Lisa M. Najavits, PhD is director of Treatment Innovations and adjunct professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School. She was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for 25 years and was a research psychologist at Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Boston for 12 years. Her major clinical and research interests are substance abuse, trauma, co-morbidity, behavioral addictions, veterans' mental health, community-based care, development of new psychotherapies, and outcome research.

She is author of over 200 professional publications, as well as the books Seeking Safety (a treatment manual for trauma and addiction); Finding Your Best Self: Recovery from Addiction, Trauma, or Both; and A Woman's Addiction Workbook. She has served as president of the Society of Addiction Psychology of the American Psychological Association; and has consulted widely on public health efforts in addictions and trauma, both nationally and internationally, including to the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Surgeon General, the United Nations, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. She is on various advisory boards and has received awards including the 1997 Young Professional Award of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies; the 1998 Early Career Contribution Award of the Society for Psychotherapy Research; the 2004 Emerging Leadership Award of the American Psychological Association Committee on Women; and the 2009 Betty Ford Award of the Addiction Medical Education and Research Association. She is a licensed psychologist in Massachusetts and conducts a psychotherapy practice. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University and her bachelor's degree with honors from Barnard College of Columbia University.