Emotionally Focused Therapy

Emotionally focused therapy is designed to be short-term in structure. Developed principally by Dr. Susan Johnson, the main target of this type of therapy is couples and is focused on expressing emotions. The primary goal of emotionally focused therapy is to create a safe and long-lasting bond between romantic partners and family members while expanding and restructuring significant emotional responses. Partakers in emotionally focused therapy are emboldened to express their thoughts and emotions in a safe environment without fear of judgment. In this paper, we will discuss a therapy session between Sue Johnson and a couple, Leslie and Scott.

The therapy conceptualize distress in terms of attachment dilemmas in which ineffective responses to attachment needs drive family communication problem, creating parenting dysfunctions and exacerbating symptoms associated with individual psychopathology (Johnson et al., 1998). At the same time EFFT focus in the family patterns of emotional distress related to problematic behaviors or psychological symptoms of children. It is important to focus in patterns to explore how the behavior if any started to become a problem. The therapy should be in place for the attachment issues that is creating in Sally, it will create better coping and strategies skills to improve the independency in

Emotion focused therapy (EFT) uses multiple techniques to illicit emotional reconstruction. “By bringing awareness, regulation, reflection and transformation” (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p. 160) to the forefront, the client, has the ability to focus on those emotions and recognize the maladaptive strategies used to alleviate these responses. Within EFT validation is key in promoting congruence, positive regard and empathy. “Validation is the processes of letting the [client] know that the therapist views their needs and reactions as understandable, valid, and normal” (Denton, Johnson, & Burleson, 2009). By allowing the client to lead the session and reflecting the client’s emotions back to her you reinforced to the client that it was safe

Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) was developed by Dr. Susan Johnson and Dr. Leslie Greenberg in the 1980s’. EFFT is a structured, short-term approach to couples, family, and individual therapy. Emotionally Focused Family Therapy tries to shift the emotional and cognitive balance by highlighting the key role of the knowledge of adaptive emotion in therapeutic transformation. EFFT includes components of person-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, systemic therapy, constructivist therapy, and attachment theory. I chose this intervention for the Winters family because it focuses on both interpersonal and intrapsychic systemic processes on the emotional system (Gehart, 2014).

Before starting the discussion of emotion-focused therapy, it is very important to have an understanding of what emotion is. Historically, emotions were seen as nonspecific and disruptive; however more recent analyses have emphasized the functions that emotions serve (Hebb, 1949). Although emotions address different adaptive problems, they generally facilitate decision making, prepare the individual for rapid motor responses and provide information regarding the ongoing match between organism and environment (Schwarz & Clore, 1983). In addition to this, emotion also serves as a social function for they inform us about others’ behavioral intentions, give us clues as to whether something is good or bad and control our social behavior (Greenberg & Safran, 1987). From an emotion-focused perspective, according to Greenberg (2004), emotion disorder is seen as a result of more failures in the dyadic regulation of affect, avoidance of affect, traumatic

Family therapy is a form of psychotherapy employed to assist members of a family in improving communication systems, conflict resolution, and to help the family to deal with certain problems that manifest in the behavior of members. In most cases, deviance in a family member is an indication of underlying family dysfunctions. This paper looks the counselling procedure that can be applied to help the Kline family solve their problems. It answers certain questions including those of the expected challenges during therapy and ways of dealing with the challenges.

I will be using Emotion Focused Therapy, and in particular will concentrate on Attachment Theory within EFT to conceptualize Ally’s presenting difficulties that she came to therapy for. A key premise of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is that emotion is foundational in the construction of the self and is a key element of self organization (Greenberg, 2004). Emotions are seen as an adaptive form of information-processing and action readiness that orients people to their environment, and promotes their well-being (Greenberg, 2004). The goal of EFT is to use our emotional intelligence in a way that allows our emotions to guide us instead of being a slave to them (Greenberg, 2004). Emotions are important because they inform people that an important need, value, or goal may be advanced or harmed in a situation (Greenberg, 2004). Through our development, emotional experience, culture, and our biologically and evolutionary based internal programs, our emotional responses have created emotion schemas (Greenberg, 2004). These are organized responses and experiences produce units stored in our memory that serve to help us to anticipate future outcomes (Greenberg, 2004). Although our emotional schemes are meant to be adaptive, by helping us guide our actions appropriately, it is clear that due to negative experiences, one can create maladaptive responses/schemas to different types of situations that do not properly inform people about a need, value, or goal appropriately (Greenberg,

