Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotionally focused therapy is an approach used by psychiatrists in dealing with couples. Psychiatrists have also started applying it when dealing with families and other issues outside the couple. The work of counselors is in most cases to facilitate healing, growth, and wholeness of the human being (Hohenshil, 2010, p.5). Counseling can be done to an individual, a family, a couple, a group of individuals and others. The therapeutic goal of counseling is to restructure the personalities of individuals involved (Doss, Rhoades, Stanley & Markman, 2009, p.21). This will help them to uncover the unconscious, create social instrument, and help individuals to find some meaning in their lives. Therapeutic counseling also helps to cure emotional disturbance, reduce anxiety, develop trust, and become more self-actualizing. Through it, individuals are capable of examining old decisions and make new ones, shed maladaptive behaviors and learn adaptive patterns, and gain more control of their self (Whelton, 2004, para.4).
The principles of emotional theory and attachment theory are very useful in applying the therapy. It aims at changing the problematic emotional states or the experiences that some individuals go through. A psychiatrist achieves this by activating the emotions in a client so that the emotions in the client can adapt to the problem in hand. The emotions of an individual are connected to the essential needs of the specific individual (Greenberg & Goldman, 2008, 34). Whenever there is a chance for advancement, emotions alert an individual of the situation. The emotions also guide an individual when going through these situations that help meet his or her needs. Emotionally Focused Therapy is used to help individual manage their emotional experience.
As stated before, EFT arose from emotional theory and attachment theory (Crawley & Grant, 2005, para.6). Emotional theory has an argument that the experiences of an individual in the world make the nervous system top trigger some physiological events. Physiological changes in turn trigger emotions but do not case the emotions. On the other hand, attachment theory argues that if the attachment security is not certain, an individual may harass his or her spouse in response to the attachment cues. The individual does not even mind on the impact of his or her actions to the relationship. The therapy started being developed in the 1980s and is more humanistic but having less of the behavioral features. The methods developed are based on research that have taken place for over thirty years it explains how people change in therapy to know, express, and regulate their emotions. This helps individuals in a couple to avoid some emotions and assume other emotions that would better their relationship (Anker, Duncan & Sparks, 2009, p.697). As a matter of fact, emotion is a powerful and necessary agent of change. The model emphasizes on using emotion to change emotions. EFT entails reprocessing and reframing of emotions in order to repair the injuries caused by attachment. According to EFT, emotions are very important in the experience of self. Emotionally focused therapy is applied in both adaptive and maladaptive functioning and in therapeutic change. For change to take place, an individual must be aware of some experience and reflect on it. An individual undergoing EFT is therefore made to experience a maladaptive emotion which helps him transform it. The individual adapts another emotional state after experiencing a moment of fear and shame.
According to Compton (2008), when members of the American military return from war from Iraq and Afghanistan, they face many challenges and this may negatively affect their families and couples. He argues that EFT is very effective in dealing with such people. It is important in that it helps reduce interpersonal conflict; increases social support, and address experimental avoidance which maintaining the posttraumatic symptoms. Combat veterans and their partners are exposed to the emotional focused therapy that helps reduce conflict and increase intimacy through acceptance. The individuals are exposed to the therapy to emotions, interpersonal situations and activities that help them recover from the distress related to the combat. The therapy helps them relate with their couples just like they used to before going for the war.
The emotionally Focused therapy is well developed and tested top ensure effectiveness. It is empirically tested and has been proved to deal with problems experienced by couples effectively. The model integrates systems, experiential and attachment theories that help make it more effective (Church, Geronilla & Dinter, 2009, p.76). The integrated model addresses the roles of each partner in a couple. It also looks at emotional experiences of the partners using a systematic framework. These help in understanding the interactions of the couple. This model benefits practitioners by providing them with a relevant approach for addressing the issues and challenges that emerge from couples of different sexes. EFP focuses on the creation of a secure attachment that is effective for distressed couples. It is capable of dealing with one or both individuals in a couple in case of a trauma. Trauma in this case defines a wound. It occurs when an individual is confronted with a threat that overwhelms him or her. It evokes responses of helplessness, horror and intense terror (Mertens, 2009, p. 79). Relational trauma includes events such as miscarriage, childhood sexual abuse, combat and others. An individual experiencing trauma may develop other complications such as acute stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other disorders. The emotionally focused therapy will help an individual undergoing such experiences experience the situation and adapt to new emotions.
