Trapped in Abuse: Coercive Control and the Legal Implications for Survivors of Narcissistic Abuse

Dr. Catherine Barrett is a licensed Clinical Forensic Psychologist, based out of Los Angeles, California. She first gained clinical experience after graduating from University of Southern California in 2009, with a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Through her training and experience, she has worked with marginalized communities, committed to social justice in mental health, and has developed a practice that is not only cross-culturally competent, but affirmative.

Clinical training and populations include addiction recovery, LGBTQ+, domestic and intimate partner violence, chronic mental illness, and narcissistic personality disorder. Dr. Barrett specializes in narcissistic abuse recovery.

Following a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, Dr. Barrett continued her commitment to social justice and psychology in the law by obtaining a doctorate of psychology in Clinical Forensic Psychology. She graduated from Alliant International University’s California School of Forensic Studies in 2014. A significant amount of her training was in risk assessment, evaluation, and treatment of sex offenders, sexually violent predators, mentally disordered offenders, and individuals found not guilty by reason of insanity. Dr. Barrett completed her Pre-Doctoral internship at the San Francisco Forensic Institute where she evaluated, treated, and ran psychological assessments on sex offenders and sexually violent predators. Dr. Barrett was first certified with the Sex Offender Management Board at this time.

Dr. Barrett has performed a variety of clinical and forensic assessments, including psycho-educational evaluations, risk assessment, and psychological evaluations for court. Dr. Barrett has been clinically trained and certified to administer the ABEL-Assessment of sexual interest and the STABLE-2007, which measures potential risk for future violence. She has also assisted Dr. Charles Flinton in administering the Penile Plethysmograph (PPG) to forensic hospital patients at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino, California. Dr. Barrett has spent a significant amount of time providing group and individual therapy, as well as risk assessment to the sex offending population. Additionally, she has worked for Conditional Release Programs; such as , Gateways Forensic Hospital and MHM services. Dr. Barrett provided treatment, psychological evaluation, and risk assessment to those being offered conditional release due to either a mentally disordered offense or found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Dr. Barrett has experience testifying in court cases related to revocation of outpatient status to patients on conditional release, as well as expert and fact witnessing for both civil and criminal court. Dr. Barrett has served as an expert witness in the family court system, peer reviewing custodial evaluations, and testifying on the validity of such evaluations. Dr. Barrett serves as a psychotherapist to teens, young adults, and adults; primarily in the areas of emotional and sexual abuse victimization, LGBTQ+, and addiction. Dr. Barrett serves as part-time faculty for the University of Southern California where she teaches Law and Ethics, Child/Elder Abuse and Domestic Violence, Clinical Assessment,  and serves as a field work supervisor.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Catherine Barrett maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with the University of Southern California. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Catherine Barrett has no relevant non-financial rel