Experiential family therapy is one that believes the root cause of the problems in the families is a result of emotional suppression. This theory is focused on freedom experiencing emotions in the here-and-now. Experiential family therapists believe clients should seek self-fulfillment and focus on individual’s roles in the family rather than on the family as a whole. In order to promote growth, the individual and family must both grow. Once families are emotionally healthy, healthy attachments can then be made. I am drawn to this approach because of its focus on the individual. I believe that if individuals are healthy, family roles will become clearer and the system as a whole will become healthier. It is similar to when a spoiled piece

I also found the three theories for this week readings interesting in general. Emotive behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy, in my point of view, are so similar that using both in therapy would be a good mix in order to help clients. An interesting disadvantage when using rational emotive behavioral therapy in counseling children, according to Henderson and Thompson (2011), is the fact that children do not generalize well from one situation to another. Therefore, the “improved behavior may be limited to the specific circumstances” (Henderson & Thompson, 2011, p. 403).

Experiential family therapy (EFT) was first developed in the 1960’s by physician and psychotherapy pioneer Carl Whitaker and is aimed at helping individual family members feel fulfilled and self-actualized within the family unit by means of improving cooperation and intimacy among family members. Unlike other schools of family therapy, EFT does not focus on the perceived problems of individual family members but examines how family interactions and communications cause problems for the individual family members. It is important to remember that, due to the level of interpersonal involvement needed in this style of therapy it requires every family member involved to fully participate in the process. For optimum effectiveness, the family should already be relatively stable.</p> Whitaker’s approach to EFT is known as the symbolic-experiential model. This model emphasizes immediate, here-and-now experiences rather than the introspective methods of earlier theories and promotes emotional expression as a medium of shared experience and as a means of both personal and family fulfillment. Symbolic-experiential family therapy is predicated on the existential idea that there is a great deal more to a family’s dynamics and existence than is empirically observable; unconscious dynamics, histories of shared and individual experiences, secrets, etc. This model attempts to integrate two different aspects of human experience; experience and “symbols.” Experience is what is taken in

art to doing this work (p-1). In emotionally focused couples’ therapy, in order to expand

When an individual or family results to therapy, there is often specific tensions and concerns that have to some degree remained unresolved (O'Gorman, 2012). Family Therapy serves as a psychological intervention to assist in resolving problems, addressing roles in the family, dealing with marital discord, separation and divorce, delinquency and any other family-related issues. Family therapy was first discovered about a decade after World War II, when psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, marriage counselors, pastoral counselors not only wanted to just provide individual treatment but look into family relationships (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). In the past, problems were often dealt with by institutions,

have continued to the present. Research is the back-bone of family therapy because through it family therapists can prove that what they do is beneficial, unique, and practical (Gladding, 2011). Fortunately, family therapy re-search indicates that treating families is at least equal in effectiveness to that of working with individuals. Particularly encouraging are findings that show the importance of therapists’ relationship skills and the critical nature

Two different psychotherapies approaches were implemented in the Gloria videos each video highlighted the respective approach of each psychotherapist. Albert Ellis who established the Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) and Fritz Perls who developed the Gestalt approach. Each therapy section in the video was about 30 minutes where each psychotherapist got the opportunity to explain his theory, interview Gloria and then discuses and explain the his founding. The main different between these two different approaches can be explained by the effect of the interaction between the therapist and Gloria. The Gestalt approach focus on self-awareness and the present rather than the Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), which focus on the cognitive, emotional and behavioral conflicts.

Have you ever been to therapy/group therapy, know what it’s like to be there and to talk with others about everything going on or with the things you do/have done in your past, or even know anyone who is in it? I have been in group therapy for quite awhile now for a couple of mental illnesses and issues that I have which include severe depression, bipolar, anxiety, panic, anger issues, adhd, self-harm, troubled sleeping and eating, suicidal with a high risk, along with a series of abuse of drugs and alcohol. I am very isolated and most of the time all I do is lay in bed and do literally nothing because I never feel like doing anything. I have been struggling through these things for about 2 and a half years but going to therapy/group therapy and taking some of the prescribed medicine really does help a lot. From going to all the therapy/group therapy along with taking the prescribed medication has helped me quite a bit, I still have a hard time with my depression and a few other things but I am slowly recovering which takes forever but I am so glad that I am because I can 't stand feeling all this and going through all this but once it is over it’ll definitely be worth the time and hard work doing the things I am doing to recover. The therapists I have, Ty and Sheila are very good people, they listen to everyone and will help do everything they can to be there. There will always be some therapists around you so you can talk to them while they will