During the first few years of its discovery, emotionally focused therapy was seen as an evidence based method for treating depression and for conflicts experienced by couples (Johnson, 2004, p.76). Continued research led to advancements where it has now been found useful in treating trauma, interpersonal problems and eating disorders. The model will continue to advance and solve more problems facing not only couples but also other individuals. Its ability to focus on inner emotional experiences with interpersonal, systematic perspectives enables it to cover a wide range of issues.
The emotionally focused therapy takes place over a course of nine stages. It reprocesses emotion to help an individual adapt to new emotions. In the first three steps, the specialist aims at de-escalating the negative cycle (Christensen & Heavey, 1999, p. 167). The therapist in this case identifies secondary emotions that are hidden and comes up with a method of reframing them in terms of attachment. The therapist also shifts to some interaction patterns that contribute to the relationship distress. He or she widens the world of experience and acceptance of both partners by identifying the attachment needs that the partners have left behind them. He or she also helps them own up their underlying emotions. The couples learn to accept each other’s partner experiences and developing a new interaction pattern (Eastaugh & Sternal, 2010, para.4). The partners are required to nurture the new interaction patterns. They are encouraged to try new things and feel safe while doing it. The last processes of reprocessing the emotions using EFT involve consolidating new responses. Here, the couple and the therapist recognize new responses to the old problems that the couple experienced. The position of each partner and their attachment behaviors are also recognized.
When a therapist is attending to a couple that has experienced trauma, there are certain factors that he or she has to consider. The first factor is the fact that traumatized couples goes through higher level of distress that non-traumatized couples (Eastaugh & Sternal, 2010, para.11). The therapist will therefore conduct a slow therapy with a traumatized couple than non-traumatized couple. Instead of giving pathology, a pathologist works closely with the victims to find out how they define the criteria, names and codes for their experience. The therapist moves the attachment from the self to the other partner in a couple. The couples explain their boundaries to the therapist who helps them go about it. Emotionally focused therapy has been proved to be the most effective in dealing with cases of trauma and other differences between couples (Dandeneau, & Johnson, 1994, p. 18). The secondary effects of trauma on one partner may affect the other partner for the rest of his or her life. The therapist should be keen enough to help the couple get out of this condition. In general, many articles talk of emotional focused therapy as evidence based model that helps couples solve their differences even in the worst conditions.
Reference
Anker, G.M., Duncan, B.L., & Sparks, J.A. (2009). Using Client feedback to improve couple therapy outcomes: A randomized clinical trial in a naturalistic setting. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77 (4), 693-704.
Christensen, A., & Heavey, C.L. (1999). Interventions for couples. Annual Review of Psychology 50, 165-190. Annual Reviews.
Church, D., Geronilla, L., & Dinter, I. (2009). Psychological Symptom Change in Veterans after Six Sessions of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT): An Observational Study. The International of Healing and Caring. 9(1).
Crawley, J. & Grant, J. (2005) Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and Attachment Theory. Web.
Dandeneau, M. L., & Johnson, S. M. (1994) Facilitating intimacy: Interventions and effects. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 20 (1), 17-27.
Doss, B.D., Rhoades, G.K., Stanley, S.M., & Markman, H.J. (2009). Marital therapy, retreats, and books: The who, what, when and why of relationship seeking. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 35(1), 18-29.
Eastaugh, B. & Sternal, C. (2010) Treating Traumatized couples using Emotionally Focused Therapy. Web.
Hohenshil, T.H. (2010). International Counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 88(1) 3-15.
Johnson, S.M. (2004). The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (2nd Edition). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.
Mertens, D. (2009). Research and evaluation in education and psychology (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Whelton, J. W. (2004) Emotional Processes in Psychotherapy: evidence across Therapeutic Modalities. Clinical Psychology and psychotherapy Journal. Pp.58-71.