The Emotionally Focused Therapy Workbook for Addiction - by Michael Barnett (Paperback)

About the Book

Addiction is often triggered by loneliness, trauma, or loss, yet many traditional treatments fail to uncover the root cause, and focus instead on managing addictive behaviors--with varying degrees of success. Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) provides readers with the tools they need to heal the emotional pain and isolation that addiction desperately attempts to soothe. Readers will also learn essential skills for building a sense of belonging and safety with the ones they love--so they can lean into community and connection instead of drugs and alcohol.

Book Synopsis

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.

As you work through the exercises, you'll gain essential skills to manage your emotions and form meaningful connections with others. The more emotionally fluent you become, the more you'll learn to rely on your support network in times of distress--and the less likely you'll be to reach for substances. As you remove the obstacles that block healthy connection to others, you'll begin to resolve the pain buried deep within, and replace your addiction with a reliable, caring connection with others--and with yourself!

If you're done searching for emotional relief in drugs and alcohol, let this friendly guide point you on the path to true recovery and belonging. Go ahead, take the first step.

Review Quotes

"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--Joel S. Porter, PsyD

"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--James Furrow, PhD

"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--Avrum Weiss, PhD

"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--James A. Peck, PsyD

"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--Stefanie Carnes, LMFT, CST, CSAT-S

About the Author

Michael Barnett, LPCC, is a certified trainer in emotionally focused therapy (EFT) who has added to the canon of EFT training by helping clinicians work more effectively with trauma and addiction through the EFT lens. Barnett specializes in the use of EFT as a humanistic/experiential, attachment-based therapy to transform clients' relationship with their addictive processes. He is codirector of the Emotionally Focused Therapy Center of Los Angeles, and founder of the Atlanta Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy. He resides in La Crescenta, CA.