Public 'Positive Psychology' talks have started...

Positive Psychology Talks, which aim to realize self-realization with mental well-being, happiness, hope, meaningful and purposeful life, have started... The first course on "Introduction to Positive Psychology: The Science of Living Well", which anyone interested in can attend, was held with the participation of hundreds of people from Türkiye and different parts of the world.

The speakers of the first course are from the authoritative names in the field Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan and Prof. Tayfun Doğan.

Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that "We must start a 'Values Movement'. There is a serious need for this in family and social life."

Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan stated that "We want to share the resources and information data we have with the whole Türkiye."

Prof. Tayfun Doğan stated that "Our work should not only be aimed at our students but should also reach the public."

Üsküdar University, which carries out important studies in the field of Positive Psychology in Türkiye and organizes congresses in this field, has initiated a new study. Positive Psychology Talks organized by the Positive Psychology Research and Application Laboratory within Üsküdar University have started.

The first course on "Introduction to Positive Psychology: The Science of Living Well" within the scope of Positive Psychology Talks, which anyone interested can participate in, was held online on Friday, April 26.

In the first of the Positive Psychology Talks, President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Üsküdar University Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, and Psychology Department Faculty Member Prof. Tayfun Doğan made speeches.

Prof. Tarhan: "Even our daily communication language is unhealthy"

President of Üsküdar University Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan noted that people's expectations are high in the modern age, and they do not know the value of what they have and expressed that "Even our daily communication language is unhealthy. If there is tension in the top management of a country, company or institution, there is also tension at the base."

Seeking an answer to the question of why Positive Psychology, Prof. Tarhan stated that "We want to reflect Positive Psychology to the clinic. We have prepared 13 neuroscience-based modules. We will provide education of educator in the near future."

Stating that the goal is psychological well-being and psychological resilience, Prof. Tarhan noted that in the context of preventive medicine, it is aimed to protect psychological health and to maintain well-being after treatment.

"Alcohol use is increasing among young people over the age of 15"

Prof. Tarhan explained that today's reality is the 'paradox of abundance', which is the fact that there is no time despite the existence of big houses, small families, expensive watches, having many friends on social media but not real friends, and said that according to a statistic made in the USA, cases of suicide cases, self-poisoning, self-injury, major depression, and depressive symptoms related to diseases have increased rapidly since 2013.

Tarhan stated that" According to TÜİK statistics, alcohol use is increasing among young people over the age of 15 in Türkiye," and Tarhan added that while alcohol use among young people was due to 'curiosity' in 2010, it was seen that the use of alcohol for recreational purposes increased among young people in 2022.

"Modernism has become a crisis of civilization"

Explaining that according to the studies, Generation Z attaches more importance to success than other generations, pursues more fun, adventure, risk and excitement, and desires to be rich more, Prof. Tarhan noted that there is an increasing epidemic of narcissism in the world and that modernism has become a civilization crisis.

Prof. Tarhan also stated that the current socio-politics in the world has an increase in pleasure-seeking, lack of empathy, loneliness, unhappiness, depression and suicides, pointing out that in a study conducted in England, loneliness is 40 percent in young people between the ages of 16-24 and 27 percent in people over the age of 75, and said that the reason for this is social isolation and the Internet.

"A value of 24 has a chemical equivalent in the brain..."

Stating that the left brain is related to logic, reasoning, analysis, speaking, calculation, and the right brain is related to emotions, excitement, music, art and understanding, Prof. Tarhan explained that that 24 values and 6 virtues such as justice, honesty, compassion and mercy, transparency, courage, empathy and responsibility, trust and loyalty, shame, humility, cooperation, greeting, such as sincerity, forgiveness, generosity, sacrifice, gratitude, pluralism, participation, libertarianism, accountability, reconciliation, innovation, and loyalty have chemical equivalents in the brain.

"Positive psychology activates the internal chemistry of the brain"

Stating that positive psychology is also related to serotonin, which is associated with feeling good and well-being, dopamine, which is mostly associated with rewarded happiness, endorphin, which makes the person happy, and oxytocin, which is associated with happiness brought by feelings of trust and love, Prof. Tarhan stated that positive psychology activates the internal chemistry of the brain.

Noting that positive psychology enables a person to achieve well-being, Prof. Tarhan pointed out the importance of adding meaning to life.

Stating that as Üsküdar University, they put the positive psychology course in their curriculum before many universities in the USA and England, Tarhan said that they received good feedback from the students and that they observed that the emotional intelligence of the students increased by 20 percent.

What are the key concepts of positive psychology?

Noting that the key concepts of Positive Psychology are the purpose and meaning of life, values and virtues, self-knowledge, the ability to solve problems, psychological resilience, coping with illness, establishing social relations, happiness and well-being, Prof. Tarhan emphasized the importance of the transition to post-materialist science in terms of the evolution of humanity.

