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Love Locks

Emotionally Focused Therapy 
(EFT / EFCT)

Emotionally focused therapy

What is EFT?

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a deeply compassionate, evidence-based approach that helps individuals and couples understand, organize, and heal their emotional experiences—especially those shaped by past trauma or disconnection.

 

Rooted in attachment theory, EFT recognizes that our need for emotional safety and closeness is fundamental. When those needs go unmet—whether through neglect, abuse, or relational ruptures—we often develop protective patterns that keep us from fully connecting with ourselves and others.

 

In therapy, EFT creates a safe and supportive space to:

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  • Identify and understand the emotions that drive your reactions and relationship patterns.

  • Explore how protective parts may have developed in response to past hurt or fear of rejection.

  • Reconnect with your underlying needs for care, understanding, and security.

  • Learn new ways to express emotions and needs in relationships with greater vulnerability and trust.

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Through this process, EFT helps you move from reactivity and distance toward emotional safety, openness, and connection—within yourself and with the people you love.

Emotionally focused therapy

What is the history behind EFT?

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) was developed in the 1980s by Dr. Sue Johnson and her colleagues, who sought to understand what helps people create lasting emotional bonds in relationships. Drawing from attachment theory, EFT is grounded in the belief that our need for emotional connection is both universal and essential to well-being.

 

Dr. Johnson’s research revealed that relationship distress often stems from disruptions in attachment—moments when we feel unsafe, unseen, or disconnected from those we rely on most. These experiences can echo earlier attachment wounds or past trauma, leading to protective behaviors such as withdrawal, criticism, or emotional distance.

 

EFT emerged as a structured, evidence-based approach to help individuals and couples rebuild secure emotional bonds by identifying and transforming these protective patterns. Through guided exploration and compassionate communication, EFT helps clients strengthen trust, deepen understanding, and cultivate relationships rooted in emotional safety and connection.

Emotionally focused couples therapy

What can we accomplish through Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy?

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) offers partners a safe, supportive space to heal emotional disconnection, rebuild trust, and create a more secure bond—especially when past trauma or painful experiences have shaped how each person relates within the relationship.

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For couples affected by abuse, neglect, betrayal, or attachment wounds, emotional safety is often the first step toward reconnection. EFT gently helps each partner recognize the protective patterns that developed in response to earlier hurt—such as withdrawal, conflict, people-pleasing, or shutting down—and understand the emotions and needs that lie beneath them.

 

Through this process, couples can begin to:

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  • Recognize and transform painful interaction cycles rooted in fear, shame, or past trauma.

  • Express emotions and needs more openly, without judgment or defensiveness.

  • Rebuild trust and emotional safety, even after experiences of betrayal or rupture.

  • Develop compassion for one another’s wounds, rather than reacting from them.

  • Foster a more secure, connected, and mutually supportive relationship.

 

EFT helps couples move beyond survival patterns and toward healing connection—where both partners feel seen, valued, and safe enough to be fully themselves. For many survivors of trauma, this work is not just about improving a relationship; it’s about learning, often for the first time, what it feels like to love and be loved without fear.

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