Conducting an Initial Session in Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples: Suggestions for Beginning EFT Therapists

摘要

Emotion focused therapy for couples (EFT; Johnson, 2004) is an empirically supported model of couple therapy that is continuing to develop and mature. Excellent published resources exist for the therapist desiring to learn the EFT model yet sometimes uncertainty remains about exactly how to conduct an initial session. Questions also arise about how to integrate EFT-specific questioning with more general aspects of conducting a couple assessment. An outline of an initial session is offered that can be adapted depending on therapist preferences and client needs. Suggested elements include: joining/alliance building, eliciting presenting complaints, tracking the negative interactional cycle, obtaining relational and other history, asking about goals, assessing commitment, presenting a reframe, contracting for therapy, and assigning simple strategic “homework.”