Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) is a therapeutic approach based on the premise that emotions are key to identity. According to EFT, emotions are also a guide for individual choice and decision making. This type of therapy assumes that lacking emotional awareness or avoiding unpleasant emotions can cause harm. It may render us unable to use the important information emotions provide.
Therapists qualified in EFT can help people seeking assistance with a range of concerns. These therapists may help people learn to become more aware of their emotions. EFT also allows people to become better at using information provided by adaptive emotions. People may be better able to cope with and decrease negative effects of maladaptive emotions.
In this approach to treatment, the therapist and the person in therapy collaborate in an active process. Both are viewed as equal contributors. The person in treatment, not the therapist, is seen as the person most capable of interpreting their emotional experience.
EFT is founded in the idea that emotions should be used to guide healthy, meaningful lives. Its theory is based on a scientific inquiry into the human emotional experience. Scientific study of human emotion has provided information about:
Emotion schemes is the core concept of EFT. It was developed largely from these theories of human emotion. Emotion schemes are models that outline how emotion can:
EFT helps people both accept and change their personal emotion schemes.
EFT sessions typically center around the development of two key skills. These are:
Therapists practicing this method take a compassionate, non-judgmental, and reflective approach to listening and questioning. This allows the person in therapy come to a better understanding of their emotions. Then, various therapeutic techniques known as emotion coaching are utilized. These help people learn new ways to use healthy emotions to guide their actions. Emotion coaching may further help people transform and move on from challenging emotions.
Initial sessions of therapy focus on helping people arrive at emotions. One or more of the following goals are often included in each session:
The next phase of treatment focuses on leaving. It may include the following goals:
EFT is generally thought to have been successful when the person in treatment has an increased awareness of their emotional experience. They may also have an improved ability to regulate emotions and be better able to transform unhelpful emotions.
Unsuccessful attempts to control emotions may exacerbate many issues that bring people to therapy. People who experience depression, for example, may spend large amounts of time avoiding situations that lower their mood. People who experience anxiety might often feel debilitated by their attempts to reduce fear and worry. They may try to stay as far away as possible from the people or things that provoke anxiety.
Through EFT, people may come to see their emotions as valuable sources of information instead of painful or difficult states. They may learn to experience, rather than suppress, these emotions. EFT addresses the regulation and impact of emotions. Emotions impact many mental health concerns. Due to this, EFT may offer benefit in the treatment of many psychological issues.
This method was first used to treat depression. It has since expanded in practice to be used to address:
EFT has also been found to be potentially effective in working with couples in distress.
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