Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

EFT is based on the idea that emotions are central to our identity and are the primary source of meaning in our lives.

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

EFT is based on the idea that emotions are central to our identity and are the primary source of meaning in our lives. Instead of suppressing or reasoning away emotions, EFT helps people access, process, and reorganise emotional experiences to support healthier patterns. For example, it is a very common misconception that ‘we must never become angry’. However EFT would counteract this statement and support you owning your anger and frustration in a healthy way – as we can all at times become angry and frustrated. Often displaying anger in a correct and least harmful or offensive way can actually be a very healthy coping mechanism. A prime example of this would be channelling your anger into exercise (punching a punch bag or your feet hitting the ground firmly as you run).

It is important that clients can own their emotions and accept that we all feel a variety of emotions at varying times.

EFT draws heavily from:

Humanistic psychology (especially Carl Rogers)
Attachment theory
Contemporary emotion science

The Five Core Principles of EFT

Emotions guide behaviour and decision-making
EFT helps clients understand what their emotions are trying to communicate.
Emotional processing leads to change
Emotional processing leads to change. People heal when they feel emotions in a safe, structured way—rather than avoid or get overwhelmed by them. Examples in therapy include a therapist sitting and offering high levels of empathy to their client. It isn't the therapists' role to 'fix' a client and sometimes just hearing them out is enough for the client to feel contained and validated.
Therapeutic relationship is central - promoting and rewriting the client's thoughts on their previous attachments
The therapist provides empathy, warmth, and validation to create a safe environment for exploring feelings.

What Happens in EFT Sessions?

EFT restructures emotional meaning. You can then experience new emotional responses which can help you respond differently when a situation, or certain feeling rises again.

EFT often uses structured “tasks,” like:

Two-chair dialogues for self-conflict.
Empty-chair dialogues for unresolved relationships – A key concept that originated from the Gestalt Theory which focuses on the ‘sum of parts’ or parts of the self’. We can all behave and act differently at varying times.
Emotion coaching (in couples work)

Depending on the format (individual or couples), a therapist may help clients:

Identify and label emotions (helping client's own their emotions and promoting validation.
Differentiate between primary (deep, authentic) and secondary (reactive) emotions - offering suggestions or strategies to support a client for when these emotions or feelings arise again.
Access avoided or suppressed feelings - helping a client to unlock these difficult emotions possibly from their past or a previous traumatic experience.