Emotion-focused Therapy (EFT) is an empirically-based approach, that utilizes research methods designed to help people access, deepen, explore, express, and transform emotion. An EFT approach focuses on the development of emotional intelligence, emotional competence and helps people develop secure relationships.

EFT helps people identify which of their emotions they can rely upon as adaptive guides and which of their emotions are residues of painful experiences and memories that have become maladaptive to the person’s current context and therefore may need to be shifted. With the help of the therapist’s warm, empathic attunement and the use of experiential methods, clients learn how to make healthy contact with emotions, memories, thoughts, and physical sensations that have been ignored, or feared. Together with therapists, people learn to access positive, flourishing emotions so that they can build healthy selves and feel more able to confront life’s struggles.

The therapeutic relationship is the cornerstone of EFT, providing empathy, stability and structure for clients to experience their emotions to grow and change. Therapy is a process of discovery where clients attain greater emotional awareness, and develop stronger emotional competence. Emotion-focused therapy systematically and flexibly helps clients become aware of and make productive use of their emotions.

Over thirty years of empirical research has demonstrated that emotions tell us what is important in life and thus act as adaptive guides that help us get what we need or want. This, in turn, helps us to figure out what actions are appropriate and what decision is best in a given situation. EFT works from the position that during the change process, people cannot leave a place until they have arrived. Clients therefore need to uncover and experience their emotions in the present before they can adaptively change their emotions for the future.