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Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) is a short-term psychotherapy approach to working with couples and more recently with families. It includes elements of experimental, person-centered, constructivist, and systems theory, but is firmly established in attachment theory. Emotionally focused therapy proposes that emotions themselves have an innately adaptive potential that, if activated, can help clients change problematic emotional states or unwanted self-experiences. Emotions themselves do not inhibit the therapeutic process, but people’s incapability to manage emotions and use them well is seen as the problem. Emotions are connected to our most essential needs. They rapidly alert us to situations important to our advancement. They also prepare and guide us in these important situations to take action towards meeting our needs. Clients undergoing EFT are helped to better identify, experience, explore, make sense of, transform and flexibly manage their emotional experiences.

Stages in the EFT process
1. Stabilization 2. Restructuring 3. Integration
 * During this stage the therapist creates a comfortable and stable environment for the couple to have an open discussion about any hesitations the couples may have about the therapy, including the trustworthiness of the therapist. The therapist also gets a sense of the couples positive and negative interactions from past and present and is able to summarize and present the negative patterns for them.
 * This stage involves restructuring and widening the emotional experiences of the couple. This is done through couples recognizing their attachment needs, and then changing their interactions based on those needs.  At first their new way of interacting may be strange and hard to accept, but as they become more aware and in control of their interactions they are able to stop old patterns of behavior from reemerging.
 * Focuses on reflection of new emotional experiences and self-concepts.  It integrates the couple’s new ways of dealing with problems within themselves and in the relationship.  It is the attachment bond that is formed through EFT therapy, which is the newfound strength of the couple.

Overview
Another more specific version for EFT is Emotion-Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT-C). EFT-C is a short-term (8-20 sessions) structured approach that was originally developed in the 1980s by Leslie Greenberg and Sue Johnson. It is one of the most empirically validated types of couple’s therapy. There is significant research on this approach and it has been found that 70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery, and that these results appear to be less susceptible to relapse than those from other approaches. As such, EFT-C is an evidence based treatment protocol. More recently, Emotionally Focused Therapy has also been used with families. Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) has developed from EFT and utilizes the EFT approach with families, specifically children and parents. EFFT sessions are conducted either weekly or biweekly and the numbers of sessions are about 10-15. The aim of EFFT is to repair, instigate, and restore attachment bonds between the family members. It is important that because of its emotional intensity, EFFT is not recommended for all families.