Michael Barnett, a practicing psychotherapist, researcher, author, and trainer specializing in EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) and addiction, based in Los Angeles

I’m Michael Barnett, LPCC

psychotherapist, certified EFT trainer, author, and workshop presenter specializing in EFT and addiction

A woman walking under a large tree with spreading branches

TREATING ADDICTION with EFT

I am applying the tenets of attachment theory and EFT to the addiction treatment process. What would it look like if we could help people truly heal the root causes of addictions? If we could help them identify, work through, and heal the triggers and patterns that drive addiction?

This is the core of EFT, and alongside addiction treatment experts, I am developing a set of resources, trainings, and protocols to help integrate EFT practices into addiction treatment.

Michael Barnett giving a lecture or presentation on Emotionally Focused Therapy as part of his work training other practicing therapists

EFT THERAPIST TRAINING

I am among the small number of ICEEFT (International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy) certified supervisors and trainers in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) .

I offer a variety of trainings for practicing clinicians on an ongoing basis, from fundamentals to advanced workshops.

COUPLES and FAMILY THERAPY

I work with couples and families in a therapeutic setting. I have always had a deep respect and passion for couples therapy. It has been the specialization of my clinical practice for well over twenty-five years.

I specialize in EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy), empirically validated as the gold standard of relationship therapies that help people get and stay unstuck. It not only helps partners co-create the relationship that they have been longing for, it also helps partners heal historical wounds from the past in the process.

A series of wooden rounds forming a pathway of stepping stones out into the horizon; set on a sandy beach with foaming water under a sunset sky

Philosophy of Engagement

I aim to cultivate a climate of inclusion, an environment where all can feel seen, valued, cared for, and supported throughout their therapy process.

In all facets of my work I strive to embody what I hope to see in the world: a just, loving, humane space in which people are free to be fully themselves.

Michael Barnett giving a lecture on EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy)

Upcoming Training, Events, and Workshops

NEW RELEASE

The Emotionally Focused Therapy Workbook for Addiction

How to Heal the Loneliness and Shame That Trigger Addictive Behaviors

MICHAEL BARNETT
New Harbinger Publications, August 2024

The cover of a book entitled The Emotionally Focused Therapy Workbook for Addiction by Michael Barnett, LPCC - held by a person in a green sweater and blue jeans

Heal the pain at the root of your addiction with this comprehensive, evidence-based workbook.

If you struggle with substance abuse, you may have intense feelings of loneliness, isolation, and disconnection. You may feel uncomfortable asking others for help. And when faced with difficult emotions, it’s easy to fall into the habit of numbing and avoiding emotional pain with drugs and alcohol, which can leave you feeling even more shame and despair. So, how do you break this cycle and create real connections that will reward you with relief, belonging, and a sense of safety?

The skills and exercises in this user-friendly workbook are based in proven-effective emotionally focused therapy (EFT)—an innovative approach for transforming the pain of addiction into a sense of love, community, and connection. Step by step, you’ll build a solid foundation of self-compassion to help you heal from the underlying causes that drove you to self-medicate in the first place. Instead of turning to drugs and alcohol to dull the pain at the core of your addiction, you’ll discover how to develop a safety net of life-affirming relationships to protect and support you.

  • "Finally, a reader-friendly and practical guide to helping people understand and overcome addictions utilizing attachment theory. This book provides the reader with hope and a clear pathway to make foundational changes in their relationship with addiction. If you are someone or know someone struggling to find a way out of addiction, I highly recommend this book.” — Joel S. Porter, PsyD, senior clinical lecturer at the National Addiction Centre at the University of Otago, and adjunct associate professor at the Centre for Applied Psychology at the University of Canberra

    “This book is a critical addition to the recovery literature. It offers challenging, yet nonjudgmental and insightful tools to propel recovering people on their journey to looking deeper at the root causes of their addiction, and steers them toward a deeper connection in their relationships so that they can finally heal.” — Stefanie Carnes, LMFT, CST, CSAT-S, author of Facing Addiction

