Eft steps and stages
Emotion Focused Therapy - Principles | Uses | Stages | Steps
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Emotional and Mental Health Data VerifiedWritten by
Dr. Sneha Kannan
and medically
reviewed by Dr. Seikhoo BishnoiPublished on Apr 06, 2019 and last reviewed on Nov 25, 2022 - 4 min read
Abstract
Emotion-focused therapy is a group of psychotherapy approaches given for couples having relationship problems. This article gives detailed content about them.
Contents
What is Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)?
What are the Principles that EFT Works On?
What are the uses of EFT?
What are the Stages and Steps of EFT?
What are the Techniques and Interventions used?
What is Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)?
Emotionally focused therapy or emotion-focused therapy is a group of psychotherapy approaches that help couples with relationship problems. This technique was developed by Dr.Sue Johnson and Dr.Les Greenberg in 1980s. It works on the bases that human emotions are connected to human needs. So, by activating and working through patients feelings, they can adapt and change problematic emotional states and improve their relationships.
It was found to be effective to improve couples relationships, as studies showed that 70 to 75 % of couples move from distress to recovery and approximately 90 % of couples have remarkable improvement. This recovery is stable and longlasting, and the chance of relapse of distress is very less. EFT helps couples overcome problems in their relationships, that can be caused due to one or both partners suffering from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic illness, and addiction.
What are the Principles that EFT Works On?
EFT works on the patient’s emotions in all the sessions. It works on the following three principles:
What are the uses of EFT?
Emotion-focused therapy can be used for:
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Couples with relationship problems.
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Individual who wants to learn how to interact and share emotions with others in a more healthy way.
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Families dealing with divorce, eating disorders, and children with behavioral problems.
What are the Stages and Steps of EFT?
Dr.Sue Johnson summarized three stages and nine steps treatment for distressed couples. The steps and stages are as follows:
Stage 1 - Stabilization:
This stage aims to create a stable environment for the couple to openly discuss the concerns they might have about the therapy, and whether they can trust the therapist. It also helps the therapist understand the positive and negative arguments in the past that is the root of the couple's problem. The steps in this stage are:
Step 1 - Identifying conflicts and issues between the couple.
Step 2 - Identifying the negative interaction cycle while expressing their issues.
Step 3 - Identify the emotions that are attached to this interaction cycle.
Step 4 - Reframe the problems so that unacknowledge emotions and attachments come out.
Stage 2 - Restructuring the bond:
In this stage, the couple is made to recognize their needs, and the conversations are changed based on those needs. The couple might find the new way of interaction strange and hard to accept, but once they get the hang of this new conversation method, it stops old patterns of behavior from relapsing. The steps in this stage are:
Step 5 - Identifying the self and the partner’s needs and wants.
Step 6 - Encourage them to accept the partner’s emotional experience.
Step 7 - Create new bonds and understandings based on current interactions and new emotions.
Stage 3 - Integration and consolidation:
This stage encourages the couple to use new techniques to deal with the relationship and other problems. The steps in this stage are:
Step 8 - Encourage the formation of new stories and solutions to old problems.
Step 9 - Introduce new cycles of behavior.
What are the Techniques and Interventions used?
The techniques used in EFT help patients understand and regulate their emotions properly. Here, the client is considered an expert in handling his or her problems and finding a solution. The therapist will use many techniques appropriate for the situation.
The techniques used by the therapist to build a positive relationship with the patient are:
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Empathetic listening - The therapist connects with the client by seeing things from his or her perspective.
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Genuine interaction - Helps in creating an authentic bond between the therapist and his patient.
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Repeating what the patient says (mirroring) - Makes the patient feel understood.
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Reframing experiences - The therapist tries to reframe the experience to understand it better.
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Identify and reflect the problem cycle - The therapist will identify relevant details to discuss later.
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Redirecting - The therapist will interrupt and redirect the conversation so that the root of the problem is identified.
As the patient warms up to the therapy, the therapist might use the following techniques:
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Validation - Therapist makes the patient feel that their problems are understood.
