Dear colleagues and all stakeholders interested in this field,

Bariatric/obesity surgery forces approximately 40,000 people in Turkey each year into a period of intense change, reexamining their relationship with food, body image, and identity. While the critical role of psychology in this process is frequently emphasized, the number of trained experts and scientific knowledge in this field remains limited.

In the few countries where psychologists have a say in health policies, surgical procedures are conducted simultaneously with psychosocial support processes; in many countries, including Turkey, individuals often make rash decisions without enough information and awareness.

In the postoperative period, also known as "surgically induced anorexia," binge eating is physically impossible for a long time (at least 1.5 years), leading to the emergence of various unfamiliar eating patterns (anxiety about loss of control over eating, atypical anorexia, subjective bingeing, grazing/purging, purging, chewing, and spitting, etc.).

This issue is of particular interest not only to clinical psychology but also to all subfields of psychology, including social, developmental, and health psychology. Increased postoperative marriage and divorce rates, changing family dynamics, "bariatric families" undergoing joint surgery, and the developmental effects of adolescent surgeries highlight the need for a holistic approach across all subfields of psychology.

Within this framework, we, the ASBU Bariatric Psychology Research Laboratory (BP Lab), are organizing the first of our seminar series, which aims to address this topic from its clinical, social, and developmental perspectives as part of a TÜBİTAK 1001-supported project.

Our seminar will be open to experts from all disciplines working or interested in this field.

We welcome all interested parties.

📌 The event will be in English; simultaneous translation will not be provided.
📌 Space is limited. To preregister, please use the QR code on the poster or the link below:
👉 https://forms.gle/3XZjfE7kDb3yJqdr6

To stay informed about upcoming events:
🔹 LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/BariatricPsychology
🔹 Instagram: @bariatrikpsikolojilab