Dr. Sümeyra GÜLAY Clinical Psychologist

"OFFERS ONLINE SESSIONS ONLY."

Between 2013 and 2014, she worked as a psychologist at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Directorate for Persons with Disabilities, and between 2015 and 2018, at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University, Directorate of Health, Culture, and Sports. From 2018 to 2019, she served as the coordinator of the Ibn Haldun University Psychotherapy Application and Research Centre for five months.

From 2015 to 2016, she was part of the core volunteer team of the Doctors Worldwide, Psychosocial Support Unit. During this time, she was involved in organising training, seminars, and meetings for volunteer mental health professionals. She conducted psychological first aid training for field teams. 

In 2015-2016, she was an assistant in the “Psychoeducation on Communication Skills in Emergency Situations” programme of the Psychological Trauma and Disaster Studies Unit at Kocaeli University. In 2020, she served as an expert psychologist in the “Project to Improve the Psychological Well-being of Young People with Rising Anxiety about the Future during the COVID-19 Process” organised by ISTKA and Ibn Haldun University, conducting individual psychotherapy and workshops.

She completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Ibn Haldun University with a thesis on dream work in the psychotherapy of traumatic loss and grief. Her main areas of interest and work include psychological trauma, loss and grief, adjustment problems, depression, anxiety problems (panic disorder, social anxiety, phobias), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and dreams in a psychological context.

Psychotherapy Training :

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Bağlamsal Bilimler ve Psikoterapiler Derneği 

• Narrative Therapy, Dulwich Centre & Narrative Terapi Türkiye

• EMDR Level 1 Training, EMDR Derneği

• EMDR Level 2 Training, EMDR Derneği

• Phenomenological Dream Self Model Training, Fenomenolojik Rüya ve Benlik Araştırmaları Derneği

• Cognitive Therapy Workshop Programme, Dr. Emel Stroup

• Psychological First Aid Trainer Training, International Medical Corps & Turkish Red Crescent

Publications:

• Özdemir, S., & Şahin, S. (2019). Investigation of Students' Mental Problem Areas in Applications to Psychological Counseling and Guidance Services at University. Ekşi, H., Yüksel, M. and Canel, A. N. (Eds.) IX. International Congress of Psychological Counseling and Guidance Research in Higher Education Proceedings Book (pp. 10-18). Istanbul: Nobel Publishing
• Uysal, B., & Gülay, S. (2021). Online ACT-based coping skills development workshop for young people during COVID-19. Journal of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy and Research. 10(Supplement Issue 1), 3-4.
• Uysal, B., Morgül, E., Taştekne, F., Sönmez, D., Tepedelen, M. S., Gülay, S., Eskioğlu Aydın, I., Evecek, H., & Gormez, V. (2022). Videoconferencing-based cognitive behavioral therapy for youth with anxiety and depression during COVID-19 pandemic. School Psychology International, 43(4), 420–439. https://doi.org/10.1177/01430343221097613
• Bleiberg, K.L., & Markowitz, J.C. (2023). Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Depression (Trans. S. Gülay). In D.H. Barlow (Ed), Clinical Guide to Psychological Disorders (332-352. pp). (Trans. Ed. B. Uysal, E. Morgül and A.Z. Akkaya). Ankara: Nobel Academic Publishing. (Original publication date, 2014)
• Gülay, S., & Uysal, B. (2024). Dreaming as “A life experience”: A qualitative investigation in psychosociocultural context. International Journal of Dream Research, 17(1), 68–86. https://doi.org/10.11588/ijodr.2024.1.102410