Alev Ates-Barlas is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Certified Trauma Specialist. She is an EMDRIA approved EMDR practitioner, consultant and trainer. She is the founder and clinical director of Integrative Wellness Upstate NY.

She has been working with individuals, couples and families in various therapeutic settings.

Her clinical focus is on attachment ruptures, relational issues and trauma spectrum disorders, relational trauma, complex/developmental trauma, single incident trauma, chronic stress disorder as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Additionally her experience so far has trained her in the treatment of depression, anxiety, family life issues, couples counseling and post-partum issues.

She is a system oriented therapist at core which allows her to do a thorough assessment of presenting problems in the greater context of individual’s system (family, work, school etc…) and conceptualize healing as more of a shared effort for the system rather than the obligation/burden of the individual.

She is trained in the Phase Model of Trauma-Informed Treatment and AIP model as a trauma specialist; she focuses on the internal workings of the mind, brain, body trio separately and together, to help with a more wholesome practice of health for her clients. She is integrative in her approach to intervention and is informed by the best practices in the field of trauma informed care and mental health.

She is bilingual in English and Turkish, she loves travelling and is currently, forever and deeply involved in the lives of two wondrous creatures that call her mum.

Photography by Hilal Betul Kaya