Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: “A guidance counselor should be like a butterfly hunter”

Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, President of Üsküdar University, met with guidance counselors and psychological advisors in a talk organized by the Maltepe District National Education Directorate. Tarhan, who gave a talk titled “Psychological Resilience in the Digital Age and a Safe School Climate,” drew attention to the importance of psychological resilience in the digital age and emphasized that children's emotional and social development, not just academic, should also be supported. Stating that guidance counselors have a critical role in creating a safe school environment, Tarhan said, “A guidance counselor should be like a butterfly hunter,” and stated that students' behavioral changes should be carefully observed and guided correctly without hurting them. 

There was great interest in the talk held at the Maltepe Adnan Kahveci Secondary School Conference Hall. 

The moderation of the talk titled “Psychological Resilience in the Digital Age and a Safe School Climate” was carried out by Dr. Selim Öztürk.

Hale Bağce Özbaş: “We trust you and the future of our country”

Maltepe District National Education Director Hale Bağce Özbaş delivered the opening speech of the program. Özbaş said; “We have approximately 70,000 students in Maltepe. These 70,000 students mean our future, our hope. All of them are entrusted to us. I sincerely believe in all of you. Please look into the eyes of each of our children. Sometimes even their parents may not notice their needs. At this point, your role is very valuable. My faith and trust in all of you are complete. We trust you and the future of our country.”

Following the opening speech, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, President of Üsküdar University, spoke on “Psychological Resilience in the Digital Age and a Safe School Climate.” 

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: “Every problem is an opportunity for development”

Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan, stating that efforts to prevent people from falling ill are more important than treating the illness, began his speech by saying; “A problem is like a new project. Every problem is an opportunity to learn something new and develop. Therefore, we need to try to see the difficulties experienced here not as threats, but as opportunities. The situation is similar in the digital age. Generally, actions taken after a problem arises cause significant losses in terms of time, energy, and cost. They consume a lot of time and energy, and the financial burden is high, but it is necessary to improve the quality of life of healthy people, that is, to strengthen psychological resilience. For example, strengthening a person's immune system is the most important first step in combating diseases. Even if someone with a strong immune system encounters a disease-causing microbe, their body often overcomes the illness without them even realizing it, of course, if they also pay attention to hygiene and nutrition. In psychological resilience, if a person knows the right lifestyle and pays attention to it, they are better prepared when exposed to more psychological difficulties. They can cope more easily. In other words, we have a kind of psychological immune system, and we are strengthening it. In this regard, working to prevent people from falling ill is more important than treating the illness.” 

“Building character is building correct value judgments”

Tarhan, stating that technology accelerates life while values guide it, said; “The Western education system is more concerned with curative medicine. However, health medicine is also important. That is why psychological resilience is becoming much more important in the age of artificial intelligence. Because artificial intelligence has brought about a similar change to what the printing press and electricity did for humanity. It will do even more in the coming period. Elon Musk said, ‘Intelligence has become very cheap, character has become very expensive.’ Hearing this from Elon Musk is quite significant. He says, ‘Character is very expensive.’ Building character is building correct value judgments. Technology adds speed to our lives, but values guide our lives. If we can teach all human values to children from a young age, we will have built character. There is an inventory of character strengths related to this. There is Howard Gardner, an educational psychologist and the founder of the multiple intelligences theory. He is the one who developed the concept of multiple intelligences. He has an inventory of character strengths: 6 virtues, 24 values. As if he copied it from Rumi… They use them without reference, but these are universal values. There, he covered all values such as justice, virtue, and bravery,” he stated. 

“A guidance counselor should also focus on the question, ‘How to live more happily?’” 

Tarhan, underlining the need to change wrong attitudes in minds, said; “Without mental transformation, there can be no social transformation. First, it is necessary to change the wrong attitudes in our minds. Therefore, one must start changing the world from oneself. All of us, as a mother, a father, a guidance counselor, a psychological advisor, are in key positions. Currently, the cornerstone individuals in schools can be guidance counselors. They should not be overwhelmed by merely dealing with cases. They should rather be directed towards preventive mental health and psychological resilience efforts. They should guide children and young people in these areas. The school's guidance counselor, psychological advisor, should also focus on the question, ‘How to live more happily?’” 

