Emotionally focused therapy

Not to be confused with Emotional Freedom Techniques.

Emotionally focused therapy and emotion-focused therapy (EFT) are related humanistic approaches to psychotherapy that aim to resolve emotional and relationship issues with individuals, couples, and families. These therapies combine experiential therapy techniques, including person-centered and Gestalt therapies, with systemic therapy and attachment theory.[1] The central premise is that emotions influence cognition, motivate behavior, and are strongly linked to needs.[2] The goals of treatment include transforming maladaptive behaviors, such as emotional avoidance, and developing awareness, acceptance, expression, and regulation of emotion and understanding of relationships.[3] EFT is usually a short-term treatment (eight to 20 sessions).[4]

Emotion-focused therapy for individuals was originally known as process-experiential therapy,[5] and continues to be referred to by this name in some contexts.[6] EFT should not be confused with emotion-focused coping, a separate concept involving coping strategies for managing emotions.[7] EFT has been used to improve clients' emotion-focused coping abilities.[8]

  1. ^ Examples of psychotherapy survey textbooks that have covered one or more EFT approaches include: Fromme 2011, pp. 233–261, 385–389; Corey 2013, pp. 83–92; Goldenberg & Goldenberg 2013, pp. 267–272; Wedding & Corsini 2013, pp. 102–103; Gehart 2014, pp. 449–465; Prochaska & Norcross 2014, pp. 161–168; Corey 2015, pp. 167–168, 480. Examples of texts on EFT for individuals include: Elliott et al. 2004; Greenberg 2011; Greenberg 2015. Texts on EFT for couples (sometimes called EFT-C) include: Greenberg & Johnson 1988; Johnson 2004; Greenberg & Goldman 2008; Johnson 2008; Ruzgyte & Spinks 2011. Examples of texts on EFT for families (sometimes called EFFT) include: Heatherington, Friedlander & Greenberg 2005; Sexton & Schuster 2008; Stavrianopoulos, Faller & Furrow 2014.
  2. ^ The connection between human needs and emotions is explored in, for example: Greenberg & Safran 1987; Safran & Greenberg 1991; Greenberg, Rice & Elliott 1993; Greenberg & Paivio 1997; Greenberg 2002a; Johnson 2004; Flanagan 2010
  3. ^ Greenberg 2011, pp. 3–11
  4. ^ Johnson & Greenberg 1992, pp. 220–221, 223; Goldenberg & Goldenberg 2013, p. 267
  5. ^ Prochaska & Norcross 2014, p. 162; examples of early texts using the term process-experiential include: Rice & Greenberg 1990, p. 404; Greenberg, Rice & Elliott 1993
  6. ^ For example: Wedding & Corsini 2013, pp. 102
  7. ^ Emotion-focused coping is typically contrasted with problem-focused coping and relationship-focused coping, for example: Folkman et al. 1986, p. 571; Greenberg & Goldman 2007, p. 391; Morgan 2008, p. 185; Cormier, Nurius & Osborn 2013, p. 407
  8. ^ For example: Baker & Berenbaum 2008, p. 69; Baker & Berenbaum 2011, p. 554; Stanton 2011, pp. 370, 378