Change in EFT is presumed to occur, not from insight, catharsis, or improved skills per se, but from the formulation and expression of new emotional experience that transforms the nature of the interactional drama, particularly as it pertains to attachment needs and emotions. Basic premise: Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT) is attachment based and conceptualizes the negative, rigid interaction patterns and absorbing negative affect that typify distress in couple relationships in terms of emotional disconnection and insecure attachment.Modest: Support from one well-designed study or several adequately designed studies.Ĭontroversial: Conflicting results, or claims regarding mechanisms are unsupported.įind a Therapist specializing in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. Treatment pending re-evaluation 1998 EST Status: Strong Research Support Strong: Support from two well-designed studies conducted by independent investigators. Insufficient Evidence: Existing meta-analyses are not of sufficient quality Insufficient Evidence: No meta-analytic study could be identified Weak: Low or very low-quality evidence that treatment produces clinically meaningful effects on symptoms or functional outcomes Gains from the treatment may not warrant resources involved Strong: Moderate- to high-quality evidence that treatment improves symptoms OR functional outcomes not a high risk of harm reasonable use of resources Very strong: High-quality evidence that treatment improves symptoms and functional outcomes at post-treatment and follow-up little risk of harm requires reasonable amount of resources effective in non-research settings 2015 EST Status: Treatment pending re-evaluation

Emotionally focused therapy for couples