Dr. Nadire Gülçin YILDIZ

Dr. Yildiz graduated from Hacettepe University with a BA degree in Psychology. After teaching at the K-12 school system in Turkey, she pursued her graduate degree to advance her knowledge and skills working with children and youth. Dr. Yildiz received her School Counseling MA degree in 2003, her MA degree in Social Foundation of Education in 2004 and her Doctorate degree in Counselor Education from the University of Iowa in 2011. She is a National Certified Counselor (NCC), which is the prominent certification for the counseling profession in the United States.

Following her graduation from the University of Iowa in 2011, she returned home to Turkey. Since then she has been employed at several private universities located in Istanbul and actively engaged in conducting social projects and research, geared toward institutionalized children. She has been teaching various undergraduate and graduate courses and has worked as the director of Family Research Center, where she designed, planed and managed Family Counseling Certification Programs based on standards and benchmarks defined by the state.  She also conducted training programs (e.g., various life skills training for engaged couples and family practitioners; and also for educators in the K-12 school system).

Dr. Yildiz reports, "During my work, I have noted that corresponding to Turkey’s changing social, political, economic and cultural dynamics, the number of children needing government protection and care also increases, demanding restructuring the social policies including parenting plans and custody decisions; and institutional care programs and services."

To improve the lives of institutionalized children, Dr. Yildiz has designed, coordinated and conducted several projects at the national scale sponsored by the Turkish government including  Evidence Based Mentoring Programs and Individualized Rehabilitation Models focused on utilizing healthy peer relationships for social and emotional rehabilitation of disadvantaged, institutionalized youth.

Dr. Yildiz says, "When reviewing the stories of these children, I come across issues related to problematic attachment patterns. As a strong way to prevent these children from these social and emotional issues, it is essential to facilitate opportunities for social support. Research underlines that problematic attachment patterns result in social and emotional issues. Opportunities for social support are a great way to relearn and establish new ways of behaving. As one learns to behave differently, he or she can learn to act differently, resulting in the experience of oneself in a new perspective. This is exactly why, when I become aware of the ‘Leading Women for Shared Parenting’, I thought that I should be part of the organization and advocate shared parenting family law."