Asst. Prof. Dr. Melek Gözde Luş

Asst. Prof. Dr. Melek Gözde Luş qualified in medicine at Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 1999. She trained as a resident in the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Disorders at Istanbul University's Istanbul Faculty of Medicine (Çapa) and became a child and adolescent psychiatrist in 2008. Her residency thesis examined comorbid bipolar disorder in children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

From 2008 to 2010 she carried out her compulsory service at Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital. Her articles in Turkish and international journals address subjects including ADHD, autism and internet addiction.

Therapy training

Dr. Luş has trained in a number of approaches: basic and supervised cognitive behavioural therapy for children and adolescents, child-centred play therapy, cognitive behavioural play therapy, filial therapy, and structured play and art psychotherapy techniques. Most notably, she has completed international certification training in schema therapy.

Clinical interests

• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Dyslexia, autism, Asperger's syndrome and similar neurodevelopmental disorders
• Developmental delays
• Anxiety disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Memberships and public health work

She belongs to the Turkish Medical Association, the Turkish Psychiatric Association, the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Under Türkiye's Autism Action Plan she took part in the diagnosis and treatment components of the Ministry of Health's autism early-diagnosis training programme for family physicians.

Today she combines academic duties as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Disorders at Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine with clinical work as a child and adolescent psychiatrist at NPİSTANBUL Hospital.