A207 Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

This course will present the essentials of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, one of the best researched and validated approaches to healing relationships. We'll show the importance of going beyond skills building and communication techniques if we're to help partners avoid slipping back into old patterns. We'll examine distress through the lens of attachment theory and explore 3 stages of change that lead to more secure attachment. We'll focus on how to use the power of emotion and forgiveness to shape new interactions that change the drama between partners.

Meet The Instructor:

Susan Johnson, Ed.D., is professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and director of the Ottawa Couple and Family Therapy Clinic. She's the author of The Practice of Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy.

Course Contents:

Session 1: Introduction to Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) • The revolution in CT and EFT • The goals of EFT • The empirical status of EFT • The basics of the EFT model--systemic and experiential • The nature of emotion

Session 2: The EFT Perspective on Love • The need for a theory of love • The nature of adult love and attachment • What attachment theory/research offers the couple therapist • Attachment theory and the process of change in EFT

Session 3: The Process of Change with EFT • The 3 key tasks of the EFT therapist • The 9 steps toward a secure bond • Assessment issues and contraindications • Clinical case examples

Session 4: EFT Interventions • Changing experience/emotion • Changing interactions • Impasses and blocks to change • Key change events--outline, research, examples

Session 5: Relationship Traumas • The nature and impact of attachment injuries • The process of injury resolution • The achievement of forgiveness and reconciliation

Session 6: Using EFT with Different Populations • EFT with the traumatized • EFT with the depressed • EFT with violent couples • EFT in different cultures • Becoming an EFT therapist • Synopsis of the course

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