Assist. Prof. M.D. Barış Sancak

I brought my 8-year-old son to Dr. Barış Sancak after his school reported severe anxiety attacks during exams. We'd seen two other specialists who just prescribed medication. Dr. Sancak was different—he spent 90 minutes playing board games with my son in his office at Acibadem Atakent, speaking through characters. He diagnosed not just anxiety but a gifted child's perfectionism crisis. His treatment plan involved family therapy sessions where he taught us communication techniques, not just pills. Six months later, my son is leading his class project team. Dr. Sancak understands children speak through play, not questionnaires.

As a 72-year-old widow living alone, my insomnia had become dangerous—I was falling during night wandering. My daughter insisted on psychiatry, though I resisted 'head doctors.' Dr. Sancak visited my hospital room after a minor fall (I was at Acibadem for orthopedics). He didn't ask about childhood; he asked about my late husband's favorite song, my garden, what keeps me up. He recognized this wasn't typical insomnia but profound grief manifesting as nocturnal agitation. His solution? He coordinated with my cardiologist on sleep aid safety, prescribed morning light therapy for circadian rhythm, and connected me with a senior art group. He treats the whole person, not just the symptom.

This was no routine checkup. My husband, a CEO, experienced sudden paranoia during an international merger—convinced his team was bugging his office. It was an emergency psychiatric crisis. Dr. Sancak saw us within two hours at Acibadem Atakent's emergency department. While others might have immediately hospitalized, he conducted a brilliant differential diagnosis: ruling out substance use (via toxicology), medical causes (coordinating with neurologists), and identifying a stress-induced brief psychotic disorder. His calm containment of the situation, combined with targeted medication and family inclusion in safety planning, prevented inpatient admission. Three weeks later, my husband was back at work. Dr. Sancak handles crisis with remarkable precision.

I'm a software engineer with what seemed like treatment-resistant OCD—15 years of therapies, medications, rituals controlling my life. Dr. Sancak reviewed my history and noticed a pattern others missed: my compulsions spiked not with anxiety, but with specific sensory overloads. He proposed a novel approach combining very low-dose medication with sensory integration therapy, collaborating with an occupational therapist. He explained neurobiology in terms I, as an engineer, could understand—showing me fMRI research on sensory processing differences. For the first time, treatment made scientific sense to me. At my 6-month follow-up, my ritual time has decreased from 4 hours to 30 minutes daily. He doesn't just apply protocols; he reverse-engineers each mind's unique architecture.