Michele Saffier, LMFT, CES, CSAT-S is co-Author of Ambushed by Betrayal: The Survival Guide for Betrayed Partners on their Heroes’ Journey to Healthy Intimacy, third place winner of International Impact Book Awards in Marriage, and first place winner of Outstanding Creative Award for mental health and marriage & relationships. Their article Working with Sex Addiction and Betrayal Trauma was published in Counseling Today. The article was the 8th most read article of 2022. Her article The Cost Of Infidelity on Spouses and Partners: Understanding Betrayal Trauma was featured in Family Therapy Magazine

Michele is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Sex Addiction and Betrayal Trauma. She earned licensure as a Marriage & Family in 1993. In 1996, Ms. Saffier was one of the early practitioners in the field of sex addiction working with Robert Weiss, Ph.D. She went on to train with Patrick Carnes, Ph.D., and has been a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist and Supervisor since 2000 with the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals. Ms. Saffier has presented on sex addiction and betrayal trauma at the Pennsylvania Association for Marriage and Family Therapists, the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), The Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH), the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Therapists (IITAP), Princeton Medical Center, S-ANON (12-step program for families of people with sexual addiction), Los Angeles Free Clinic, among others. She has been a guest on several podcasts, including Sex, Love, and Addiction Show with Robert Weiss, Living Truth, Unfilteredd, Conversations about Sex, Addictions, and Relationships, Sex Addiction: Strength/Hope/Recovery with Carol the Coach.

Ms. Saffier is a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist- Supervisor, a Certified Experiential Specialist, Level III Gottman Method Trained Clinician, Level II Internal Family Systems Therapist, Level III EMDR Practitioner, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and former board member of the Pennsylvania Association of Marriage & Family Therapists. Ms. Saffier currently serves as an Adjunct Professor in LaSalle University’s Department of Psychology, Masters’ Program in Marriage & Family Therapy, where she teaches courses Grief, Loss, and Trauma, and the course Betrayal in Relationships based on her book Ambushed By Betrayal: The Survival Guide for Betrayed Partners on their Heroes’ Journey to Healthy Intimacy.

Ms. Saffier was instrumental in the paradigm shift from treating partners of sex addicts as co-addicts to survivors of betrayal trauma. She is owner of Michele Saffier & Associates, where she and her clinical team facilitate outpatient treatment and Empowered Life Institute which offers one day, three day, four day intensives for individuals, couples, and families healing from the impact of sex addiction, chronic infidelity, and betrayal trauma.

A sought-after master clinician, Ms. Saffier consults with treatment centers on program development, trains clinicians on sex addiction and betrayal trauma, facilitates workshops in retreat settings and maintains a private practice in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. She can be reached at www.traumahealingpa.com.