstanbul University Faculty of Medicine, department of Child Psychiatry in 1998. She assumed the title of professor in 2004. Korkmazlar chose to retire voluntarily on 2007 from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine, department of Child Psychiatry. She made contributions for the establishment of department of Psychology at Bilim University and she became the head of department and the dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences on 2008-2009. Later she transferred to the head of department of Psychology at Beykent University and she left this position voluntarily on 2009. She is currently working at Fide Consultancy Centre, which she founded.

Korkmazlar has been working with children, adolescents and families for 41 years. She uses Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Family Therapy, Play Therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desentization and Reprocessing) Therapy and special education methods while working on learning, development and trauma. She has many national and international publications on child and adolescent mental health, developmental neurology, learning disability, special education, family therapy, adolescent psychology, post-traumatic crisis intervention, EMDR therapy. She’s taken the lead in many volunteer works related to disaster and crisis. Korkmazlar has been the representative of Turkey for EMDR Europe Child Adolescent Section since 2000. She’s one of the founding members of Turkey EMDR Association. She has supported the training and development of new EMDR therapists. She’s been qualified to be “Child Adolescent EMDR Europe accredited Trainer” in 2015.

Prof. Dr. Muge Tamar was born in 1962 in Ankara. She was graduated from Ege University Faculty of Medicine. In 1991, she got her specialty in psychiatry, and in 1996 got her specialty in child psychiatry from the same University. She became an assistant professor in 1996, associate professor in 1997, and professor in 2006. Until December 2011, she served as a lecturer in Ege University Faculty of Medicine at the Department of Child Psychiatry and as a member of the Youth Mental Health Counseling and Treatment Unit and assistant director of EGEBAM (Ege University Medical Faculty Child and Adolescent Dependency Research and Treatment Center). Currently, she has been a member of the association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Besides, she has trained in the areas of psychodrama and psychoanalytic group psychotherapy, and in 2004 she was entitled to the title of psychotherapist.

Muge Tamar conducted various studies and published articles on psychological characteristics of youth in youth detention centers, psychopathology in children at risk, individualization in adolescents, adolescent depression and suicide, self- injurious behavior in adolescents, approach to family in adolescents, identity problems, alcoholism and substance use in adolescents.

Banu Köstem was born in Ankara in 1974, and completed her secondary and high school education at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory Piano Department. After graduating from Bilkent University Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, Department of Theory-Composition with a full scholarship, she started her educational adventure with the Pedagogical Formation she received from Hacettepe University Faculty of Education. She worked as a Music and Performing Arts Teacher and Art Coordinator in qualified private schools both in Ankara and İzmir for many years. Banu Köstem has taken part in many national and international festivals, concerts and organizations in recent years. She is a private piano teacher and Campus Avant-garde Art Lecturer which is a holistic culture-arts education designed by her. She also works as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Communication in University of Economics and teaches Music and Media Courses at The New Media and Communication Department.

Deniz Eryılmaz was born in İstanbul in 1965. She received her B.S. in Psychology at İstanbul University and her master’s degree in Executive MBA at the same university. She started off her career as training specialist in Arçelik Inc. Industrial Relations department and over the years, she became manager in human resources and marketing departments. Later, she worked as mid-level and senior manager at the largest private companies including Star TV, Hürriyet Newspaper, Cine 5.

Eryılmaz has been offering professional counselling services at Yaşam Atölyesi (Life Atelier) which she founded in 2000 and she has taken part in disaster and crisis response teams as a volunteer. She also offers seminars and trainings for parents, teachers, psychologists, psychological counsellors, managers, doctors, nurses, students and public in general.

NGOs Eryılmaz worked with:
Turkish Psychological Association İzmir Branch (2000-2004) Executive Board Member
Turkish Psychological Association- İzmir Branch (2004-2005) – Chairman of the Executive Board
Turkish Psychological Association – HQ (2005-2007) – Executive Board Member
Turkish Psychological Association – İzmir Branch (2008-2010) – Chairman of the Executive Board
Family Consulting Centres Association – (2011) - Vice Chairman
Turkish Psychological Association – İzmir Branch (2016-to present)

Hatice Pınar Demirci received her BS in Psychology at METU (Middle East Technical University) in 2009.

She did volunteer work at various nursery schools and associations while in university. She completed her master’s degree in Developmental Psychology at Koç University. Her studies have been focused primarily on childhood and adulthood attitudes and skills. She has studied on understanding the interaction between early childhood children and close circles in her thesis and various projects.

Hatice Pınar Demirci graduated from the Psychology Department at Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2007. Immediately after completing her undergraduate education, she pursued a master's degree in Developmental Psychology at Koç University. Her thesis examined the interaction between children in early childhood in Turkey and their immediate environment. After completing her master's degree, she worked for 7 years at the Mother and Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) as an education officer and content development specialist, working on supporting children at risk, effective parenting, gender equality, respect for diversity, and child protection. She then enrolled in the Clinical Psychology Master's Program at Boğaziçi University; with the education and supervision she received, she began working as a psychotherapist in addition to her work as an educator. For her thesis at Boğaziçi University, she conducted an impact assessment study on the psychological resilience-based educational program she developed for primary school children called “If I Know, I Can Do It” for the Egeden Children and Trauma Foundation. 

