What is Emotionally Focused Therapy?
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a systematic, well researched and empirically validated treatment, which has been shown to be highly effective for helping people in emotional distress. In this model, the therapist helps couples, families and individuals to identify and change their destructive negative cycles while strengthening the emotional bond between people in a structured and collaborative approach typically achieved within 8-20 sessions, depending on the level of distress.
Emotionally Focused Therapy has no connection to emotional freedom technique or "tapping", which sometimes uses the same abbreviation.
EFT was formulated in the early 1980's by Drs. Sue Johnson and Les Greenberg. Sue Johnson has continued to develop the model, bringing together the research underpinning attachment, humanistic, experiential and systems theory to further understand what is happening in couple relationships, and to guide therapists in helping them. EFT is also increasingly being used with families and individuals. A substantial body of research outlining the effectiveness of EFT now exists. Research studies find that 70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery and approximately 90% show significant improvements. The major contraindication for EFT is on-going violence in the relationship. EFT is being used with many different kinds of couples in private practice, university training centres and hospital clinics and many different cultural groups throughout the world. These distressed couples include partners suffering from problems such as depression, post traumatic stress disorders and chronic illness.
Emotionally Focused Therapy has no connection to emotional freedom technique or "tapping", which sometimes uses the same abbreviation.
EFT was formulated in the early 1980's by Drs. Sue Johnson and Les Greenberg. Sue Johnson has continued to develop the model, bringing together the research underpinning attachment, humanistic, experiential and systems theory to further understand what is happening in couple relationships, and to guide therapists in helping them. EFT is also increasingly being used with families and individuals. A substantial body of research outlining the effectiveness of EFT now exists. Research studies find that 70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery and approximately 90% show significant improvements. The major contraindication for EFT is on-going violence in the relationship. EFT is being used with many different kinds of couples in private practice, university training centres and hospital clinics and many different cultural groups throughout the world. These distressed couples include partners suffering from problems such as depression, post traumatic stress disorders and chronic illness.
Strengths of Emotionally Focused Therapy
- EFT is based on clear, explicit conceptualisations of marital distress and adult love. These conceptualisations are supported by empirical research on the nature of marital distress and adult attachment.
- EFT is collaborative and respectful of clients, combining experiential Rogerian techniques with structural systemic interventions.
- Change strategies and interventions are specified.
- Key moves and moments in the change process have been mapped into nine steps and three change events.
- EFT has been validated by over 20 years of empirical research. There is also research on the change processes and predictors of success.
- EFT has been applied to many different kinds of problems and populations.
Goals of Emotionally Focused Therapy
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For a summary article describing EFT - as published in Social Work Today, May/June 2009 CLICK HERE
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