Within the scope of the PASS Project carried out under the coordination of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burcu Uysal at İbn Haldun University, an experience-sharing event titled “Being a Psychologist in a Disaster Zone” was held on December 3, 2025, at the İbn Haldun University Center for Psychotherapy Research (IPAM).
The PASS Project aims to understand the experiences of professionals who worked in disaster-affected areas following the February 6 earthquakes and to develop restorative and evidence-informed models based on these experiences. In the first phase of the project, a workshop was held between July 6 and 8, 2025, at the İbn Haldun University Campus, bringing together 106 individuals who had worked in the field after the earthquake. During the workshop, participants’ experiences were examined through focus group discussions conducted across ten separate tables.
Following this initial workshop, a meeting hosted by Ankara Social Sciences University on September 10, 2025, brought together approximately 20 decision-makers. During this meeting, preliminary findings obtained from the project were shared, and potential solution-oriented approaches were discussed. The outputs of the PASS Project continue to be disseminated to stakeholders and the wider public through social media platforms and various academic and community-based events.
As part of these dissemination activities, the event held at IPAM introduced undergraduate and graduate students from different universities studying in the field of mental health to the conceptualization, proposal writing, and implementation processes of the PASS Project. These processes were presented by project team members Fadime Beyza Taylan and Ali Şahin.
In the second part of the event, Clinical Psychologist Zeynep Züleyha Kablama Yardım and Clinical Psychologist Mehmed Seyda Tepedelen, who had worked at the Adıyaman Psychotherapy Center following the February 6 earthquakes, shared their professional experiences from working in the disaster zone. The speakers also provided reflections on key considerations and ethical sensitivities for psychologists working in post-disaster contexts.
In addition to producing written outputs such as books and booklets, the PASS Project aims to contribute to the field of mental health and to societal well-being through psychoeducation programs and experience-based knowledge-sharing activities. The project has been conducted for approximately one year in collaboration with Hasan Kalyoncu University by the Trauma and Resilience Laboratory and IPAM, with the support of the European Union and the Turkish National Agency.