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Heightening of emotions - The therapist tries to stimulate certain emotions, so the patient understands the problem better.
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Evocative responding - Here the therapist talks about sensitive emotional experiences to clarify vague aspects of it.
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Empathetic speculation - The therapist forms theories to help the patient open up and move forward.
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Restructuring - The therapist provokes the development of new emotions and encourages healthy interactions.
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Encouragement and support - The therapist provide support and assistance in all stages of the therapy.
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Redirection - The therapist helps the patient identify the negative interactional cycle and apply newly learned strategies.
At the end of the therapy, the therapist uses:
This is not a new type of therapy, but it has been proven to be effective in solving relationship problems and also helps people with problems expressing their emotions and interactions with others. To know more about how this therapy can be helpful to improve your relationship with your spouse, consult a psychologist counselor online.
Frequently Asked Questions1.What Is the Goal of Emotionally Focussed Therapy?
Emotionally focussed therapy’s goal is to focus on what is called a “secure attachment.” This means the kind of security, protection, and comfort a partner can provide for the other, and who can be available to support their partner in creating a positive sense of self and the ability to regulate their own emotions effectively.
Emotionally focussed therapy can be applied successfully to couples struggling with relationship problems. Emotionally focussed therapy helps the couple understand themselves and their partner better; this makes it easier to interact positively with each other.
3.How Long Does Emotionally Focussed Therapy Take?Emotionally focussed therapy is designed for temporary or short term treatment. This takes around 8-20 sessions for couples therapy. For any further clarification, please consult the doctor.
4.What Is Emotion Focussed Therapy for Individuals?Emotion focussed therapy for individuals is based on the emotions of that particular person, how he or she has relationships with their family members, their partners. It focuses on the individual as a whole.
5.How Does EFT Approach Changing Emotions? Emotionally focussed therapy approaches are basically based on the premise of human emotions.
Human emotions are connected to the needs of humans, and therefore emotions have an inbuilt adaptive potential that, if activated and thoroughly worked, can help people change their problematic emotional stress and their interpersonal relationships.
Emotion focussed therapy for individuals is considered to be an empirically supported treatment for depression, according to the American Psychological Association. Also, some studies have suggested that this is also effective in the treatment of interpersonal problems, trauma, and avoidant personality disorder.
7.What Are the Three Theories of Emotions? The theories of emotion are divided into three major categories:
- Physiological theories: our responses within the body are responsible for emotions
- Neurological theories: activity within the brain leads to an emotional response
- Cognitive theories: Thoughts and other mental activity form the emotions
What Are the Stages of EFT? The stages of EFT are:
- Stage 1: Stabilization (assessment and de-escalation phase).
- Stage 2: Restructuring the bond (changing the phase of the interactional position).
- Stage 3: Integration and consolidation.
Tapping should be approximately three to five times on each point a day for a few minutes. There is no need to count the taps because anywhere between three and seven taps on each position is more than adequate.
10.Can EFT Be Harmful? EFT is gentle, and rarely does it have any severe side effects. Some feelings like anger, anxiety, uneasiness, sadness, or worsening of the situations may arise. Although these are not the side effects of EFT, nor is there anything wrong with the person. It may generally be due to regret of previous decisions or choices, clearing major traumas, inbuilt anxiety, or fear, or some part of the person may be sad.
Faster EFT tapping really works. This can happen only if the person taps persistently, and refuses to settle for anything but total freedom from anxiety and stress. It is more important to fix your mind than your energy.
12.What Is Emotionally Focussed Therapy for Couples?Emotionally focussed therapy was traditionally used for couples. It focuses on building the relationship between the couples and to create more positivity for the self. This helps them to support their partners and give them security and protection.
13.Emotion Focussed Therapy Is Based on What Psychological Therapy? Emotion focussed therapy draws principles mainly from cognitive-behavioral, person-centered, and Gestalt therapies. There are also some aspects of Piaget’s studies on how people solve problems. When the EFT is directed toward couple therapy, it references systemic interactional perspectives.
