The Use of Emotional Focused Therapy - Research Paper Example

 The Use of Emotional Focused Therapy Abstract Couples sometimes have difficulty getting through their challenges when they are in a relationship. When they come to counseling they can come to an impasse where their progress stops. In order to make sure that they keep doing the work needed, Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT) is used. This therapy is based on attachment theory that states that when a couple is having problems it could be that they are "attachment injured". Johnson has done the most work on this subject and has created positive ways to work with couples using this method. EFT is best suited for couples who are still emotionally involved with each other and who are willing to learn how they each have contributed to the problems in their relationship. Couples learn to open themselves to each other in order to discuss the problems they are currently having so they can learn more about how to love each other again. The Use of Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT) with Couples Dealing with Attachment Injuries Love has always been a difficult emotion to understand especially when intimate couples come together. This can be seen in the fact that according to the Centers for Disease Control (2009), in the United States alone, there are 3.5% per 1,000 people getting divorce each year. Some people try and fix what is wrong in their relationship but they may have challenges with intimacy because of attachment injuries. Attachment Theory and Attachment Injury Attachment theory is the basis of information for attachment injury work. John Bowlby, considered the "father" of attachment theory found that the way that children form attachments based on their early attachments to their primary care giver. If they are able to bond strongly with this individual, they have a strong foundation for love, respect, self-esteem and self-confidence. Farley (2004) studied Bowlby's work and suggests that children are always looking for the presence of their care giver and asking the question, "Is the attachment figure nearby, accessible, and attentive?" If the answer to this question is "yes", the child will grow up feeling confident and secure and may be able to explore their environment easier; they will be more prone to have close friends and to be very social. If the child perceives that the answer to this question is "no," they will more likely feel anxious and afraid, and will constantly seek out attention because they are looking for the caregiver. These children develop a lack of trust because they feel that the attachment figure will not be available to them, and it also means that they may not be able to reestablish a connection with the attachment figure (Farley, p. 1). Translating this information to adult attachment therapy, Farley states that "the same motivational system that gives rise to the close emotional bond between parents and their children is responsible for the bond that develops between adults in emotionally intimate relationships" (p. 1). The challenge is that when an attachment is not clear or has not developed in childhood, as children grow into adults, they may experience attachment injuries. Attachment Injuries Makinen and Johnson (2006) define attachment injuries as "a perceived abandonment, betrayal, or breach of trust in a critical moment of need for support expected of attachment figures" (p. 1055). When an individual is attachment injured they have difficulty getting past the incident because it becomes a theme that often blocks them from having a healthy, loving relationship (Makinen and Johnson, p. 1055). Attachment injury began as a concept as therapists begin to understand that in each couple therapy there was an impasse that happened relative to the counseling situation. Many couples would actively work on their relationships and improve, but others were not recovering from the distress during therapy sessions. A pattern began to evolve which showed therapists that there needed to be a way for couples to heal the injuries while they were involved in the therapeutic process (Johnson, Makinen, and Millikin, 2001, p. 146). Johnson, Makinen, and Millikin also state that "negative attachment related events, particularly abandonments and betrayals, often cause seemingly irreparable damage to close relationships" (p. 145). In therapy, these couples often find that they are dealing with a lost of trust and intimacy, and they may experience "traumatic flashbacks" when actually engaging in therapy (p. 145). Through the study of attachment theory, Johnson (2008) found that there were basically three things that happened to couples when they began to move apart: 1. There is a longing for intimate connection because their partner became distant when problems arose, which caused one of the partners to panic. 