Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) in Action

This series of introductory workshops dedicated to the theoretical principles and clinical application of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), developed by the well-known psychologist, psychotherapist, researcher Sue Johnson, are a unique opportunity in the panorama of international training to approach and understand the theoretical bases and applications to EFT.

The speakers, among the world’s top EFT experts, will introduce some topics of great interest both for those who want to learn more about the model and for those who have no knowledge of EFT.

Through some short workshops, the first of which will be conducted by Sue Johnson, the developer of this theoretical model, the theoretical basis and clinical applications of the model will be illustrated. In subsequent workshops Leanne Campbell, Zoya Simakhodoskaya, Karin Wagenaar, and Simona Herb will address specific clinical issues of EFT, developed over the years of their clinical practice and their international research and teaching experience.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the theoretical principles of Emotionally Focused Therapy
2. Adopt an attachment-focused humanistic perspective on assessment and interventions.
3. Understand the key principles surrounding assessment and case formulation in EFT
4. Making sense of attachment to clients’ iatrogenic protective schemes
5. The treatment of trauma through an attachment perspective
6. Understand the differences in the application of EFT in different treatment settings

Program

12 October 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CEST

Emotionally Focused Therapy – An Introduction

Sue Johnson, Andrea Pagani, Giulia Altera

Emotionally Focused Therapy is an empirically validated brief intervention used with distressed couples and families and with depressed anxious and traumatized individuals. It combines the Rogerian Experiential perspective on intervention with the map offered to clinicians by Attachment Science. This presentation will briefly outline the theoretical basis and main interventions used in this model, especially the macro intervention sequence -the EFT Tango. The goal of EFT is not simply to alleviate symptoms but to promote growth – a new secure connection with a positive sense of self and with others. In EFT emotion is seen as the main organizer of experience and interaction. Emotion is then tracked, named, regulated and used to shape key change events that predict treatment success

Participants will learn:

• The theoretical basis for intervention in EFT
• The EFT approach to emotion and change in therapy
• The key EFT interventions used to shape effective, on target individual and couple therapy sessions

19 October 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CEST

An Introduction to Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)

Leanne Campbell

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a proven effective approach to couple treatment that prioritizes the repair of attachment bonds. This workshop introduces EFIT, Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy, which centers on helping individual clients shape a robust and resilient sense of self, able to resolve life-defining traumas.  EFIT shapes corrective emotional experiences in each session to restructure negative ways of defining the self, regulating, and organizing inner experience, and engaging with others. As in EFT for couples, attachment science offers a map that simplifies how we frame clients’ problems and shape their journey toward wholeness. 

Participants will discover:

• The key elements of the attachment perspective on the development of a resilient self and its significance for clinical intervention
• The applicability of EFIT with clients suffering from a range of symptoms 
• An on-target map for the creation of transformative moments where vulnerabilities are encountered with balance and competence 
• A path to shape corrective emotional experiences, regulating and organizing inner experience, and promoting engagement with others
• The macro EFIT intervention sequence -the EFT Tango and experiential micro-interventions, such as tracking, reflection, and validation – key skills to create change in every session

2 November 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET

Extravagant emotion

Simona Herb

Emotions are internal compasses. They orient us towards what matters to the couple or individual and guide us as therapists. Emotions tell us where to focus and they are also our most important tool to bring about change. This workshop is designed to define and identify the elements of emotion and the way that we use emotions to create corrective responses.

The participants will be able to:

• Identify the emotional handles in their work with the client
• What do we do with emotions: access, enact, process, integrate
• How do we create an emotional corrective response – the final goal for EFT therapy in couple or individual work

In order to reach all those theoretical and practical steps in working with emotion, the main ability is tuning into our clients emotions with empathy. Evoking vulnerability in our clients requires that we remain finally attuned to their underlying emotional experience.