Since 2018, she has been working at the Porta Education and Consulting Center as a manager, psychotherapist, educator, and program development specialist; she also provides consultancy services to various institutions in her areas of expertise. 

Upon completion of her master’s degree, she worked on supporting children at risk, effective parenting, gender equality, respecting differences and child protection as education specialist at AÇEV for 7 years. She was also responsible for program and education content creation, supervision, training, project management, field coordination. She majored in Clinical Psychology as a result of years of studies in psychology and education.
She’s currently working on her Clinical Psychology master’s thesis at Boğaziçi University. Apart from her clinical studies, she also has been developing programs for children and parents.

He was born in Izmir in 1968. He completed his middle and high school education at the Izmir American Girls' High School in 1986. After graduating from Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Law in 1990, he completed his legal internship and was licensed as a lawyer registered with the Izmir Bar Association in 1992. He worked as a lawyer at Teba Group of Companies for a period of time. He obtained his LLM degree in International Law from the University of Houston Law Center in 1994-1995. She served as Legal Advisor and Trademark Attorney at Unilever Holding A.Ş. She lived in Malaysia between 1999 and 2003. After returning, she worked for a while at the family business. Between 2009 and 2020, she worked as a freelance lawyer and corporate lawyer.

Prof. Dr. Özgür Erdur-Baker is a faculty member at Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Education, department of Educational Sciences, Psychological Counselling and Guidance program. She received her M.A. in Educational Psychology, and her Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology at University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA. She completed her professional internship at Duke University, NC. USA.

Her main research interests are trauma and disaster psychology, emotion regulation, rumination, crisis management and counselling, school violence and bullying, the effects of internet technologies on children and adolescents (especially cyber violence), gender, and culture sensitive counselling processes and outcomes. She is the author and editor of three books, “Crisis Counselling”, “Disasters, Crises, Trauma, and Psychological Support”, and “Grief Counseling”. She also published numerous national and international articles, conference proceedings on cyber bullying and trauma/disaster psychology, emotion regulation and school violence. She has conference proceedings and essays on same issues as well. She has been implementing national and international projects on ensuring gender equality in schools, fear in children and adolescents, school violence, grief and grief reactions, trauma/disaster psychology and disaster education.

Serkan Kahyaoğlu graduated from Hacettepe University's Psychological Counseling and Guidance department. He completed his master's degree in Clinical Psychology at Istanbul Bilgi University. He has received training in the internationally recognized Transactional Analysis school of thought and uses this approach in his educational and psychotherapy work.

Throughout his professional career, he worked for one year in a public school, five years as a psychological counselor at Koç Private Elementary and High School, and six years as Deputy General Manager responsible for education at the Mother and Child Education Foundation. Some of the educational programs he developed and implemented include: Father Support Program (Mother and Child Education Foundation), Will You Play With Me? Television Program (Mother and Child Education Foundation-TRT), My Family Family Child Education Program, 7-19 Family Education and 0-18 Age Family Education Course Program (Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey), ARDIÇ Education and Rehabilitation Program for Children in Conflict with the Law (Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Turkey and UNICEF). Additionally, she has developed and implemented content on Gender Equality, Respect for Diversity, Feedback Methods and Techniques, Communication Skills, Group Management, and Educator Training.

Serkan Kahyaoğlu, one of the founding partners of Porta, has been working in the field of education, counseling, and psychotherapy since 1996. Working primarily with adolescents, young adults, and adults, Serkan Kahyaoğlu also provides counseling for parents and couples therapy. He has extensive experience in psychotherapy, particularly in the areas of anxiety, relationship issues, and depression.

Zeki Yüncü graduated from Saint Joseph Middle School and Tevfik Fikret High School. He received his B.Sc. degree from 9 Eylul University in Medicine and specialized in Psychiatry in Agean University. Following this he started working as specialized doctor in Child Psycihatry Division in Aegean University. In 2003 he worked as Responsible Specialist of Child Adolocent Alcohol Substance Abuse Research and Application Center (EGEBAM). In 2008 he was appointed as Assistant and in 2010 as Assistant Professor. In 2015 he received Professor title. He was the Manager of EGEBAM between 2016 and 2022. He worked as the Manager of Agean University Substance Abuse Mesicine Sciences and Toxology Institute between 2018 and 2021. He is currently the professor in Child Pyschiatry in Aegean University, the Assitant Manager of EGEBAM. In addition he runs his own psychiatry clinic since June 2021. He has a number of issued scientific articles and reports. At the same time he is an adult, child and adolocent therapist certified by European Behaviour And Cognotive Therapist Association.

Deniz Eryılmaz was born in İstanbul in 1965. She received her B.S. in Psychology at İstanbul University and her master’s degree in Executive MBA at the same university. She started off her career as training specialist in Arçelik Inc. Industrial Relations department and over the years, she became manager in human resources and marketing departments. Later, she worked as mid-level and senior manager at the largest private companies including Star TV, Hürriyet Newspaper, Cine 5.

