What is Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) is a type of short-term (8-20 sessions) therapy that is used to improve attachment and bonding in adult relationships. This approach to couples therapy was developed by doctors Sue Johnson and Les Greenberg in the 1980s and is rooted in research on love as an attachment bond (Benson, Sevier, & Christensen, 2013).

While often used for couples, it has also been adapted for use with families. This treatment can help couples and family members form a more secure emotional bond, which can result in a stronger relationship and improved communication.

What Emotionally Focused Therapy Can Help With

Emotionally focused therapy can benefit couples who are struggling with conflict, distress, and poor communication. While often used in couples therapy, EFT can also be helpful in individual therapy and family therapy.

EFT has proven to be a powerful approach for couples dealing with infidelity or other more traumatic incidents, both current and past. Neuroscience also intersects attachment theory and EFT. More recently produced MRI studies demonstrate the significance of secure attachment Johnson, Moser, Beckes, Smith, Dalgleish, Halchuk, Hasselmo, Greenman, Merali, & Coan, 2013). Our attachments are potent, and our brains code them as “safety.”

EFT is being used with many different kinds of couples in private practice, university training centers, and hospital clinics. It is also quite useful with various cultural groups throughout the world.

Benefits of Emotionally Focused Therapy

There are a number of benefits that couples and families can gain from EFT. Some of these include:

  • Better emotional functioning: EFT provides a language for healthy dependency between partners and looks at key moves and moments that define an adult love relationship. The primary goal of the model is to expand and re-organize the emotional responses of the couple.

  • Stronger bonds: EFT is based on attachment theory, which suggests that attachments between people typically provide a safe haven: a retreat from the world and a way to obtain comfort, security, and a buffer against stress.

  • Improved interpersonal understanding: EFT helps people become more aware of their partner's needs. Because of this, they are also able to listen and discuss problems from a place of empathy instead of a place of defensiveness or anger.

Emotionally focused therapy can unwind automatic, counter-productive reactions that threaten relationships.

Is EFT effective?

EFT has many strengths as a therapeutic model. First, it is supported by extensive research. Second, it is collaborative and respectful of clients. It shifts blame for the couples' problems to the negative patterns between them, instead of the couples themselves (or individual partners).

There is a substantial body of research outlining the effectiveness of this treatment. It is now considered one of the most (if not the most) empirically validated forms of couples therapy.

Emotionally focused therapy can be an effective way for couples to form stronger bonds and build better relationships. Research has found that EFT can improve interactions between partners and reduce the amount of stress that people experience in their relationships (Wiebe, & Johnson, 2016).




Originally Published by:

F, M. (2021, May 10). What is Emotionally Focused Therapy. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/emotionally-focused-therapy-for-distressed-couples-2303813

Additional articles used in this information:

Benson, L. A., Sevier, M., & Christensen, A. (2013). The Impact of Behavioral Couple Therapy on Attachment in Distressed Couples. Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 39(4), 407–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12020

Johnson, S. M., Moser, M. B., Beckes, L., Smith, A., Dalgleish, T., Halchuk, R., Hasselmo, K., Greenman, P. S., Merali, Z., & Coan, J. A. (2013). Soothing the Threatened Brain: Leveraging Contact Comfort with Emotionally Focused Therapy. PLoS ONE, 8(11), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079314

Wiebe, S. A., & Johnson, S. M. (2016). A Review of the Research in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples. Family Process, 55(3), 390–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12229