BEFTCentre.org

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Hold Me Tight® for Couples >
      • Experiencing EFT
  • For Couples
    • Hold Me Tight® in Britain
    • Online Hold Me Tight
    • What is EFT?
  • Find a Therapist
    • Therapist Directory Alphabetical by Surname
    • Therapist Directory Alphabetical by Town/City
    • Online/Phone EFT therapy
    • Levels of Training/Certification in EFT
  • For Therapists
    • EFT Training >
      • Britain based EFT Training
      • The road to Certification
      • International EFT Training
      • Online EFT Training
    • Local EFT Peer Groups
    • Joining BEFT Centre >
      • Membership
    • Resources for Therapists >
      • About EFT
      • Annual Conference 2019
      • Articles on EFT
      • Links
  • BEFT Events 2022
    • 2022 Annual Conference >
      • 2022 Conference Timetable
      • Venue and Accommodation
      • 2021 Annual Conference >
        • 2021 Conference Programme
      • 2020 Annual Conference >
        • Pre-Conference 2020
        • Conference 2020
        • Register and Pay
    • 'Special Event' online
  • Members Area
    • JOINING THE BEFT CENTRE DIRECTORY
    • What's New?
    • EFT Supervisors
    • EFT Supervision Groups
    • Special Interest Groups
    • Volunteers wanted
    • Resources For Therapists >
      • Forms for Therapists
      • Forms For Use with Couples
      • Articles on EFT
      • EFT books
    • EFT Therapist Certification >
      • Certification Case Presentation Guidance
      • 2021 Annual Conference
    • 2019 Annual Conference >
      • Presentations and Workshops
    • Resources - 2018 Annual Conference >
      • Welcome
      • Pain in Disguise - Transforming Shame in EFT
      • Working with the Self of the Therapist
      • Through Stuckness to Vulnerability: Clarifying Steps 3 & 5
      • BEFT Community - Connecting, Collaborating, Contributing
      • Plenary
    • BEFT Community National Event 2016
    • The workings of the BEFT Centre >
      • GDPR and the BEFT Community
      • 2018-19 Strategy >
        • 2016-17 Building and Growing
  • Hold Me Tight® in Britain
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Hold Me Tight® for Couples >
      • Experiencing EFT
  • For Couples
    • Hold Me Tight® in Britain
    • Online Hold Me Tight
    • What is EFT?
  • Find a Therapist
    • Therapist Directory Alphabetical by Surname
    • Therapist Directory Alphabetical by Town/City
    • Online/Phone EFT therapy
    • Levels of Training/Certification in EFT
  • For Therapists
    • EFT Training >
      • Britain based EFT Training
      • The road to Certification
      • International EFT Training
      • Online EFT Training
    • Local EFT Peer Groups
    • Joining BEFT Centre >
      • Membership
    • Resources for Therapists >
      • About EFT
      • Annual Conference 2019
      • Articles on EFT
      • Links
  • BEFT Events 2022
    • 2022 Annual Conference >
      • 2022 Conference Timetable
      • Venue and Accommodation
      • 2021 Annual Conference >
        • 2021 Conference Programme
      • 2020 Annual Conference >
        • Pre-Conference 2020
        • Conference 2020
        • Register and Pay
    • 'Special Event' online
  • Members Area
    • JOINING THE BEFT CENTRE DIRECTORY
    • What's New?
    • EFT Supervisors
    • EFT Supervision Groups
    • Special Interest Groups
    • Volunteers wanted
    • Resources For Therapists >
      • Forms for Therapists
      • Forms For Use with Couples
      • Articles on EFT
      • EFT books
    • EFT Therapist Certification >
      • Certification Case Presentation Guidance
      • 2021 Annual Conference
    • 2019 Annual Conference >
      • Presentations and Workshops
    • Resources - 2018 Annual Conference >
      • Welcome
      • Pain in Disguise - Transforming Shame in EFT
      • Working with the Self of the Therapist
      • Through Stuckness to Vulnerability: Clarifying Steps 3 & 5
      • BEFT Community - Connecting, Collaborating, Contributing
      • Plenary
    • BEFT Community National Event 2016
    • The workings of the BEFT Centre >
      • GDPR and the BEFT Community
      • 2018-19 Strategy >
        • 2016-17 Building and Growing
  • Hold Me Tight® in Britain

About EFT

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. 

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

  • To expand and re-organise key emotional responses – the music of the attachment dance. 
  • To create a shift in partners' interactional positions and initiate new cycles of interaction. 
  • To foster the creation of a secure bond between partners. 
For a summary article describing EFT - as published in Social Work Today, May/June 2009  CLICK HERE

EFT Research
Publications
The British EFT Centre - Creating Connection for EFT Across Britain
Emotionally Focused Therapy - EFT
We welcome feedback and questions about EFT.
​Contact Us with your enquiry.
 ©2018 British EFT Centre Disclaimer
BEFT Centre is an approved affiliate of ICEEFT (International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy).
ICEEFT logo