Emotional Focused Couples Therapy

Emotion Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) is an empirically supported approach to counselling that has been demonstrated to be effective in treating a variety of issues, including depression, anxiety, trauma, grief and loss, and couples distress.

EFCT places significant value on emotional processing and attachment needs. One of the premises of EFCT is that, in counselling and in life, emotions are equally as valid and important as cognitions and behaviours are. Since emotions provide important information about how one is functioning, they need to be carefully examined and processed in and out of session. In EFCT, a person gains a better understanding of why they are struggling and learn more effective ways to process emotions, including the more difficult ones.

EFCT is also becoming one of the most prominent and research supported approaches to working with couples. In couples work, the EFCT therapist initially focuses on secondary emotions that organize unhealthy interactions (the cycle) between partners. After identifying these emotions and patterns, the therapist works with each partner to experience their primary emotions and unmet needs that are underneath the cycle. When this is happens, each partner gains a much clearer understanding of how and why they react and learn how to respond to each other in a more caring and compassionate way. The end result is an increased sense of connection and a relationship that both partners can feel really good about.

EFCT tends to be brief in duration (12-30 sessions).

If you want more information on EFCT please visit the EFCT site.