Drew Barrymore’s therapist is giving an insight into the reason he stopped working with her as a client for a while.
Occasionally a therapist has to suspend treatment until a patient is willing to stop certain chronic self-destructive behaviors that are impeding the therapy,
Barry Michels told Entertainment Weekly in a statement Wednesday.
Barrymore told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that Michels had stopped seeing her after ten years of working together. Michels is known for treating Gwyneth Paltrow and co-writing the book “The Tools” with Phil Stutz.
The “Charlie’s Angels” star said that she started drinking again after her divorce from Will Kopelman in 2016, and Michels was worried about the same.
[Michels] just said, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’
the “Santa Clarita Diet” star told the Times.
It was really about my drinking. I said, ‘I get it. I’ve never respected you more. You see I’m not getting better. And I hope, one day, that I can earn your trust back.’
Michels told the Times that he and Barrymore are back to working together now that Barrymore has stopped drinking.
Fortunately, in this case, I was dealing with Drew Barrymore — one of the strongest and most stalwart people I’ve ever met,
Michels elaborated to Entertainment Weekly.
She did the right thing for herself, and we were able to resume our treatment together.
Drew Barrymore had a hard time as a child in Hollywood, which led her to use drugs. It took her a long time to get better.
She became famous at age 6 when she stole the show in the movie “E.T.” But by the time she was 13, she had been treated for drug and alcohol abuse. A little over a year later, she was legally free from her mother, Jaid.
Drew Barrymore told People in 2022 that she had gotten off drugs when she was younger but that drinking had been “a constant” for her.
But Barrymore told the Times that getting her daytime talk show made her decide to stop drinking in 2019. She told People that thanks to “The Drew Barrymore Show,” she has a job she loves that keeps her interested and makes her feel like she’s doing something important.
This has been the best decade of my life, without question,
she told People.
It wasn’t just the most awesome, it was the one where I feel like I’ve slayed more dragons than I ever have in my whole life.
Need help with a problem with drugs, alcohol, or your mental health? For the SAMHSA National Helpline in the United States, call 800-662-HELP (4357).
