Duygu Yakın is an assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. She is a registered clinical psychologist in Türkiye and a healthcare psychologist in the Netherlands. She also works as a senior schema therapist at the Academic Center for Trauma and Personality in Amsterdam. Her clinical work primarily focuses on treating personality disorders and early childhood trauma in culturally diverse populations. Her research leverages her experience as a therapist to identify the mechanisms of change in therapy. In her research and teaching, she focuses on bridging the gap between everyday practice and science.
Her main research interest is adaptive functioning in personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder. Having worked extensively with expats with borderline personality disorder in both individual and group settings, she is involved in research examining the mechanisms of change in therapies for personality disorders.
Duygu Yakın is currently part of an international research group investigating the cross-cultural reliability of schema modes. She is also involved in several imagery rescripting studies with clinical populations, including research examining the effects of imagery rescripting in culturally diverse populations and in group settings.