What is Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)?
Therapy, to many, involves thinking through problems, exploring past experiences, or learning practical coping strategies. While this is a valuable approach, there are many other ways in which therapy can utilise our emotions to navigate and positively influence our mental health. One form of therapy that incorporates this is Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT).
EFT is a modern, evidence-based therapeutic approach that highlights the importance of emotions in guiding our behaviour, shaping relationships, and influencing overall mental health and wellbeing. Rather than avoiding what our emotions may mean, EFT utilises emotions as essential indications for our needs, experiences, and connection with others.
How are Emotions helpful?
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) was developed in the 1980s, incorporating principles from humanistic and person-centred therapy. The key theme addresses the idea that emotional experiences are central to how we process the world around us. Emotions are not simply reactions to events, but they are tools that guide our decision-making, help us adapt to challenges, and allow us to understand and change distressing experiences. Nonetheless, problems can arise when emotions become overwhelming, are misunderstood, or are ignored.
Many learn to avoid painful or negative emotions due to personal or social circumstances. Over time, this avoidance can lead to a continuation of unhelpful emotional patterns, self-criticism, or relationship difficulties.
EFT helps to break these cycles by encouraging curiosity and compassion, rather than fear or avoidance when approaching and understanding your emotions. It is a highly effective a respected approach due to its strong research foundation. Studies have consistently demonstrated that EFT can lead to significant improvements in emotional well-being, specifically for depression, relationship distress, and complex trauma. EFT studies report not only symptom relief, but a deeper sense of self-acceptance and connection to others.
What does Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) involve?
EFT provides a safe space for individuals, couples, or families to explore and transform their emotional experiences. The process often involves 3 stages:
De-escalation
This stage involves identifying negative interactions patterns and underlying attachment - related emotions. In individual therapy, clients identify unhelpful patterns in managing emotions and interactions, explore frightening or unacceptable emotions, and begin to establish a safe and secure base with the psychologist. In couples therapy, clients explore how their behaviours impact each other, identify negative cycles of interaction, and identify unmet needs and fears that fuel these cycles. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce blame and reactivity in order to create a sense of safety and understanding.
Restructuring
Restructuring involves the psychologist helping clients express their needs and vulnerabilities, and learn to respond to themselves or others with empathy and acceptance. For individuals, the ability to navigate deeper into core fears and vulnerabilities encourages self-compassion and acceptance, creating new positive experiences. For couples, learning to communicate needs and desire and respond to each other’s vulnerabilities with compassion helps promote emotional intimacy. Hence, this stage fosters secure attachment and creates healthier emotional bonds.
Consolidation and Integration
This stage reinforces the changes made in therapy, integrating new patters of interaction, and preparing for future challenges. Individuals integrate changes into their idea of self and their relationships, consolidating new emotional experiences and preparing for future challenges. Couples apply new solutions to existing problems, solidify positive interaction patterns, and develop skills for handling future conflict. Ultimately, the goal is to create lasting positive change and enhance satisfaction with oneself and others.
How can Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) help?
EFT has been successfully applied to both individual and couples therapy. For individual therapy, research depicts EFT as highly effective in treating depression, trauma, anxiety, and issues related to self-esteem or self-criticism. By focusing on emotions, clients often experience breakthroughs that feel more authentic and lasting than focusing on cognitive or behavioural strategies. For couples, EFT is one for the most widely used and researched approaches for relationship counselling. As it focuses on strengthening emotional bonds by fostering vulnerability, empathy, and connection, many couples find they can break negative cycles of conflict, and rebuild feelings of connection and security.
Overall, EFT is a powerful approach that places emotions at the centre of mental health and wellbeing. The foundations of EFT allow individuals and couples alike to reconnect with themselves and others, break unhelpful patterns, and discover new approaches to living with authenticity and resilience.