Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) is a research-proven method of therapy that helps families heal and connect. It places the focus on emotion, which while you might assume is not unique in therapy, it’s actually what makes EFFT quite unique. EFFT takes the approach that emotions are strongly linked to identity and therefore guide us in our decision-making, preferences, and communication styles.

Together with your therapist and family, you’ll learn to explore the emotions behind relationship issues to help transform old harmful habits and stuck patterns into new more supportive, and loving communication. 

EFFT was created by Dr. Sue Johnson validated by years of empirical research and has become a tested and proven intervention for families.

EFFT

In EFFT, which stands for Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, the main goal is to improve how families interact with each other. We want to make family relationships stronger and healthier. Here's how it works:

1. Fixing Negative Patterns: We start by identifying and addressing the negative ways family members interact with each other. These might be arguments or conflicts that happen over and over again.

2. Changing Parent-Child Relationships: We work on improving how parents and children communicate and connect with each other. The idea is to make these relationships better and more positive.

3. Feeling Secure: We want everyone in the family to feel safe and secure in their relationships. This sense of security comes from learning new, healthier ways to relate to each other.

4. Understanding Behavior: We also try to understand why children or teenagers behave the way they do. Sometimes, their actions are linked to their need for love and support or their fears about losing those they care about.

5. Breaking Old Patterns: Families can sometimes get stuck in unhelpful patterns of communication. These patterns may have been passed down through generations. We work to break free from these old habits.

6. Building a Strong Parenting Team: Parents play a crucial role in the process. We help parents work together as a team in raising their children.

7. Quick Progress: Sometimes, progress happens faster than you might expect. As family members become more open and willing to talk about their feelings and needs related to attachment, positive changes can happen rapidly.

In simple terms, EFFT is all about making family bonds stronger by improving the way family members talk to each other and understand each other's feelings and needs. It's like giving your family relationships a boost to make them healthier and happier.

The EFFT Approach

In EFFT, we aim to make positive changes in how families interact. We work on supporting the way parents and kids communicate and strengthening the sense of security that comes from these new ways of connecting. In EFFT therapy, we pay attention to obstacles in how parents take care of their children and try to understand why kids act the way they do by looking at their attachment needs and fears.

These obstacles happen because family members sometimes struggle to understand each other and have been hurt in the past. EFFT therapists also look at how past generations in the family have affected these issues and help families break free from old, unhelpful patterns of communication between parents, siblings, and between parents and kids.

We work with parents to make sure they are on the same page when it comes to raising their children. The process of EFFT often moves pretty quickly as family members become more open and involved in talking about their feelings and needs related to attachment.

Goals of EFFT

EFFT aims to help family members become more aware of the feelings they might not even realize they have. These feelings are often connected to the problems the family is facing.

1. Changing How We See Problems: EFFT also wants to help families look at their issues in a new way. Instead of just focusing on the problems themselves, we try to see how the way we relate to each other is making these problems worse.

2. Recognizing Care and Attachment: Another goal is to help everyone in the family understand the caring and attachment feelings behind their actions. Sometimes, we do things because we care deeply about someone, but we don't always recognize that.

3. Sharing Needs and Solutions: EFFT encourages family members to talk openly about their needs and how they can help each other better. By doing this, we can find better ways to care for one another.

Emotionally Focused Family Therapy is like a game-changer in family therapy. It's all about using emotions and the connections we have with our family members to make family life better. It's a fresh and helpful approach to working with families.