“Competition within the family is a trap; it damages relationships”

Tarhan, recommending complementary relationships instead of competitive ones, said; “Who is a friend? Someone who speaks well of you behind your back, is happy for your success, and with whom you feel safe. Simply feeling safe with them is not enough. If they genuinely rejoice when you succeed, then there is friendship. If you are bothered by someone's success, there is no friendship, but if you can be happy for their success, the feeling of friendship has developed. This is a good measure. Such people are few. Because the system encourages competition. Competition is encouraged even within the family. They encouraged competition in economics, and capitalism emerged. They encouraged class competition, and socialism emerged. By encouraging competition within the family, they also shattered the family structure. However, family relationships are complementary, not competitive. Intra-family relationships are complementary relationships. There is no competition in close relationships, but there is competition in distant relationships. Competition within the family is a trap; it damages relationships. People try to trip each other up. Similar situations are seen in companies and administrations. Therefore, being able to establish deep relationships, which we call authentic friendships, is very important,” he said.

“The essence of psychological resilience: small, targeted successes…” 

Tarhan, underlining the need to target small successes, continued his speech by saying; “In the current system, in an environment where ten people compete, only three can win, and seven are unhappy. Such a system cannot offer happiness to humanity. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a system where everyone can be happy. For this, they are conducting mindfulness studies and awareness-raising activities. Subsequently, it becomes important for an individual to accept and manage what they have, with both its positive and negative aspects. These are not ordinary successes. This should not be misunderstood as laziness. One should put in their best effort and then be able to accept the outcome. One can manage the process. If one focuses on this, stress does not increase, but if one focuses on something they cannot control, their anxiety automatically increases. This is how the brain works. Therefore, by targeting small successes, people progress step by step. And that is essentially the summary of psychological resilience.”

“Other living beings do not have such a characteristic”

Tarhan, speaking about the importance of being an open-minded parent, stated; “Humans have an important difference from other living beings. Humans possess a novelty-seeking gene. Other living beings do not have such a characteristic. This is called the ‘novelty seeking’ gene. This gene is also referred to as the risk-taking behavior gene. People who love taking risks are often discoverers. Look at explorers, people curious about novelty; most of them have this risk-taking behavior gene. Some do mountaineering, some take risks in science, some in sports… Individuals carrying this gene reveal themselves from an early age. These are individuals prone to being more radical. The important thing is to be able to guide this trait in a good and positive direction. Having such a genetic structure in humans is very important for the development of humanity. Because of this characteristic, humans are constantly open to change. Previously, generation gaps and sociological changes occurred approximately every thirty years; now it has dropped to three years. The half-life of information used to be thirty years; now it has dropped to three years. Even in classrooms, when teachers lectured, attention used to wander by the 15th minute, and teachers would try to regain it with a joke. Now, attention wanders in three minutes. There is a constant habit of scrolling screens. A book titled ‘Attention Killer’ was written in France about screen exposure. It is quite natural to experience generation gaps in such a period. However, if we can be open-minded parents, we can build a bridge between their truths and ours. What is truly important here is to educate the child not for today, but for the era they will live in,” he stated. 

“A guidance counselor should be like a butterfly hunter”

Tarhan, emphasizing the need for students to be guided correctly, said; “A guidance counselor should be like a butterfly hunter. How are butterfly hunters? They withdraw to the side, observe silently. They are good observers. And when they catch a butterfly, they take it without hurting it. This is what a guidance counselor should do as well. It is necessary to detect behavioral changes, symptoms, signs of behavioral disorders, cases of personality change, and problematic situations in students early on. They need to be guided correctly without hurting or breaking them. That is, to catch the problem before it escalates. This approach describes careful observation, patience, sensitivity, and providing support without harming the individual. A guidance counselor should also approach the process not by judging a student, but by observing, understanding, and building trust,” he said. 

“Young people follow our footsteps, not our words”

Tarhan, stating that every teacher is a role model, concluded his words by saying; “We are truly in a different era, an era where information transforms very rapidly. If we can renew ourselves, we will overcome this. Our greatest enemies are hopelessness and pessimism. There is no need for hopelessness or pessimism. This society, this geography has overcome great difficulties in the past. Technology will accelerate our lives, but human values will guide them. Therefore, let us first live by human values, then let our children live by them. Because young people follow our footsteps, not our words. If we can set a good example with our behavior, they will model it. Therefore, every teacher is a role model.”