    “Michael Barnett embraces his readers, taking them by the hand and guiding them gently through this detailed but easy-to-follow book. He reassures them that their addictions are not a weakness, but are rather their best— sometimes even lifesaving—coping strategy. He offers them the hope that the work of developing secure relationships is what can finally inoculate them against the turbulence of the addictive process in their lives.” Avrum Weiss, PhD, award-winning author of Hidden in Plain Sight

    “Michael Barnett has thoughtfully and comprehensively applied the tenets of emotionally focused therapy (EFT) to the persistently vexing question of how best to treat substance use disorders and other addictions. While we have made great strides over the past twenty years in understanding the neurobiology of addiction, we have needed an approach that addresses addictions as symptoms of underlying emotional and trauma- related conditions. Michael has done that beautifully in this workbook.” James A. Peck, PsyD, licensed clinical psychologist, and senior clinical trainer in the division of addiction psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

    “Michael Barnett charts a clear path out of the pernicious and perplexing challenges of addiction, offering readers a compassionate journey through the despair of painful isolation to the hope found in a loving connection with self and others. Through his insights and experience, this gifted therapist and soulful guide offers profound wisdom, practical advice, and proven practices that lift the spirit, connect the heart, and give breath to life.” — James Furrow, PhD, couple and family therapy program at Seattle University, and director of the EFT Center of Seattle

  • It is with a special pleasure to witness Michael Barnett’s labor of love through these last many years, culminating in this book that heartfully consolidates an attachment approach to working with addiction through the lens of the concepts, practices, and processes of emotionally focused therapy (EFT).

    I fondly recall many conversations between the two of us when Michael first began researching the implementation of EFT within the treatment protocol of a reputable treatment facility in Atlanta, Georgia, many years ago. What began as a rough sketch for providing a path forward for people struggling with addiction has evolved into a clear, well–thought-out approach to healing addiction from the inside out.

    For more than a century, the puzzle of how to support people suffering from addiction has been much like a Zen koan to the fields of both psychotherapy and mental health.

    Although we have marveled at medical breakthroughs that allow us to understand the neurobiology of addiction in exquisite detail, hundreds of thousands of people continue to suffer and even die each year from addictive-related causes.

    The vast majority of contemporary approaches available to us address the problem of addiction from the top down, assessing it solely as a behavior to be modified. Michael illuminates what has been missing from the field that has essentially been right under our noses the entire time: human connection as the primary resource for healing.

    Human connection —attachment— offers the clearest, most direct, and potent promise for not only supporting the healing of the pain that causes addiction but a resource to heal the suffering of the human being. Through EFT, Michael provides readers with effective tools to navigate the turbulent emotional aspects of themselves responsible for self-medication into a new world of possibility: a sense of belonging, connection, and relief without substances.

    In doing so, Michael has elevated approaching addictive processes beyond the traditional framework of fellowship, which is necessary but far from sufficient. Like a potent tide pulling the waters to the shoreline, Michael’s inviting voice pulls people beyond simply stopping addictive behavior toward the hidden realities of their own emotional worlds. The inner terrain of emotion can be treacherous and overwhelming for even the most resourced and balanced of people; sadly, when addiction has made its presence palpable in people’s lives, finding the doorway in, where healing must occur, is all but impossible.

    Michael has a knack for walking people gently, yet persistently, into the experience of their emotional selves so that they can unlock the doorways that have prevented them from healing their pasts through love and relationship rather than through their substances of choice. Michael’s step-by-step process guides each reader into a lovely process of discovery of the emotional truths that have been driving their addictive processes in an extraordinarily effective way.

    – Dr. Sue Johnson, founder and leading authority on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

As therapists we should be asking: “Not why the addiction…but, why the pain?

– DR. GABOR MATE