Ayşe Zeynep Kocaoğlu

She studied psychology and dance at Franklin and Marshall College, having graduated with a double major diploma. She later completed her masters degree at Columbia University Teachers College, studying Motor Learning and Control. During this time she worked with children with autism and cerebral palsy. 

After relocating to Turkey in 2011, she participated in the Art Therapy and Rehabilitation program within İstanbul University Çapa Hospital Psychiatry Department. During this time she worked as a volunteer therapist with adult psyhotic patients and ran dance therapy groups. She also attended supervision meetings in the program.

In 2016 she graduated from İstanbul Bilgi University Clinical Psychology masters program with Child/Adolescent Therapy specialization. Her final project is on ‘Creative Movement as a Therapeutic Approach for Social Skills Development: The Case of Autism’. In 2016 she also finished the Creative Movement and DAnce Movement Therapy program within İstanbul Bilgi University, under the guidance of Doç. Dr. Zeynep Çatay Çalışkan. 

She is working with children and adolescents in individual and group therapy settings, using play therapy and verbal therapy, as well as art therapy and dance therapy techniques. She is following the psychodynamic approach, but she believes in a more holistic approach in child development therefore emphasizes the role of parents and caregivers within the family system. She is doing therapy in both English and Turkish. She is a member of the Arts Psychoterapies Association and has taken on several roles within the board from 2012-2017.