Team
Principal Investigator
Dr. Aylin Koçak
Aylin Koçak Şen is the founder and director of FAMILY-Lab at İzmir University of Economics and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on parenting, interparental relationships, and adolescent development, with particular attention to how everyday family processes such as conflict, triangulation, autonomy support, and emotion regulation shape young people’s psychological, social, and academic well-being. Drawing on theoretical frameworks including Self-Determination Theory, Family Systems Theory, and developmental and ecological approaches, her work integrates longitudinal, daily-diary, and person-centered methods. Through FAMILY-Lab, she aims to produce research that is not only scientifically rigorous but also socially meaningful, contributing to evidence-based practices that support healthy family relationships and promote well-being across generations.
Graduate Students
Sezgi Gedik
Sezgi Gedik received her bachelor’s degree with honors from the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Izmir University of Economics. In the same year, she was admitted to the Clinical Psychology Master’s Program at Izmir University of Economics. Her academic interests include parenting practices, parent–adolescent relationship dynamics, and adolescent psychological well-being. She is particularly focused on how the satisfaction or frustration of basic psychological needs and emotion regulation processes shape developmental outcomes. Sezgi actively takes part in research projects focusing on adolescent development within the context of family relationships. She is particularly interested in how family dynamics shape emotional growth and self-compassion during adolescence. Her current work focuses on the dynamics of parent–adolescent relationships, utilizing quantitative and dyadic methods. Sezgi is particularly passionate about translating theoretical insights into empirical research that informs culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate, and evidence-based practices. In the long term, she aspires to pursue a career that integrates both clinical practice and academic research, with a focus on adolescents and families.
Berfin Kurşun
Berfin Kurşun received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Boğaziçi University in 2022 and began her Master’s in Clinical Psychology at Izmir University of Economics in 2024. Throughout her academic journey, she has been involved in several research labs, including the Family and Child Research Laboratory and the Social Psychology Laboratory at Boğaziçi University. She also contributed to the TÜBİTAK-funded TACEP project, which focused on the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children and adolescents in Turkey. Her experience spans both qualitative and quantitative research in developmental and clinical psychology. Berfin is broadly interested in parent–child relationships, adolescent mental health, and the psychological mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of internalizing symptoms. Her work explores how parenting practices and parental reflective functioning influence developmental outcomes. She aims to contribute to research that bridges developmental and clinical psychology in order to inform family-centered interventions.
Elif Çalışır
Elif Çalışır received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Izmir University of Economics. Following her undergraduate training, she continued her academic path in the Clinical Psychology Master’s Program at Izmir University of Economics, where she is currently completing her graduate education. Throughout both her undergraduate and graduate training, Elif has developed a strong interest in developmental psychology, with a particular focus on family dynamics, parenting, and adolescent development. Her master’s thesis examines the role of parentification experiences in parents and their associations with adolescent psychological outcomes, reflecting her longstanding interest in intergenerational processes within families. During her academic training, Elif completed internships and practical experiences in settings that provided direct opportunities to observe and work with children, adolescents, and families. These experiences supported her integration of developmental perspectives into clinical thinking. She is particularly interested in understanding how early family relationships and caregiving roles shape emotional development and psychological functioning across the lifespan.
