All articles 
Kognitif Davranışçı Tedavi ve Kontrol Odaklı Davranışçı Tedavi: Kuramsal, sosyo-politik ve felsefi açılardan eleştirel bir karşılaştırma
(0)Bu makale İngilizce orijinalinden yapay zeka (Deepseek) tarafından Türkçe’ye çevrilmiş ve yazar tarafından gerekli düzeltmeler yapılarak yayınlanmıştır. Özet Kognitif Davranışçı Tedavi (KDT) kırk yılı aşkın bir süredir dünya ruh sağlığı hizmetlerinde “altın standart” olarak sorgulanmayan bir egemenlik sürdürmektedir. Oysa klinik sonuçları dikkatli olarak incelendiğinde, KDT’nin ciddi anlamda sorunları olduğu anlaşılabilir. Bunlar arasında uzun vadede yüksek… Read More ›
Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Control‑Focused Behavioral Treatment: A critical comparison of their theoretical, socio‑political, and philosophical implications
Disclosure and acknowledgment The author is the developer of Control‑Focused Behavioral Treatment, which is discussed in this article. The evidence presented is drawn from published, peer‑reviewed studies, and the author has attempted to present it fairly. During the writing process, he selected the main points for discussion, formulated the arguments, and discussed them with two… Read More ›
A Critical Look at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Its “Third Wave” Derivatives
Abstract The central question of this article is whether Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and its so-called third wave derivatives represent genuine progress in the field of psychotherapy. Despite the technical complexity of classical CBT, which comprises cognitive restructuring, behavioral experiments, and various coping skills, there is considerable uncertainty about which components are actually effective. There… Read More ›
Kognitif Davranışçı Tedavilere ve “Üçüncü Dalga” türevlerine eleştirel bir bakış
Özet Kognitif Davranışçı Tedavi (KDT) ve türevlerinin psikoterapi alanında gerçek bir ilerleme temsil edip etmediği, bu makalenin temel sorusunu oluşturmaktadır. Klasik KDT’nin kognitif yeniden yapılandırma, davranışsal deneyler ve çeşitli başa çıkma becerilerinden oluşan teknik karmaşıklığına rağmen, hangi bileşenlerin etkili olduğu konusunda ciddi belirsizlikler bulunmaktadır. Kognitif müdahalelerin, anksiyete uyaranlarının üzerine gitme (exposure) veya davranışsal aktivasyon gibi… Read More ›
A learning theory approach to deprivation of liberty through imprisonment: Implications for definition of torture in international law
Abstract In my 2017 book on Torture and Its Definition in International Law: An Interdisciplinary Approach I presented a learning theory formulation of torture to highlight its core definitional characteristics from a behavioral science perspective. These include a) exposure to unpredictable and uncontrollable stressors that pose a risk of helplessness and hopelessness responses and b)… Read More ›
New book
TORTURE AND ITS DEFINITION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH Edited by METİN BAŞOĞLU Oxford University Press New York, 2017 This book presents an interdisciplinary approach to definition of torture by a group of prominent scholars of behavioral sciences, international law, human rights, and public health with internationally recognized expertise and authority in their field…. Read More ›
Self-help approach in treatment of PTSD
The ever-increasing population of the world is being affected by war, environmental degradation, and poverty. Available resources fail to meet the demand for psychological care, given that there is one psychiatrist per every 100,000 in about 70% of the global population. In African countries this ratio is even lower with an average of 5 million… Read More ›
Definition of torture in United States law: Does it provide legal cover for “enhanced interrogation techniques”?