16 November 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET

EFT interventions with couples with sexual difficulties

Zoya Simakhodoskaya

Many couples presenting for couples therapy may complain of sexual difficulties: discrepancies in desire, lack of attraction or sexual compatibility, arousal or orgasm problems, or challenges in the bedroom after having children, going through infidelity or in the wake of trauma, or considering and dealing with insecurity around non-monogamy. From the perspective of Emotionally Focused Therapy, such complaints are most often part of an underlying lack of security and bond in the relationship caused by the negative cycle between partners.  At times, as the partners de-escalate and become more secure, sexual issues remain unresolved.  You will learn how to do a thorough assessment of the negative relational and sexual cycle so you can skillfully use EFT interventions to help couple move toward de-escalation. This seminar will also address how to integrate psycho-education and how to help them move into Stage 2 This seminar will include lecture and video examples.

• Overview of how attachment theory provides relevant framework to understand a couple’s emotional, physical and sexual responses.
• The importance of assessing sexual health in EFT couples therapy.
• Integration of emotional, relational and sexual dynamics contributing to successful resolution of sexual concerns reported by couples. 
• Overview of how to use psychoeducation about sexual health in EFT therapy
• Integration of how to apply EFT interventions when working on de-escalation of negative cycle and improving emotional bond

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to apply techniques of sexual assessment in EFT treatment
2. Participants will be able to identify negative cycle around sexual issues in Stages 1 of EFT
3. Participants will learn how to effectively use Stage 2 EFT interventions around sexual issues to create more secure bond in couples that leads to greater sexual fulfillment. 
4. Participants will be able to list common presentations of sexual pursuers and withdrawers
5. Participants will be able to reframe sexual concerns effectively from an attachment perspective

30 November 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET

EFT couples with personality problems

Karin Wagenaar

Working with clients who are highly reactive, non-responsive or have difficulty responding

Do you have difficulty with challenging clients that never seem to be making progress? Where the process of reconnecting is very chaotic and complicated? Where you start doubting yourself as therapist?

In this presentation I will focus on working with couples with personality problems. The diagnosis ‘personality disorder’ can be understood as the result of multiple traumatic experiences together with insecure attachment. In a couple, one or both partners can have trouble regulating emotions. This problem is a result of (earlier) emotional neglect and/or abuse. In couples with this type of behavior, emotional connection is longed for and at the same time felt as too dangerous. Often there is a pattern of disorganized attachment. The partner is experienced as either too close or too distant. This leads to highly reactive emotions, and a loss of mentalizing capacity.

I will look at ways to help these struggling couples with EFT. EFT helps to regulate the intense interaction if done with diligence and a slow and steady pace. Working with personality problems demands patience and trust in the model and the process. I will help guide you in staying on track when it comes to muddled emotions.

I will look at how we can help clients:

• regulate their intense emotions;
• stay in their window of tolerance;
• mentalize their emotions.

I will also look at the challenges for the therapist in staying hopeful and remaining within their own window of tolerance.

14 December 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET

Using the Relationship as a Resource in Transforming Trauma with Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT)

Leanne Campbell

With a clear roadmap and on-target interventions, EFT is an empirically validated treatment approach that meets the gold standard set out by bodies such as the American Psychological Association (APA) and has been shown to be effective in assisting couples in both addressing trauma and improving their relationship functioning. In her book, Attachment Theory in Practice (c. 2019), Dr. Sue Johnson notes two key implications of attachment science for clinical practice. That is, “harnessing the power of emotion within the client is the most potent way to promote change” and “change is inherently interpersonal, sculpted by the emotional messages that occur in dialogue with another” (Johnson, 2019, p. 25). Recognizing that the relationship can be a key resource in healing trauma, this training will focus on how to work relationally with couples to heal the potentially pervasive and deleterious impacts of personal trauma.

Participants will discover:

• The attachment humanistic perspective on clients, problems and interventions, with a specific focus on understanding the impacts of trauma from an attachment perspective
• The goals, stages, and key change events of the EFCT model
• How to weave the impacts of trauma into the couple’s relationship cycle in a way that informs the couple and the therapeutic process
• The five moves of the EFT Tango and how the Tango is used to shape corrective emotional experiences

Date and time

This workshop will take place online on:

• 12 October 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CEST
• 19 October 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CEST
• 2 November 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET
• 16 November 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET
• 30 November 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET
• 14 December 2023, 6.00pm-8.00pm CET

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