Gender usually plays a vital role in emotion focussed therapy. Each gender showcases different emotions in the same situations. So it is essential to focus on the needs of the gender and react accordingly.
15.How to deescalate emotion focussed therapy?The key to deescalate emotion-focused therapy is identifying the relational conflict issues that arise between the partners. Then one should identify the negative interaction cycle where these issues might have been expressed.
16.How is emotion focussed therapy different from other therapies? In emotion focussed therapy, the main focus for intervention is designed for couples, individuals, and family members to understand their emotions and their significant others in their lives. It is based on their interpersonal relationship, and other therapies do not focus on that.
Last reviewed at:
25 Nov 2022 - 4 min read
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Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi
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Tags:
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Addiction
- Emotion Focused Therapy
- Stages And Steps Of Eft
- Couples With Relationship Problems.
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EFT for Couples: 9 Steps to a Stronger, More Secure, and Happier Marriage
Research shows the following:
- 70-75 percent of couples move from distress to recovery. These couples report being much happier with each other (compared to 35 percent for cognitive-behavioral counseling).
- 90 percent of couples make significant improvements due to EFT.
- The EFT for couples dropout rate is negligible.
Perhaps now, Emotionally Focused Therapy has your full attention. Let’s learn more about what it is and how it works.
What is EFT for Couples?The foundation of EFT is built upon partners recognizing their emotional dependence on each other. This includes:
- Love
- Comfort
- Support
- Protection
- Emotional security
When couples feel such safety in their relationship, they grow far more comfortable with navigating difficult situations and feelings.
Hence, EFT teaches us that we may already possess good communication skills. But, it’s not enough.
Emotional security must also be present in order for such skills to be properly and regularly applied. This belief is a component of “attachment theory.”
Attachment, of course, is not a one-time event. It’s ongoing and fluid. EFT helps couples grow in this process, with one of the goals being a deeper, more secure emotional connection. From this springs more loving and productive interactions.
Some Goals When Utilizing EFT for Couples- Re-organize our palette of emotional responses
- Create new cycles of communication
- Cultivate a more secure bond between partners
EFT for couples is divided into three stages. Steps 1 through 4 (below) constitute the “Assessment and Cycle De-escalation” stage. The second stage is “Changing Interaction Patterns and Creating New Bonds” and consists of steps 5, 6, and 7.
The final two steps make up a stage called “Consolidation and Integration.”
STAGE 1: ASSESSMENT AND CYCLE DE-ESCALATION
1. Identify primary issues of concern. Set goals. Then, assess your relationship history.
2. Identify negative patterns in your interactions. Work with your therapist to trace past patterns.
3. Recognize previously unacknowledged attachment-related emotions. Identify the feelings “underneath” your behavioral patterns and discuss this “underneath” with your partner.
4. With help from your therapist, reframe all of the above into categories. Especially relevant to your relationship are negative cycles, underlying feelings, and attachment needs categories. Subsequently, use this time to assess your emotional cycle and identify triggers each step of the way.
STAGE 2: CHANGING INTERACTIONAL POSITIONS AND CREATING NEW BONDING EVENTS
5. Partners voice their attachment needs and define whatever emotions have been previously disowned.
6.
Listen and accept. While each partner responds with compassion to the other partner’s expressed needs and emotions, sometimes those needs and emotions take you by surprise and require processing.
7. Your therapist coaches you on how you’re expressing your attachment needs, your fears, and your new interactional goals. In addition, couples work more deeply with listening and acceptance. As a result, they work more purposefully towards the goal of “being there” for each other.
STAGE 3: CONSOLIDATION/ INTEGRATION
8. Work on ways to apply your new communication styles and techniques while discussing old problems to create new solutions. This includes time outside of the therapy session environment. Then, it’s time to re-visit issues that have been put on hold.
9. Consolidate. Blend all your developing skills with the awareness of new closeness and deeper bonds. Begin to work together on future plans. Also, don’t forget to celebrate your efforts. Create rituals too.
