A905 Using Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy in Sessions

The pattern of reactivity and defensiveness that many struggling couples exhibit in session can make therapy extremely difficult, undercutting a couple’s ability to really listen to and hear each other, let alone identify ways to improve their relationship. Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), an empirically validated approach based on attachment theory, helps reveal the underlying attachment issues and emotional dynamics of such couples, providing a systematic method for helping them reconnect and create a satisfying, loving bond. In this consultation, through discussion of the cases presented, you’ll learn the key EFT interventions for helping couples calm down and get past their anger, stop their destructive interactive patterns, locate their mutual feelings of warmth and attachment, and learn how to apply the gains made in therapy in their daily lives. You’ll learn how to be with couples in the moment and help them transform their relationships by experiencing new levels of attachment and bonding.

Meet the Instructor

Susan Johnson, Ed.D., an eminent scientist-practitioner in the field of psychotherapy, is the originator of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), the most empirically validated approach to couples treatment. In her case consultations, she’ll demonstrate how to deal with each case from the standpoint of the key attachment issues at the core of couples’ problems. You’ll learn how the deep needs that arise in couples’ relationships can be shaped in therapy to heal both the relationship and the individual partners in it.

Learning Objectives

1. Discuss the key features of the EFT perspective
2. Name and describe the key EFT interventions
3. Outline how the therapeutic process and specific interventions shape and build secure connections