Dr. Barnes is an ordained minister, a licensed psychologist, and a licensed specialist in school psychology who specializes in marriage and family research, counseling, and training. After graduating from Dallas Seminary he served as an assistant pastor for seven years and then earned a Ph.D. in psychology at Columbia University. While in the New York area he was a research project coordinator at NYU Medical Center’s Family Studies Clinic and later completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship through Parkland Hospital (Dallas) and the Child Guidance Clinics of Dallas and Texoma.