The Externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is the basic four-day training in EFT and a pre-requisite for all other trainings. It includes an overview of all aspects of the model including steps and stages, interventions, adult attachment theory, and application of EFT with couples. The Externship material is taught with a variety of teaching methods including lecture, interactive discussions, role plays, video demonstrations. The course includes observation of live, unscripted therapy sessions with real couples, presentations of attachment theory and clinical techniques, skills training exercises, and discussion of specific clinical material.
Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT) is based a comprehensive theory of adult love and attachment, as well as a process for healing distressed relationships. It recognizes that relationship distress results from a perceived threat to basic adult needs for safety, security, and closeness in intimate relationships. This experiential/systemic therapy focuses on helping partners restructure the emotional responses that maintain their negative interaction patterns. Though a series of nine steps, the therapist leads the couple away from conflict deadlock into new bonding interactions. A substantial body of research now exists on the effectiveness of EFT, showing large treatment effect sizes and stable results over time with many different kinds of couples.
The Externship is intended for mental health professionals who counsel couples including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, licensed professional counselors, clergy, and students training in these professions.
Obtain a clear understanding of the basic experiential and systemic concepts of an “Emotionally Focused” approach to couples therapy.
Develop skills in helping partners reprocess the emotional responses that maintain relational distress.
Develop skills in helping partners shape new interaction patterns and bonding events.
Develop skills to overcome therapeutic impasses with couples.
Delineate the steps and stages of the model, interventions most commonly used, and methods to use with couples' underlying interactional patterns.
(See below for specific learning objective for each day).
Nancy Gardner, Ph.D., is a co-founder and Executive Director of the Los Angeles Center for EFT (LACEFT), a licensed psychologist with a clinical practice in Westlake Village, CA. Dr. Gardner has been a mental health professional for over forty years. She taught couple therapy for over a decade at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in Los Angeles. Dr. Gardner is an ICEEFT Certified Trainer, Therapist and Supervisor in Emotionally Focused Therapy, a AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and a Past President of the Los Angeles County Psychological Association (LACPA). To learn more about Dr. Gardner, go to NancyGardnerPh.D.com. Dr. Gardner will teach most of this Externship.
Silvina Irwin, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and has a clinical practice in Pasadena, CA. She has extensive experience working with people of all ages, including children, teens, adults, and families. Dr.Irwin has trained therapists in EFT locally, nationally, and because she is bi-lingual in Spanish and English, so she also is able to bring EFT training to therapists in Spanish speaking countries. Trained and mentored by Dr. Sue Johnson, Dr. Irwin is an ICEEFT certified Trainer, Therapist, and Supervisor in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples. She is a co-founder of the EFT Resource Center, and serves on the board of directors for the LA Center for EFT. To learn more about Dr. Irwin, go to drsilvinairwin.com. Dr. Irwin will teach portions of this Externship.
This was one of the most outstanding workshops I have attending so far in my training. I really appreciated the variety of learning experiences through seeing different EFT therapists, live sessions, different coaching.
This exceeded my expectations. I could apply what I learned right away in my practice.
This course was taught with compassion which created a safe, nurturing environment.
I thought it was thorough and inspiring and challenging without being overwhelming.
It was fantastic. Excellent integration of theory and how to apply it.
I really appreciated the externship. It has allowed me to deepen my work.
I learned so much that was new and inspiring, in particular, slowing down and deepening the emotional experience for the client.
Nancy was amazing. Very real.
The caring environment Silvina creates makes it really safe to learn and grow, and her empathic clarity has helped me organize and integrate the model in ways that take my clinical work to a whole new level of depth and healing.
*This workshop is an ICEEFT-approved prerequisite course for certification in Emotionally Focused Therapy.
This training is sponsored by the Los Angeles Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy (LACEFT). LACEFT is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. LACEFT is also approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapist (CAMFT) to sponsor continuing education for LMFT's, LCSW's,and LPP's. LACEFT maintains responsibiltiy for this program and its contents.
28 hours of continuing education credits can be earned by attending this program in its entirety.
Time and Location Details: The Externship will meet each of the four days from 8:30AM until 5:00PM. The location in Thousand Oaks is the Courtyard by Marriott, 1710 Newbury Rd.
Johnson, S.M.(2004) The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection, 2nd edition. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Johnson, S.M.,Bradley, B., Furrow, J., Lee, A., Palmer, G., Tilley, D., Woolley, S. (2005) Becoming an Emotionally Focused Couple Therapist. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Brubacker, L.L. (2018) Stepping into Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Karnac Books Ltd, London.
Refunds can be made until one week before the Externship starting date. There will be a $50 adminstrative charge.
Specific Educational Objectives for each day: .
2. Describe basic Attachment Theory and how it informs working with couples in EFT.
3. Describe the systemic and experiential elements of EFT.
4. Describe change factors involved in a couple moving from distress to recovery.
5. Describe the Nine Steps and Three Stages of EFT.
6. Practice the basic empathy skills that are central to the therapeutic process in EFT .
1. Describe and practice assessment skills in EFT (Steps 1 & 2).
2. Describe and practice how to create a therapeutic alliance using: empathic attunement, validation, acceptance, genuineness.
3. Describe and practice how to enter experience of partners to find out how each constructs his/her experience of their relationship.
4. Describe and practice how to track and frame the sequences of interaction that perpetuate couples' distress. 5. Describe the difference between primary and secondary emotions.
6. Describe and practice how to frame the negative cycle (e.g., pursue/withdraw) emphasizing attachment needs (e.g., closeness, connection, importance of the other, fear of loss).
1. Describe systemic and experiential theories that underlie EFT interventions.
2. Describe and practice the basic EFT interventions for working with emotion, i.e. reflection, validation, evocative responding, empathic conjecture and heightening.
3. Describe and practice how to use RISSSC to heighten emotional experience.
4. Describe and practice how to facilitate interaction between partners by using enactments.
5. Explain how to put the interventions together to facilitate change events.
6. Describe the three change events in EFT: de-escalation, withdrawer engagement and pursuer softening.
7. Describe and practice the skills of accessing, exploring and deepening emotion.
8. Describe and practice the skills of facilitating acceptance.
9. Describe how to choreograph change events using enactments.
1. Explain attachment injuries from an Attachment Theory perspective.
2. Explain the steps toward resolving attachment injuries, creating forgiveness.
3. Describe affairs from the perspective of attachment theory.
4. Describe and practice EFT skills toward resolving attachment injuries.
5. Describe an EFT approach to managing co-morbidities 6. 6. Summarize ways to continue learning EFT and refining skills in this method of therapy.