Nevena Gojkovic Turunz
Family Psychotherapist
Are you feeling overwhelmed, or stuck—navigating a breakup, relocation, parenthood, or relationship challenges? I help individuals and couples move through crises and transitions and build more meaningful relationships.
I specialise in:
About me
No two people arrive at therapy with the same story — and that is exactly how I approach our work together. I bring an unusual combination to the therapy room: the training of a systemic therapist, the lens of a sociologist, and the lived experience of someone who has built a life across cultures. I have lived and studied in Poland, Spain, and Turkey, and have navigated the richness and challenges of an intercultural family and raising children between two worlds. This lived experience shapes how I work — with genuine curiosity, warmth, and a deep understanding of what it means to feel caught between identities, cultures, or chapters of life. Many of my clients come to me at a crossroads — young adults finding their footing and sense of self in the world, parents adjusting to the profound shift that comes with raising children, individuals and families living far from home, and couples who feel stuck in the same patterns or are navigating the complexity of loving across cultures. I also work with people going through separation, divorce, or the end of a significant relationship. My background in sociology means I bring a broader lens to therapy — one that looks beyond the individual to understand the wider context each person is part of. I pay close attention to how family dynamics, cultural expectations, gender roles, and power dynamics shape the way we experience ourselves and our relationships. For clients navigating diaspora, discrimination, or the in-betweenness of belonging to more than one world, this perspective offers a space where those experiences are not just acknowledged, but central to our work. Many people arrive feeling that something is "wrong" with them — but often, what they carry makes complete sense once we look at the systems and expectations that shaped it. Naming this can be profoundly relieving. In our work, we don't just focus on symptoms, but on understanding the patterns and contexts that sustain them. Drawing on systemic family therapy, we explore the roles, unspoken expectations, and dynamics that develop within relationships. With emotionally focused therapy and attachment theory, we make sense of the deeper emotional experiences beneath conflict, distance, or disconnection — often rooted in a need for closeness, safety, and understanding. I also integrate narrative therapy to help you gently examine and reshape the stories you hold about yourself — especially those shaped by past experiences or cultural expectations — so they can become more supportive and aligned with who you are today. Together, we work toward greater emotional clarity, more secure and meaningful relationships, and a stronger, more grounded sense of self — so you can feel more connected, at ease, and able to move forward in your life.
I speak:
Location:
Approach
Systemic family therapy looks at the patterns, roles, and unspoken expectations that develop within relationships — not to find who is "at fault," but to understand how difficulties are shaped and maintained within the wider relational context. Rather than focusing on one individual as "the problem," it explores how we are all influenced by the systems we belong to — our couples, families, and broader social environments. Whether you come as an individual, a couple, or a family, we explore how your relationships, roles, and contexts shape what you're going through. This approach is especially helpful for those feeling stuck in recurring conflicts, misunderstandings, or emotional loops. It can support communication difficulties, parenting challenges, life transitions, cultural differences, and relational stress — and often brings a sense of clarity and relief as things begin to make more sense in context. Emotionally Focused Therapy is an evidence-based approach rooted in attachment theory, focusing on the emotional bond between partners and the underlying needs for closeness, safety, and connection. When couples get stuck in cycles of conflict or distance, it's often not just about what is being said, but about deeper feelings that are harder to express — like fear, hurt, or longing for connection. In our work, we slow things down and make space for these experiences, so you can better understand each other and begin to respond in new ways. EFT is especially helpful for partners experiencing recurring arguments, emotional disconnection, loss of trust, or the aftermath of betrayal — and for those who want to rebuild a more secure, responsive, and emotionally connected relationship. Narrative therapy is based on the idea that the stories we tell about ourselves shape how we see our lives and what feels possible — and that these stories, often shaped by cultural expectations, family experiences, and social contexts, are not fixed but can be explored and reshaped. Many people arrive feeling that something is fundamentally "wrong" with them, or that they are not coping as they should. Together, we begin to separate you from the problem and look at the wider context that may have shaped these narratives. This approach is especially meaningful for those navigating identity questions, life transitions, self-doubt, experiences of marginalization, or the impact of past experiences. Over time, it opens space for new, more compassionate and flexible ways of understanding yourself.
Experience
Systemic Family Psychotherapist Private Practice | Self-employed Mar 2023 – Present Providing individual and couple psychotherapy focused on relationship difficulties, life transitions, emotional regulation, communication challenges and rebuilding trust. Working in Serbian and English with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Academic Editor (Freelance) Cactus Communications 2020 – 2025 Editing and supporting academic manuscripts in English.
Education
Association of Systemic Therapists Serbia (AST) Systemic Family Psychotherapist (2020–2025) Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy Serbia Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (2023–2025) İstanbul Şehir University (Turkey) MA in Turkish Studies & Political Science (2012–2014) Jagiellonian University (Poland) / University of Deusto (Spain) MA in European Studies (2009–2011) University of Belgrade – Faculty of Philosophy (Serbia) BA in Sociology (2003–2008)
Services
Intro Call
Couples Session
Individual Session
Couples Session
Family Session
Individual Session
Insurances