Abstract The overly restrictive US definition of torture set forth by the “torture memos” in the early aftermath of 9/11 has been widely criticized for excluding “enhanced interrogation techniques” (EITs) and thereby creating loopholes for impunity. In the light of the US Senate Intelligence Committee Report on CIA’s detention and interrogation program confirming the use… Read More ›
Waterboarding is severe torture: Research findings
In my previous post I reviewed the misconceptions that characterize the debate on torture renewed by the movie Zero Dark Thirty and presented some research evidence showing that waterboarding is one of the most physically and mentally distressing forms of torture. In this article I expand on the issue of waterboarding and review further evidence… Read More ›
Zero Dark Thirty: The unbearable lightness of the torture debate
The debate on whether torture works is once again revived, this time by Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming film Zero Dark Thirty. The responses to the film vary. Frank Bruni of the New York Times, summarizes the movie’s basic message as “no waterboarding, no Bin Ladin” and concludes that it does not “reflect many experts’ belief that torture… Read More ›
Do drone strikes increase risk of revenge attacks? – A behavioral science perspective
Summary Currently much debate centers on the issue of whether drone strikes radicalize some people and increase the risk of retaliatory attacks. This article addresses this issue by presenting some research data demonstrating that war violence with similar contextual characteristics as drone warfare have certain cognitive and emotional effects (e.g. sense of injustice, anger, outrage,… Read More ›
Drone strikes or mass torture? – A learning theory analysis
SUMMARY Much of the current debate about the morality and legality of drone warfare focuses on the number of civilian casualties with little attention to its mental health, socio-economic, cultural, and political consequences. A recent study in Pakistan by the Stanford Law School and New York University (NYU) School of Law suggests that such outcomes… Read More ›
Van depremzedelerinin psikolojik tedavisi konusunda Türk Psikologlar Derneği’ne yanıt
(Psychological treatment of Van earthquake survivors: Reply to Turkish Assocation for Psychologists – English summary not provided) Cumhuriyet gazetesi 9 Aralık 2011 tarihli Bilim ve Teknik ekinde Van depremi ile ilgili bir makalemden bir derleme yaparak bir yazı yayınladı. Bu yazıya Türk Psikologlar Derneği’nden (TPD) aşağıdaki yanıt geldi. “Sayin Basoglu Cumhuriyet gazetesi BT de cikan… Read More ›
Deprem travmasının tedavisinde etkili ve ekonomik bir yaklaşım modeli
(A cost-effective mental healthcare model for earthquake trauma – Summary in English provided at end of article) (16.3.2023’de revize edildi) Daha önceki yazılarımda depremlerin travmatik etkilerine yönelik bir ruh sağlığı modelinden söz etmiş ve bu modele ilişkin bilgilerin 2011 kitabımda bulunabileceğini belirtmiştim. Bu kitap yakın zamanlarda yayınlandığı ve henüz Türkçe’ye çevrilmediği için bu modelle ilgili temel… Read More ›
Van depremi sonrasında ‘psikolojik destek’ çalışmalarına eleştirel bir bakış
(English abstract provided at end of article) Van depreminden sonra depremzedelere ‘psikolojik destek’ vermek adına bir çok kişi, dernek ve kuruluş Van’a koşuyorlar ya da gönderiliyorlar. Psikolojik destek adına neler yapıldığını 1999 depremlerinden sonra çok yakından gördüğümüz için doğrusu içimi bir üzüntü kaplıyor. Bu konuyu biraz daha açarak kitlesel travmalar sonrası tedavi anlamında dünyada ve… Read More ›
Türkiye’de depremlerin yarattığı ruh sağlığı sorunu konusunda ne yapılabilir? -Van depreminin düşündürdükleri ve bazı öneriler
Van depremi Türkiye için deprem sorununun ne anlama geldiğini bir kez daha hatırlattı. Türkiye’de bulunduğum şu sıralarda kurtarma çalışmaları bitmiş durumda ve depremin yarattığı ruh sağlığı sorunu bir kez daha bütün ağırlığıyla kendini hissettirmeye başladı. Bu soruna yönelik olarak – Van’a psikolog veya psikiyatrist göndermek dışında – yapılan fazla bir şey görmemenin rahatsızlığı içinde yıllardır… Read More ›
Prevention of torture and rehabilitation of survivors – Review of the UN Committee against Torture Working Document on Article 14: Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
I have recently received a copy of a paper presented at the 12th European Conference on Traumatic Stress in Vienna in June 2011 by psychologist Nora Sveaas from the Department of Psychology of University of Oslo. Dr. Sveaas is also a member of the UN Committee against Torture (CAT). Her paper (entitled Gross human rights… Read More ›
Mental health consequences of disaster in Japan: How reliable are “expert” opinions in the media?
In my previous post I had pointed to ill-informed comments from mental health professionals about the mental health effects of Japan disaster. I will expand on this issue a bit further by highlighting how “expert” opinion on this issue is plagued by various common misconceptions about earthquake trauma. There are numerous examples of this in… Read More ›
Should Japan use Western help in mental healthcare of disaster survivors?
Since the disaster in Japan, I have been coming across in the Internet expressions of opinions or recommendations by various Western mental health professionals as to how Japan should go about helping survivors recover from trauma. Most recommendations as to what survivors should do to recover from their trauma are simply reiterations of widely accepted… Read More ›
The likely psychological toll of the disaster in Japan and its socio-economic consequences: Prospects for recovery from mass trauma
The recent 9.0-magnitude earthquake in Japan and the devastating tsunami that followed are likely to lead to widespread mental health problems in survivors. Based on our research with earthquake survivors in Turkey, we would expect traumatic stress problems severe enough to require treatment in more than 50% of the people with high levels of expoure… Read More ›
Recommended reading on treatment of earthquake survivors
After the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan, I have been getting requests for information about treatment of earthquake survivors from mental health professionals. Below is a list of our publications about treatment of earthquake survivors (updated March 2013). Book Basoglu M, Salcioglu E (2011) A mental healthcare model for mass trauma survivors: Control-Focused Behavioral… Read More ›
