Let's Focus On Emotions in Therapy... A LA Emotion Focused Therapy!
Understanding Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotion-Focused Therapy is a therapy approach that aims to help patients and/or clients gain greater awareness of their emotions while learning the skills and strategies to effectively cope with, regulate, and transform them. Ultimately, it is based on the idea that emotions are the key to self, and thus through this form of therapy, one can better identify, understand, experience, explore, accept, and manage their emotions, allowing them to access important meaning of themselves as well as those with whom they hold relationships.
This approach to therapy was developed by Dr. Sue Johnson and Leslie Greenberg in the 1980’s, as they saw that in therapeutic practice, some interventions failed to properly address emotions within the individual(s). With this, both wanted to create a therapy method where emotions were placed front and center, so they developed EFT which they based off of three empirically supported therapeutic principles:
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1. Increasing Awareness of Emotion
This therapeutic principle is the first goal of EFT and is essentially as it sounds. The client and clinician both work to bring out a consciousness and recognition of the emotions at play.
2. Enhancing Emotional Regulation
This goal focused on acquiring the skill of the regulation and coping mechanisms for maladaptive, difficult, or intense emotions.
3. Transforming Emotion
Finally, this last therapeutic principle encompasses the process of transformation or change of one emotion into another. For instance, turning a maladaptive emotion into an adaptive one.Ultimately, EFT allows one to become aware and in touch with their own emotions, forcing people to interact with them (especially unpleasant ones) rather than avoid them, so they can strengthen their ‘self’ and create new meaning whether it be on the individual level or relational level.
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It is important to note that Emotion-Focused Therapy started as a form of couples therapy; however, it can be applied to various different groups including individual therapy or family therapy.
EFT for Couples
EFT for couples focuses on helping couples understand themselves and their partner through an emotional light, including working on positive forms of interaction, de-escalation of conflict, and the maintenance and construction of healthy arguments. It focuses on this by creating a foundation of deep emotional bond between the two.
EFT for Individuals
Individual EFT has the same goal in its interventions as couples EFT, but rather takes an intrapersonal focus of emotion learning and skill building rather than an interpersonal one. It additionally centers on emotional awareness, regulation, and transformation of solely the individual.
EFT for Families
Finally, Family EFT allows each individual within the family to learn not only about their own emotions, but their family members’ emotions as well. Through this, the therapist can coach on effective interactions and positive communication within the family. Ultimately such a process creates connectedness and shared belonging in the group. -
There are three main phases in Emotion-Focused Therapy with a total of nine steps within the stages. The three phases include De-Escalation, Restructuring Interactions, and Consolidation.
Phase 1: Assess & Deescalation Phase
The goal of this phase is to identify underlying emotional problems and negative interaction patterns within the individual or partners. In doing so, the therapist works to change the way the clients perceive such problems. In relation to couples, they learn to see how insecurities may be affecting their relationship and are taught to become emotionally empathetic in each other's feelings in order to strengthen the bond between them.
This Phase has four of the nine steps including:
1. “Identify Conflict”
2. “Identify the cycle where conflict is expressed”
3. “Access unacknowledged emotions”
4. “Reframe” / “Change Perspective”
Phase 2: Restructure Events Phase
The goal of this phase is to restructure or create new emotional experiences by resolution of past problems and create a plan for continued success outside of session. For couples in this phase, they learn to share deep emotions, developing compassion and acceptance of each other. This helps in becoming more responsive to needs, reducing couple conflicts and securing the emotional bond between them.
This Phase has three of the nine steps including:
5. “Promote Identification of disowned needs”
6. “Promote partner acceptance”
7. “Facilitate expressions of needs/wants”
Phase 3: Consolidation Phase
The final phase is the “wrap up phase” and it works on the maintenance of the changes made throughout therapy through communication strategies and more.
This Phase has the last two of the nine steps including:
8. “New Solutions”
9. “Consolidation” -
In EFT, sessions focus on the development of two crucial skills: (1) Arriving at emotions through awareness and acceptance and (2) learning to transform emotions, avoiding nheavibe or harmful behaviors that they could entail.
In the initial session of EFT, the focus is on the first crucial skill. Early sessions include goals of increased emotional awareness, regulation and acceptance of emotions, ability to adequately describe emotions in detail, etc. With this, the therapist world guides the client in discerning their multi-layered emotional experiences and reactions because of them. Certain techniques a therapist may employ include empathetic listening, genuine interaction, reframing of individual experience, track and reflection of problem cycles, and more.
As an individual or couple gets further along in treatment, they may employ techniques like validation, heightened emotions, evocative responding, restructuring, empathetic speculation, and redirection.
Nearing the end of treatment, the focus of the therapist will be to help the client learn to use helpful emotions to guide actions, identify the source of unhelpful emotions and learn to change them, develop alternative/helpful coping in situations that elicit maladaptive emotions, and more. Int his stage, the therapist will indulge techniques such as encouragement and support and aftercare teaching in order to prevent relapse.
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Benefits & Limitations
There are many benefits to EFT; not only do participants come to see their emotions as sources of valuable information rather than upsetting or frustrating states, they also learn to accept these emotions rather than suppress them, leading them to live a happier and healthier life. This is especially true in relationships, where they acquire better emotional functioning, form stronger bonds with their partner, and improve interpersonal as well as intrapersonal understanding, pushing for an empathic approach to their partner's needs rather than that of a defensive approach.
On the other hand, there are limitations to this therapy method. EFT is aimed at improving one’s overall functioning. With this, this treatment may not be best for one who is looking for treatment to reduce a specific mental health issue. Additionally, this therapy will not be effective for people who are unwilling to be honest and open about their emotions with the therapist; with this, it is not recommended for those who would deceive or manipulate.
Effectiveness of EFT
Emotion-Focused Therapy is supported by extensive research and a collective number of studies to be an effective form of treatment. In fact, it is known to be one of the most empirically validated forms of therapy, even more so in reducing interpersonal problems over other therapy methods like Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Client-Centered (CC) empathic treatment. Furthermore, such forms of research have found positive outcomes in both individuals and couples, especially in couples where improvement in interactions and reductions in stress have been indicated.