Dr Gulsah Kurt

Dr Gülşah Kurt is a clinical psychologist and postdoctoral research fellow. Her research focuses on strengthening mental health and social functioning among forcibly displaced people through community-based, equity driven, participatory research. She also works on co-designing psychosocial support interventions to improve mental and occupational health of humanitarian workers in complex emergency settings. She has worked in various humanitarian settings, primarily in low- and middle-income countries such as Türkiye, Northwest Syria, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. As a global mental health researcher, her work is grounded in community-based participatory research practices and a strengths-based approach to refugee mental health. Her research employs advanced quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including large-scale survey studies, randomized controlled trials, experimental studies, qualitative interviews, and focus group discussions.

In addition to research, she is committed to the training and education of mental health practitioners who support forcibly displaced communities, as well as the next generation of global mental health trainees. Over the past five years, in collaboration with several organizations, including the Turkish Ministry of Health, WHO European Region, Save the Children MENA Region, Olympic Refuge Foundation, and UNHCR, she has delivered courses, trainings, and talks.

She is a co-CI on Caring for Carers Project and its subsequent research uptake grant (1.3 million). With Dr Sabuj Kanti Mistry, she co-convened the UNSW ECA Migrant Support Network.