The therapy process itself opens up delicate issues and may lead to uncomfortable or intense emotions. However, a willingness to do the work will also open the door to the greatest love and security one can experience in a committed relationship. The relationship becomes a safe and healing environment for both partners.īecause emotion-focused therapy involves exploring uncomfortable emotions and patterns that contribute to conflict in relationships, it can be challenging at times. These new, positive cycles then become self-reinforcing and create permanent change. New healthy interactions occur and replace old, negative patterns. This process can help couples see how they have been able to change and how new interaction patterns prevent conflict.
Consolidationĭuring the final step, a therapist helps the couple work on new communication strategies and practicing skills when interacting with each other. Couples learn to express deep, underlying emotions from a place of vulnerability and ask for their needs to be met. The process attempts to reduce a couple’s conflict while creating a more secure emotional bond. This step helps each partner become more responsive to their partner’s needs. Restructuringĭuring this stage, each partner learns to share their emotions and show acceptance and compassion for each other. Partners begin to view undesirable behaviors (i.e., shutting down or angry escalations) as “protests of disconnection.” Couples learn to be emotionally available, empathetic, and engaged with each other, while strengthening attachment and sense of safety between them. This process helps couples better see how insecurities and fears may be hurting their relationship. This step is focused on identifying negative interaction patterns that contribute to conflict, identifying negative emotions related to attachment issues, and reframing these issues. The three stages of EFT are: De-Escalation TechniquesĮmotion-focused therapy sessions often include three stages that help to guide your therapy process, and also to track progress. 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. Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) is a type of psychotherapy that is used to improve attachment and bonding in adult relationships.
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