"We need to start a Values Movement because it is very much needed"

Prof. Tarhan stated that "We need to start a Values Movement. There is a very serious need for this in family life and social life.” Pointing to the need to overcome oneself, Tarhan expressed that "A person who works only for oneself cannot be happy. By making others happy, one can be happy. It is defined as self-transcendence.”

Stating that Western policies in the Gaza events showed that the ship of the world was trying to sink, Tarhan said that "Starting the values movement is also seen as a necessity for us with the data brought by positive psychology."

Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan: "We want to share the resources we have with the whole Türkiye by overcoming the mental walls"

Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean and Advisor to the Rector Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan emphasized the importance of 'Positive Psychology' in her speech at the launch of Positive Psychology Talks.

Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan expressed that "Today is an important day for us because, as the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, we will be sharing with you a set of interviews initiated by our Psychology department within the scope of the social responsibility project." and said that "Positive psychology, which is one of the most important brands of our university, has an extremely important scientific content for us that needs to be brought together with the society. We want to share our resources and information data with the whole Türkiye by overcoming the mental walls that surround us as much as possible."

"People in Türkiye feel more unhappy than people in countries at war"

Reminding the world's leading universities that have turned their courses into open source, Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan stated that they started with positive psychology seminars in the footsteps of these universities.

Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan continued her remarks as follows:

"Positive psychology is a course that was initiated under the leadership of our President of Üsküdar University Nevzat Tarhan and is compulsory in all departments of our university. After us, various universities around the world started to apply this course.

According to research conducted in more than 100 countries, we rank first among the countries that feel most unhappy. People in Türkiye feel more unhappy than people in countries at war. Here we see that there is a problem with the meanings attached to life, life and happiness. Why are we unhappy people? Because happiness and unhappiness require a mental schema, and how can we change this schema, how can we correct it, how can we realize our well-being? We will try to explain this under the leadership of my professor Tayfun Doğan."

"In countries where bombs are raining down on them, there are no communities that feel as unhappy, angry and pessimistic as we do"

Referring to another study stating that people in Türkiye are very indecisive and angry, Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan expressed that "Türkiye ranks second after Lebanon among the angriest communities in the world. There must be a logic to this. Türkiye currently has the resources and opportunities to be grateful for many things. In countries where bombs are raining down on them, there are no communities that feel as unhappy, angry and pessimistic as we do."

Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan stated that "That is why we owe it to ourselves to positive psychology, to look at the world from a positive perspective, to teach and explain it," and concluded her remarks as follows:

"There are some external factors that put us in this situation!"

"There are some external factors that put us in this situation, and we will learn to deal with them. Politically, there are also intelligence activities that put Türkiye in a constant state of tension, we also have a perspective on the world, and there is a polarization situation that is brought down from the top to the bottom of politics. We cannot fully determine our belongings, our loyalties, our place in life. Of course, this is a culture that is built from childhood, but we are not too late. It is possible to build a more meaningful, more positive and happier life at any time in our lives. As a university, we are starting such a series of interviews because we feel this responsibility."

Prof.Tayfun Doğan: "We are doing important work in the field of positive psychology"

Üsküdar University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology Prof. Tayfun Doğan started his speech by thanking Prof. Nevzat Tarhan and Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan for their support and contributions. Prof. Tayfun Doğan expressed that "We are doing important work in the field of positive psychology with their support. I came to Üsküdar University because my professor Nevzat was interested in positive psychology. It is also important that my professor is interested because he is interested as a psychiatrist. Since psychiatrists are ultimately physicians, they focus more on mental health disorders and approach people in general with a focus on illness."

"We established a positive psychology laboratory"

Noting that they have been doing good work since he started working at Üsküdar University, Prof. Tayfun Doğan stated that "As the latest of the good works we have done, we have established a positive psychology laboratory. Although it has only been a few months, three universities have started this kind of work by taking us as an example. In this sense, the pioneering spirit of Üsküdar University always shows itself."

Stating that at a vision meeting, Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan suggested that there should be public courses as in the world's leading universities, Prof. Tayfun Doğan expressed that "It was an issue that was also on my mind. We are working day and night and dealing with these issues. I thought that we should not only focus on our students in the classrooms, but also reach out to the public. After this proposal was accepted, we started these courses. Our meetings will last for 8 weeks, we will discuss difficult and deep issues."

After the opening speech, Prof. Tayfun Doğan started the Introduction to Positive Psychology Course and the courses that will last for 8 weeks.

The duration of each seminar is 90 minutes in the training, which will be open to everyone. At the end of the seminars, which are free to attend, digital participation certificates will be given to those who attend all courses.

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)