Practice
Birsen Taspinar is a clinical psychologist and anthropologist by training. Believing that psychology cannot be considered without cultural meaning systems, she subsequently studied social and cultural anthropology.
She studied at the Free University of Brussels, Catholic University of Leuven, University of Amsterdam.
She has been working as a system therapist for 22 years and is also a certified EMDR therapist. She followed courses on transgenerational trauma and transcultural and culture-sensitive care.
She often works in a transcultural context and has many years of experience in the psychosocial counseling of people dealing with racism. In her daily work as a therapist she sees how migration can be both enriching and devastating in people's lives.
Birsen Taspinar uses creative techniques such as bibliotherapy and writing therapy.
Literature and performances
Birsen is the author of the book 'Mothers of the silence. Three women in another country ' . This Debuurboek is a literary non-fiction, which starts with the stories of three women who are new here and who are finding their way in Belgium. The book provides an insight into the world of women who we often regard as different.
In a series of performances under the same name, she reads from the book accompanied by musical accompaniment. With this performance she went on tour for two years in Flanders and abroad. It is a combination of sound, melody, words and rhythm.
For several years she was also a columnist for Mo * magazine and Psychologies, among others.
Training and lectures
Birsen Taspinar is affiliated with the 'Knowledge Center Family Sciences' offered by Odisee. In the knowledge center she participated in projects about culture-sensitive care and about the impact of racism on children, young people and their parents .
She also lectures. Depending on the audience, a certain emphasis is placed: migration and resilience, marriage and migration, language and culture, trauma, migration processes and families / individuals.
For many years she was a council member at ELLA vzw, the knowledge center for gender and ethnicity (the former Support Center for immigrant girls and women).