Ana Barend, PhD, LMHC, NCC

Psychotherapist

Ana is a warm, compassionate, and inviting therapist who cares deeply about helping clients experience healing, growth, and a renewed sense of hope. She approaches therapy with genuine empathy, deep listening, and a desire to honor each person’s story with respect, grace, and understanding.

Ana was drawn to counseling through a deep desire, and a sense of calling, to walk alongside people as they make meaning of painful experiences, reconnect with their strengths, and move toward wholeness and hope. She enjoys helping clients feel seen, understood, and empowered as they work through trauma, anxiety, depression, relational patterns, and developmental attachment wounds. Her clinical work is grounded in trauma-informed care, with a particular emphasis onEye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She integrates cognitive behavioral, somatic-based, and strength-based approaches to support meaningful and sustainable change.

Ana aims to help clients better understand the underlying reasons for their behaviors, while holding the deep belief that neither their behaviors nor their diagnoses define who they are. Ana holds a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a Master’s in Human Services Counseling with a Marriage and Family cognate. She recently earned her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision, where her doctoral work emphasized trauma-informed care, identity development, and lived experience within psychological and relational processes.

Ana is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (MA/RI), National Certified Counselor, and EMDRIA-certified EMDR therapist. She has also presented at many counseling conferences on trauma, embodiment practices, multiculturalism, and leadership, and has published peer-reviewed research related to trauma-informed care. In Fall 2026, she will begin serving as an Assistant Professor at Montreat College, where she will help train and develop future counselors. At this time, Ana will be seeing clients in a limited capacity.

Ana is a Christian, and her faith in Jesus is central to the way she understands dignity, worth, compassion, and healing. She values the inherent worth of every person and seeks to offer a space marked by grace, love, respect, hope, and authentic connection. Outside of counseling, Ana enjoys the ocean, surfing, meaningful conversations, and living a life rooted in gratitude, wellness, faith, and purpose.