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Director of Human Rights in Mental Health Initiative
slayikel@mdri.org
Sehnaz Layikel is Director of the Human Rights in Mental Health Initiative. HRMHI is the first grassroots organization in Turkey established by people with mental disabilites and their relatives to bring a human rights perspective into the issue of mental health. Sehnaz has been active in several non-governmental organizations working on children’s rights and women's rights. Prior to working with MDRI to establish HRMHI, Ms. Layikel worked in the earthquake region of Turkey between 1999-2001. She became interested in trauma work and participated in the one-year International Trauma Studies Program at New York University. After returning to Turkey, Ms. Layikel continued to work actively in NGOs and studied art at Yildiz Technical University.
Ms. Layikel now holds an MA in Clinical Psychology from Istanbul Bilgi University. She has been a board member of SKYGD-Association for the Development of Social and Cultural Life (an NGO based in Istanbul specializing in the issue of at-risk youth and implementing support projects throughout Turkey) since 2002. Her areas of interest in psychology include psychoanalytic theory and related psychotherapies, art and its function in recovery, trauma and its relationship with the sociopolitical environment. Sehnaz was awarded a 2007 Echoing Green Fellowship.
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