BREAKFAST TALKS 24, Dr. Sema Koç Erdön, Psychological and Socio-Cultural Adjustment of Children

BREAKFAST TALKS 24

Dr. Sema Koç Erdön

 Psychological and Socio-Cultural Adjustment of Children. How can we make it easier for our kids to adapt to new culture?

Living in a foreign country is hard enough as it is for adult expats, with all the problems of learning a new language, adjusting to a new country and culture; but how hard is it for children, who are already going through character development-wise delicate times, to deal with these challenges? What are the methods and advices for parents to make the adjustment process easier for their kids? How can the parents turn the experience of living abroad into an advantage for their children? Dr. Sema Koç Erdön, child and adolescent psychiatrist, will offer answers to these questions at the next event jointly organized by European Professionals Network (EPN) and Golden Rose on 14 Dec.  Erdön will also talk on attention and concentration problems of children as well as the results of her two-year research on the comparison of the problems encountered by Dutch and Turkish children living in Belgium. We kindly invite you and your friends to join us at the event.

Program:

10:00-10:30    Registration
10:30-11:30    Breakfast
11:40-12:30    Talk with Dr. Sema Koç Erdön
12:30-13:00    Questions & Answers

Brief Background of Dr. Sema Koç Erdön

Having graduated from the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in 1997, Erdön specialized in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the University of Antwerp in 2007. In her most recent research completed in 2011, Erdön found out that the Turkish children living in Belgium are more problematic than the Dutch children in the country and she researched the reasons and solutions to this situation. Among her fields of expertise are attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, learning disability, autism, exam anxiety, eating disorder, social phobia and speech disorder. The psychiatrist is currently working at a clinic in Merksem and in a rehabilitation center in Lokeren. Her consulting room is in Edegem.

Here is a link to see a more extensive background.

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Report of the Event:

 At the 24th Breakfast Talk, EPN and Golden Rose hosted Dr. Sema Koc Erdon to talk about the psychological problems the children of Turkish origin face in Belgium. Following a pleasant breakfast during which members took the chance of chatting with one another, the child and adolescent psychiatrist began her presentation showing the results of her two-year research on the comparison of the problems encountered by Flemish and Turkish children living in Belgium. The results show that the Turkish children have more psychological and social problems than the Flemish ones. The reason behind this situation, according to Erdon, is the difference between the characteristics of Turkish and Belgian/Flemish cultures. While the former is group-oriented, the latter is more individual-based and this dichotomy the Turkish children face leads to emotional and behavioral disorders. To make this situation easier for the children, Erdon suggested that the parents and teachers should show support, empathy and they should provide psychological assistance, if needed.

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