What is Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
A New Look At Love
We live in extraordinary times. One of the most exciting developments in the field of couples and family therapy is a model called “Emotionally Focused Therapy” (EFT). Dr. Sue Johnson created this model of psychotherapy based upon attachment theory. Attachment theory has given us a road map to make sense of Love, what happens when Love goes wrong and how to heal and repair attachment distress. 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.
While some people may want to keep Love as a Mystery, we now have neuroscience to help us understand Love and how to keep romance, connection, contact and care alive. Love is a very special bond between people. A safe, secure bond or attachment has been shown to be a survival mechanism that all humans depend upon. It is as basic to our survival as food, shelter, water and clean air. Having closeness, safety and connection is a safety cue to our brain. When our close relationships are a “safe haven” and “shelter from the storm” we can venture out into the world to face challenges and know we can return to our safe shelter for both celebrations and the support we need when we are experiencing rough times.
The attachment perspective offers us a map for loving, stable relationships. It offers a model of a secure bond in which we can integrate all aspects of a relationship—attachment, care-taking and sexuality. This theory of attachment has also given us a road map to understand three styles of insecure attachment in relationships. Applying this theory to love relationships, Dr. Sue Johnson developed a ground-breaking approach to helping couples, families and individuals make sense of their relationship distress and find a path toward developing more secure bonds with each other.
Emotionally Focused Couples therapy (EFT) helps address the core questions we often ask ourselves about our most important relationship: “Are you there for me?” “Will you be there for me when I need you most?” “Do I matter to you? It offers a road map to make sense of the painful distress cycles that result in partners feeling upset, arguing, and walling off from each other. EFT targets the destructiveness of these repetitious patterns by helping partners go below the surface anger and frustration and into the more vulnerable emotions of fear and hurt.
EFT is being used with many different kinds of couples in private practice, university training centers and hospital clinics. and many different cultural groups throughout the world. Distressed couples include partners suffering from disorders such as depression, eating disorders, post traumatic stress disorders, addictions and chronic illness. EFT is very affective as premarital therapy and for families as well. The major contraindication for EFT is on-going abuse in the relationship.
While some people may want to keep Love as a Mystery, we now have neuroscience to help us understand Love and how to keep romance, connection, contact and care alive. Love is a very special bond between people. A safe, secure bond or attachment has been shown to be a survival mechanism that all humans depend upon. It is as basic to our survival as food, shelter, water and clean air. Having closeness, safety and connection is a safety cue to our brain. When our close relationships are a “safe haven” and “shelter from the storm” we can venture out into the world to face challenges and know we can return to our safe shelter for both celebrations and the support we need when we are experiencing rough times.
The attachment perspective offers us a map for loving, stable relationships. It offers a model of a secure bond in which we can integrate all aspects of a relationship—attachment, care-taking and sexuality. This theory of attachment has also given us a road map to understand three styles of insecure attachment in relationships. Applying this theory to love relationships, Dr. Sue Johnson developed a ground-breaking approach to helping couples, families and individuals make sense of their relationship distress and find a path toward developing more secure bonds with each other.
Emotionally Focused Couples therapy (EFT) helps address the core questions we often ask ourselves about our most important relationship: “Are you there for me?” “Will you be there for me when I need you most?” “Do I matter to you? It offers a road map to make sense of the painful distress cycles that result in partners feeling upset, arguing, and walling off from each other. EFT targets the destructiveness of these repetitious patterns by helping partners go below the surface anger and frustration and into the more vulnerable emotions of fear and hurt.
EFT is being used with many different kinds of couples in private practice, university training centers and hospital clinics. and many different cultural groups throughout the world. Distressed couples include partners suffering from disorders such as depression, eating disorders, post traumatic stress disorders, addictions and chronic illness. EFT is very affective as premarital therapy and for families as well. The major contraindication for EFT is on-going abuse in the relationship.