Gökmen Arslan, Ph.D.

I am a researcher in the field of counseling psychology, with a core interest in children and adolescent mental health and wellbeing. My works explore how best to provide meaningful programs and resources that promote positive youth development and wellbeing. I have a Ph.D. in Psychological Counselling and Guidance in Turkey. During the Ph.D., I developed a strong interest and enjoyment in studying youth resilience, wellbeing, and mental health, and I continue working on positive psychology topics. My research interests broadly include:

Development and validation of brief self-report behavior rating scales that are useful for informing mental health services in schools. This includes measures of student wellbeing, the mental health problems that interfere with wellbeing, and the core behavioral processes underlying both mental health and wellbeing.

Development and validation of interventions that are useful for reducing mental health problems and promoting mental health and wellbeing. This work includes testing models that are useful for promoting strengths that may serve as protective factors, as well as addressing distress in the context of adverse experiences.

I also have advanced knowledge and skills in terms of qualitative and quantitative methodologies for testing and assessment in psychology and have found a statistical analysis company to meet the high demand for such requests.

After meeting Professor Wong and the INPM community two years ago, I have been working to integrate my interests in second wave positive psychology (PP 2.0). I have focused on positive psychology and the PP 2.0 approach to promote strengths that may serve as protective factors, as well as addressing distress. I have been encouraged by Professor Wong to make more connections between responsibility and mental health and wellbeing. I, with Professor Wong, plan to write and research more on topics related to PP 2.0, which will also have implications for researchers and practitioners.