The author

Ayce B. Ozerdem

Ayçe Bukulmeyen Ozerdem began as a journalist and broadcaster—an anchor at Turkey’s flagship radio and television network, a columnist for more than fifteen years, a maker of documentaries on women’s lives and climate. The through-line was always the same: how people tell the truth of their lives, and how they find their way through difficulty.

After a master’s in conflict resolution she worked as a mediator and facilitator, sitting in rooms where government and civil society had to hear one another. During the pandemic she turned that same attention inward and completed a two-year Sophrology practitioner program in Geneva. Sophrology and Qigong did not replace her earlier work. They gave it a body.

She now serves as a Well-Being Program Specialist at George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being and teaches the credit course Explorations of Well-Being. She is a certified Virginia court mediator and a member of the International Sophrology Federation. Wisdom in Practice gathers the conversations, science, and daily tools she has been teaching in classrooms, agencies, and quiet rooms for years.

In the field

Programs for public servants, teams, and communities

Ayce has offered trainings in stress management, emotional resilience, conflict, negotiation, and workplace well-being for organizations including:

• Virginia Department of Health
• Federal Aviation Administration
• U.S. Department of Defense
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• International Monetary Fund
• George Mason University