Asst. Prof. Dr. Firdevs Seyfe Şen

Asst. Prof. Dr. Firdevs Seyfe Şen has been a psychiatrist at NPİSTANBUL Hospital since February 2022. Her main clinical interests are psychotic disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and test anxiety.

Early years and medical training

A native of Mucur in Kırşehir province, she received all of her schooling, from primary to high school, in Kırşehir. She entered Çukurova University School of Medicine in 1987 and qualified as a physician in 1993.

Her compulsory service began as a general practitioner at Health Center No. 1 in Kaman, Kırşehir; a year later she was transferred to the emergency department of Kırşehir State Hospital. She went on to head the Mental Health and Psychiatric Services Branch of the Kırşehir Provincial Health Directorate.

Specialisation and clinical career

Having passed the Medical Specialization Exam in 1996, she trained in the Department of Mental Health and Disorders at Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine in Manisa, qualifying as a psychiatrist with the thesis “Attitudes Toward Depression Among People Living in a Rural Region of Turkey.” Her first post as a specialist was at Manisa Turgutlu State Hospital, where she directed the psychiatry clinic for more than ten years; for part of that time she also ran a private practice, as Ministry of Health regulations permitted.

On retiring from the public sector in 2020, she moved to İzmir Nöron Psychiatry Center, a practice she co-founded, and worked there as a psychiatrist for two years. Once trained in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), she carried out pioneering work in bringing this treatment into clinical use.

Psychotherapy and further training

• Qualified psychodrama therapist, Abdülkadir Özbek Psychodrama Institute
• Individual psychoanalysis training with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayhan Eğrilmez
• Social skills training for schizophrenia with Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yıldız
• Motivational interviewing with Prof. Dr. Kültegin Ögel
• Psychoanalytically oriented group psychotherapy and psychoanalysis programmes, Halime Odağ Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Foundation
• “The Use of Dreams in Psychoanalysis” with Prof. Dr. Vamık Volkan
• EMDR Level 1 and Level 2, EMDR Association
• CETAD Basic Training
• Theoretical training in cognitive-behavioural therapy with Prof. Dr. Hakan Türkçapar
• Driver Behavior Improvement Training and Substance Abuse Physician Training, both certified by the Ministry of Health