Emotion Focused Therapy workshop

I was lucky enough to attend an excellent two day workshop on Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) for individuals last weekend. This course was run by a delightful EFT therapist from Canada, Dr Veronica Kalos-Lilly. EFT is primarily about honing in on our feelings and giving the feelings an opportunity to bubble up and be acknowledged. This technique was originally formulated by the work of Dr Sue Johnson who noticed in her work with couples that acknowledging and slowing down the thought content and focusing on the emotional content provided a powerful therapeutic release for the client. Attachment theory forms an important aspect of this treatment approach, with the basic premise that we are wired to be emotionally connected to other significant people from birth. Attachment figures in a sense make or break how we feel about ourselves, for example, if we are fortunate to be raised by a loving, warm, caring person (essentially our Mothers and Fathers) we are likely to feel securely attached to others and more importantly within ourselves. If we are struggling with the consequences of what are referred to as "attachment injuries'. our early experiences of early attachment relationships are likely to have been fractured or even absent. This then has consequences for both our sense of self and our self in relation to others especially in our primary relationships. I see the potential for EFT to make a therapeutic difference to clients and a lovely compliment to the skills I have been gathering and honing for myself over the years. If you are curious to know more, I would recommend Dr Sue Johnson's book "Hold Me Tight". 

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