Method
Emotion-focused therapy (EFT)
Understanding your emotions and working with them rather than against them, on your own or as a couple.
- What is it?
- Emotions tell us what matters to us and what we need. Emotion-focused therapy sees them as central to change. Some feelings are hard to notice or put into words; others can feel overwhelming. For couples there is a related approach, emotionally focused couples therapy, which looks at the emotional bond between partners.
- How we work
- In sessions we slow down and notice what you feel, including what hurts, and what those feelings are telling you. With couples, we look at the pattern you get stuck in, for example one of you pushing and the other pulling away, and at the needs underneath it.
- When it can help
- It's used for depression, anxiety and the after-effects of painful experiences, and with couples whose conflict or distance keeps coming back.