Eryılmaz has been offering professional counselling services at Yaşam Atölyesi (Life Atelier) which she founded in 2000 and she has taken part in disaster and crisis response teams as a volunteer. She also offers seminars and trainings for parents, teachers, psychologists, psychological counsellors, managers, doctors, nurses, students and public in general.

NGOs Eryılmaz worked with:
Turkish Psychological Association İzmir Branch (2000-2004) Executive Board Member
Turkish Psychological Association- İzmir Branch (2004-2005) – Chairman of the Executive Board
Turkish Psychological Association – HQ (2005-2007) – Executive Board Member
Turkish Psychological Association – İzmir Branch (2008-2010) – Chairman of the Executive Board
Family Consulting Centres Association – (2011) - Vice Chairman
Turkish Psychological Association – İzmir Branch (2016-to present)

Born in Samsun, Nur Furtun completed her undergraduate studies in 1997 at the Department of Psychological Services in Education at Ankara University. Furtun began her professional career as a psychological counselor; following her assignments at the Urfa Boarding Elementary Regional School and Samsun Özel Ar College, she worked at the Konak Guidance and Research Center for 14 years. For the final five years of this period, she served as department chair. Since 2017, she has continued her work as a psychological counselor at the Seferihisar Müşerref Hepkon Elementary School.

Since 2001, Nur Furtun has focused on the areas of trauma, crisis, neglect, and abuse. She pioneered the formation of trauma and crisis intervention teams in Izmir and has actively served in the field in various crisis and trauma situations. In addition to her intervention work, she has contributed to the training processes of trauma intervention teams, thereby sharing her knowledge and experience.

Between 2007 and 2014, Furtun served as a program trainer, supervisor, and master trainer at the Mother and Child Education Foundation, playing an active role in empowerment initiatives involving children, families, and educators. Throughout her professional career, she has completed numerous trainings, including Gestalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis in School and Psychological Counseling, EMDR Level 1, and EMDR for Children and Adolescents; she has integrated this expertise into her work in school-based psychosocial support, post-traumatic recovery, and the emotional empowerment of children.

He was born in Izmir in 1976. After completing his high school education at 60. Yıl Anadolu High School, he graduated from Boğaziçi University with a degree in Economics. He received his master's degree from Georgia State University. He has worked for various corporate companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Turkey. He graduated from the Psychology Department at İzmir University of Economics in 2025. He is currently continuing his education in the Clinical Master's Program at İzmir University of Economics.  

He was born in Tokat in 1974. He completed his primary and secondary education in Tokat. After graduating from the Guidance and Psychological Counseling Department at İnönü University in 1996, he worked at İzmir 9 Eylül Anadolu High School for 15 years. After completing his Clinical Psychology education at Esenyurt University in 2022, he received the title of Clinical Psychologist. He currently works as a Psychological Counselor at Bornova Anatolian High School. At the same time, he provides counseling for supervision purposes at a counseling center.

Since 2001, she has been taking courses on “Trauma and Crisis Intervention” and has pioneered the formation of “Trauma and Crisis Intervention” teams in Izmir. While working on interventions in various crises and trauma situations, she has also participated in the training of trauma intervention teams. She has been a member of the board of the Izmir branch of the Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Association. She has worked in the Izmir Provincial Directorate of National Education Provincial Trauma Commission and the Trauma Recovery Group affiliated with the EMDR Association, intervening in many traumatic situations at the local and national levels.

She has completed training in Gestalt Therapy, Positive Psychotherapy, Family Counseling, Strategic Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Interventions, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and is a European-accredited therapist. She continues her work by completing training in supportive (psychoanalytic) therapy and Schema Therapy.

Hatice Pınar Demirci graduated from the Psychology Department at Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2007. Immediately after completing her undergraduate education, she pursued a master's degree in Developmental Psychology at Koç University. Her thesis examined the interaction between children in early childhood in Turkey and their immediate environment. After completing her master's degree, she worked for 7 years at the Mother and Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) as an education officer and content development specialist, working on supporting children at risk, effective parenting, gender equality, respect for diversity, and child protection. She then enrolled in the Clinical Psychology Master's Program at Boğaziçi University; with the education and supervision she received, she began working as a psychotherapist in addition to her work as an educator. For her thesis at Boğaziçi University, she conducted an impact assessment study on the psychological resilience-based educational program she developed for primary school children called “If I Know, I Can Do It” for the Egeden Children and Trauma Foundation. 

Since 2018, she has been working at the Porta Education and Consulting Center as a manager, psychotherapist, educator, and program development specialist; she also provides consultancy services to various institutions in her areas of expertise.

He was born on May 8, 1992, in Izmir. He completed his elementary and middle school education at Fevzi Çakmak Elementary School. He graduated from the Department of Econometrics at Dokuz Eylül University and began working at the Adem Çankal-Yunus Çankal Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Firm.