2. An individual needs to have the attachment with someone else and when they do not, they start what Johnson calls "demon dialogues" in order to get a response from the partner who has emotionally shut down. 3. Once EFT is used and the couple is able to reconnect and strengthen their bonds, they move into a mode of security and positive interaction. (Johnson, 2008, p. 47-48). EFT is a powerful application to the counseling process and couples who can accept the opportunity to work with it are able to move forward. The Foundation of EFT In order to assist individuals who have been injured in these attachments, the concept of "Emotionally Focused Therapy" (EFT) is used. EFT . Within EFT, an individual learns that they can have a viable relationship that allows them to "make and maintain powerful affection bonds with significant others" (Makinen and Johnson, p. 1055). Humanistic in its approach, EFT has five basic tenets that form the foundation for change: 1. A focus on process -- the couple focuses on the present moment in an observation mode and the therapist helps the couple process "how" the events of the relationship have been processed in the past. 2. A focus on the necessity for a safe, collaborative, therapeutic alliance -- the therapist exhibits unconditional positive regard" for each client in order to help them concentrate on their change process (Johnson, 2004, p. 42). 3. A focus on health --clients maintain an openness to change and flexibility that allows them to experience new learning, make new choices and adapt to new environments (Johnson, 2004, p. 43). 4. A focus on emotions -- in order to allow clients to say what they need and want and define what Johnson calls the, "prime key actions" (Johnson, 2004, p. 44). 5. A focus on a corrective emotional experience -- as couples are able to expand their experiences, they are able to change negative emotions into more positive ones (Johnson, 2004, p. 46). EFT is also based on seven conversations that Johnson says must take place in order for a couple to move through their trauma and reconnect emotionally. These conversations are geared towards helping couples understand the dialogues that are harming their relationship, finding the situations that make them angry (the buttons that they can push on each other), and learning the "demand-distance loop" conversations that they get into that stop the intimacy (Johnson, 2008, p. 51-53). Eventually, couples learn to emotionally connect with one another again, how to forgive the events that caused the injuries and become a whole couple again (Johnson, 2008, p. 171-186). EFT is a short-term therapy and it is structured to help the couple repair their distressed relationships. EFT also acknowledges that the early attachment bonds that couples make with their caregivers will represent the patterns that the individual will show as an adult. Treating Couples with EFT Naaman, Pappas, Makinen, and Johnson-Douglas (2005), studied the use of EFT with couples through a case study they created. They randomly selected two couples from a pool of research they had created for a larger study. Both couples identified that they had an attachment injury and they were living together but not in the process of getting a divorce or separating (p. 61). Their case study found that the two couples moved from a position of blaming one another to a process of response and caring and reestablishing the bond. This is important because it shows that EFT worked well for them. EFT is best suited for couples who still are emotionally invested to their relationship, still care about each other and who are willing to learn how they each have contributed to the problems in their relationship; also, the alliance between the couples and the therapist must be high (Johnson, 2004, p. 201). Treating Families with EFT Although couples therapy is the primary reason for EFT, according to Johnson it can be used for family therapy. This usually is used when specific aspects of the family need to be involved in some sort of treatment that helps them heal attachment injuries. In the beginning the entire family is seen and then the family is broken down into smaller groups, called "subsystems" (Johnson, 2004, p. 245). The pre-requisite for family therapy is that the therapist becomes part of the family so that they can develop trust with all the family members so that everyone takes part in the healing process (Johnson, 2004, p. 246). This type of therapy would not be appropriate if the family is abusive, or violent or for families where some of the family members live separate lives (Johnson, 2004, p. 246). References Centers for Disease Control. (2009). FastStats: Marriage and Divorce. Retrieved November 5, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/divorce.htm. Fraley, R.C. (2004). A brief overview of adult attachment theory and research. Retrieved November 6, 2009 from http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~rcfraley/attachment.htm. Johnson, S.M, Makinen, J.A, and Millikin, J.W. (2001). Attachment injuries in couple relationships: a new perspective on impasses in couple's therapy. Retrieved August 4, 2009 from Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 27 (2). p. 145-155. John Wiley InterScience. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2001.tb01152.x About DOI. Johnson, S. (2004). The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection. 2nd Edition. NY and Hove: Brunner-Routledge. Johnson, S. (2008). Hold me tight: Seven conversations for a lifetime of love. NY: Little, Brown and Company. Makinen, J.A., and Johnson, S.M. (2006). Resolving attachment injuries in couples using emotionally focused therapy: Steps toward forgiveness and reconciliation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 74(6). p. 1055-1064. Retrieved November 1, 2009 from psychARTICLES. AN: 2006-22003-007. Naaman, S., Pappas, J., Makinen, J. and Johnson-Douglas, S. (2005). Treating Attachment Injured Couples With Emotionally Focused Therapy: A Case Study Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes. 68 (1). p55-77. Retrieved November 5, 2009 from Academic Search Premier. AN: 16998696. Read More