About Billur Çakırer, Ph.D.
Dr. Çakırer is an educational psychologist with more than 10 years of experience working with children and their families on issues related to children’s learning and socio-emotional lives as well as the most common day-to-day problems. She has worked in variety of settings including preschools, after school programs, NGO’s and Higher Education Institutions in Dominican Republic, Spain, Northern Cyprus and Turkey.
In 2004 she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Hacettepe University, Ankara. She continued her studies in Barcelona from 2007 till 2014. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology from Universitat de Barcelona in 2009 followed by a Ph.D. Degree in the same field from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2014. Her areas of specialization include preschool education, inclusive education, play-based learning and cultural diversity. During her dissertation research she worked with expat and immigrant children coming from different cultural backgrounds. She examined the role of play as a medium of culturally diverse preschoolers’ inclusion in different Catalan preschools.
She met with cultural diversity during her first summer school experience in England when she was 13 year old. Later she became an AFS exchange student in USA where she studied in an American High School for a year. In 2006 she was awarded a professional exchange fellowship by State Department through CIPUSA-YORET Foundation project.
During this program she visited many institutions in Ohio related to social work, observed applications of different school counseling programs and she attended training programs about peer mediation. Later in the same year she received a scholarship from Erasmus Program, thanks to which she studied one semester in University of Lisbon, where she took courses on Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and Instructional Design.
She first met with play therapy during the professional exchange program in Ohio. Later she attended different training programs about play therapy in Spain and in Turkey. She completed a program on “Leisure Time Instruction” which included 100 hours of theoretical, 150 hours of practical work along with a final written project. After finishing this program she was given a license to work with children in Spain by Catalan Government. She received a certificate on Play therapy from Bengi Semerci Institute after completing 50 hours of theoretical and 10 hours of supervised work.
Since 2015 she has been working as an Assistant Professor, teaching university students courses related to Psychology and Education. In 2016-2017 Academic Year, she worked in MEF University, in the Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling as a Part-Time Instructor. As of 2017-2018 Academic Year, she has become Assistant Professor in department of Child Development at Istanbul Arel University. She continues to receive new clients in her private practice located at the heart of Kadıköy, Istanbul. She is a member of Turkish Psychologist Association (Istanbul Branch). For further information and consultation requests you can contact her via her e-mail (billurcakirer [at] gmail [dot] com). For more information on Dr. Çakırer, please visit her professional profile or her academic profile.
Psychological Services
** Child Psychological and Pedagogical Counseling & Intervention in English
** Cross-Cultural Counseling for Expat Families and Their Children
Psychological and Pedagogical Assesments:
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Developmental Assessments for children 3 to 6 years of age
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Psychological Assessment for children, ages 3 to 12 to evaluate;
* Learning challenges
* Social/ behavioral challenges
* Emotional concerns
Therapy:
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Adjustment issues (moving to a new city/country; starting a new school; adjusting to changes such as becoming a sibling, bereavement)
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Learning challenges and school related issues
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Attachment issues
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Separation Anxiety
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Test Anxiety
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School Refusal
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Child Depression, Stress, Low Self-Esteem, Fears and Phobias
* Play Therapy
* CBT Based Interventions
* Bibliotherapy
* Psycho-Education/Training
Consultation:
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Parent consultation
* Selecting the right school for your child and for your family
* Mediation between school and family
* Assistance on all school related processes
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School & Teacher consultation