Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
EFT is a type of therapy that was developed based on research about bonding; what matters to intimate relationships, what goes wrong, and how to repair it. EFT has proven to be highly successful in research studies, particularly in work with couples.
The goal of EFT is to create a more secure relational bond between partners where satisfaction, intimacy, and trust are experienced, rather than unproductive patterns of conflict that usually involve demanding / withdrawing, or simply withdrawing from both partners. For those couples who feel “stuck,” EFT can help; Couples will learn to “connect” as they identify negative patterns in their relationships, places where they get stuck, and how to shift their interactions to create more positive experiences with one another. During therapy sessions, as couples communicate about their problems, the focus is on what is being experienced in the present moment; what is going on between partners, both as they experience emotions, and in their interactions. The goal is to create a safer emotional environment where partners are guided by the therapist to make sense of what is going on in how they relate to one another, go deeper into their emotions with one another, and create new patterns of communicating. The “problem” becomes the negative pattern and the distance in the relationship, rather than one or the other partner, and partners move past the endless cycle of unproductive conflict to express their hurts in a safer, more vulnerable, and productive way.
The goal of EFT is to create a more secure relational bond between partners where satisfaction, intimacy, and trust are experienced, rather than unproductive patterns of conflict that usually involve demanding / withdrawing, or simply withdrawing from both partners. For those couples who feel “stuck,” EFT can help; Couples will learn to “connect” as they identify negative patterns in their relationships, places where they get stuck, and how to shift their interactions to create more positive experiences with one another. During therapy sessions, as couples communicate about their problems, the focus is on what is being experienced in the present moment; what is going on between partners, both as they experience emotions, and in their interactions. The goal is to create a safer emotional environment where partners are guided by the therapist to make sense of what is going on in how they relate to one another, go deeper into their emotions with one another, and create new patterns of communicating. The “problem” becomes the negative pattern and the distance in the relationship, rather than one or the other partner, and partners move past the endless cycle of unproductive conflict to express their hurts in a safer, more vulnerable, and productive way.