In addition, be sure to set up safeguards to address concerns as they arise.
Again, EFT for couples has an extremely strong track record.
However, its intangible power may lie beyond the research studies. Most of all, Emotionally Focused Therapy reminds couples how much they need each other!
Contact Us
To find out more about EFT couples therapy for you and your partner contact our intake team at the Center for Mindful Psychotherapy: call us at (415) 766-0276; or email us at [email protected].
what are you on? — Dulat Smagulov on vc.ru
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Knowing the stages of personal development is essential if you want to be successful.
Many people want to achieve more in their lives, and only a few of them know that there are certain stages of personal development, and it takes a lot of work and time to continue growth.
When it comes to self-development, people often think about achieving short-term goals, when it is an ongoing process that lasts a lifetime.
The more you know, the better, and the main principle of self-development is to gain knowledge, improve skills and get out of your comfort zone.
You have many reasons for self-development, and the most important of them is that self-development can change your life for the better. Personal development takes a lot of time and effort, but it pays off if you are a goal-oriented person who gets better day by day.
Self-development is a long process consisting of certain stages of personal development, and knowing where you are is crucial if you want to take one step further and move to the next level.
Stage #1: Self-discovery
This is the first stage where you start to think about your strengths and weaknesses, analyze yourself. Self-knowledge helps you understand yourself better, learn more about your needs, and decide if you want to achieve more or not.
Personal development is impossible without self-knowledge, because you need to know where you are going in order to improve your skills and knowledge.
Stage # 2: Compare
After knowing yourself, you need to know others, especially those who seem better than you. While we all know it's bad to compare yourself to others, it's the starting point if you want to get better.
Most of us get jealous when we see someone's success. When you want to know their secret, the comparison begins. Although all people are different and we have different opportunities in life, we all know that there are some specific skills that help us achieve success faster.
If you can learn from others and start working on new skills, that's great! But:
The key to success is to compare yourself to yourself in order to analyze wins and losses. When you know your weaknesses, you can work on them and get better.
Stage # 3: Modification
If you want to take the bull by the horns and start developing your skills, you are in the third stage of personal development. When you start thinking about changing your life for the better by improving your knowledge, skills, and attitudes, change begins.
It doesn't matter why the change happened. Whether it's inspiration from top billionaires or the struggle for a better life, the modification stage allows you to try to evolve and is an important step towards growth.
Step #4: Accept
Now you know what you want to achieve in your life, and perhaps you know how much effort and time it takes to start changing for the better.
You know your weaknesses and are ready to accept them. After all, no one is perfect and you don't have to blame yourself for who you are. Self-acceptance helps you appreciate yourself, even through criticism.
Stage # 5: Planning
Do you want to learn a foreign language? Or do you want to start drawing? Whatever your choice, prioritize and plan for growth.
- Set short and long term goals
- Write a plan
- Write down your accomplishments
Planning is important for your self-development because it helps you to move in the right direction and analyze your achievements.
Step #6: Realizing Your Potential
Self-development requires hard work and struggle against your doubts and fears. When you step out of your comfort zone, you unlock your potential.
To grow daily, be aware of your value and importance. Try everything that interests you, even if you are afraid of failure. You won't be able to discover your talent until you try. However, you need to be patient, because it is impossible to grow as a person if you want a quick result.
Stage # 7: Self-development
Once you have gone through all the stages of personal development, you begin to grow because you have goals, plans and a desire to continue to develop.
This stage is long, because personal growth has no time limits. As they say, the sky is the limit, and you can never reach it, because not everyone knows for sure.
If self-development is an important part of your life, never give up and keep striving for more and more.
After all, personal development is a never-ending process that helps you keep your work-life balance and stay happy no matter what obstacles you face.
“When you focus on becoming the best person you are, you attract a better life, love, and opportunity.” – Germany Kent
So which stage of personal development best describes you? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
Guide for an expat: how to adapt in another country ‹ GO Blog
Studying abroad can change your life dramatically: it happens that people fall in love with a new country and begin to dream of moving for a long time. But it is difficult to take such a step. For example, many are hindered by the fear of forever remaining a stranger in a new society. The image of the Russian diaspora abroad adds fuel to the fire: many people know examples of people who, even after twenty years in exile, did not learn the language, communicate only with former compatriots and live in a closed community.
This article will discuss how these fears are justified and what options for relations with the new culture exist.
Adaptation
Adaptation is the first and basic stage after a change of environment, in which a person adapts to new conditions. The speed of passing through this stage depends on the internal flexibility and willingness to learn new things. And literally everything has to learn: even simple actions turn into complex tasks that require much more time and emotional and intellectual stress.
You need to get used to the new map of the city - remember the way to the university, shop, bank. To a different transport system - if you could read or sleep in the subway in a relaxed way before, now you will most likely be tensely watching how not to pass your stop, not to mention the stress due to expensive travel or a complex procedure for issuing a pass. To a completely new assortment in stores and the absence of familiar products (try to find buckwheat in the USA - the challenge is doable, but extremely energy-intensive!).
And to a different schedule for these stores - in many European cities everything is closed on Sundays, round-the-clock supermarkets are a rarity. And this is not counting the non-obvious everyday rules: for example, it was a huge surprise for me to find out that in many German houses it is forbidden to wash and vacuum on Sundays, otherwise sanctions from the neighbors will follow.
Even if it is a short trip abroad, for example, for 2-4 weeks, this stage cannot be avoided, but adaptation is perceived differently. Knowing that he is leaving soon, a person does not associate getting used to new conditions with the success of his future life in general, and treats the surrounding reality more like an outside observer. The experience gained will be different for someone who lived in a residence / hostel, and how they chose to live in a homestay. In the second case, there is an opportunity to see the life and everyday life of another country from the inside, to look at details that are not relevant for the student environment.
It is difficult to say how long it takes on average to adapt. It depends on many factors: personal experience, knowledge of the language, age, circumstances of the trip. The good news is that most expats adapt in one way or another. In just a couple of weeks, you can master the first independent steps: for example, explore your area and find interesting places outside the tourist guide.
When the first "culture shock" passes and a person begins to feel more confident in a new environment, the problem of choice arises: to stop at this or move on to the next stage.
See also: "Working abroad: safety for immigrants"
Integration
The processes were given by my friend, who has been living in Berlin for two and a half years. If in the course of adaptation a person only gets to know and adjusts to a new environment, then in the course of integration he begins to actively interact with it and influence it. One of the most comfortable options for integration is studying abroad.
The student environment, as a rule, implies internationality and great mobility, the opportunity to make new friends and lay the foundation for a future career in another country. In addition, they go to school mostly alone, which motivates them to make new contacts more than a later move with the family.
In order to speed up the integration process, many countries offer integration courses to newcomers. They include familiarity with history, political structure, legal system, basic laws, culture and values. It is assumed that the successful assimilation of this information will help the immigrant not only feel comfortable at the household level, but also understand the internal processes in society and find a place in it. Of course, attending one educational course is not enough. Full integration consists of working in the local language environment, establishing new contacts, getting to know the current culture. Again, the earlier a person leaves, the easier and smoother this process goes.
This is especially true of studying at a foreign university: communication with local students, teachers, attending student events help to gradually become a full-fledged member of society.
At the stage of integration, a person is already confident enough to start creating something: open his own startup or organize a reading circle - the main thing is that all the energy is not spent on overcoming everyday tasks. It opens up more opportunities for work, creativity and communication.
In general, if a person can call himself integrated, then, most likely, everything is fine with him in emigration, he feels confident and comfortable, and he managed to find a balance between preserving his native culture and accepting the norms of a new one.
See also: " Moving to Berlin and life in exile"
Is it possible to become "one's own"?
Let's answer this way: the idea itself that being "one's own" in another society is important and necessary is often irrelevant.
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