In couples and relationship therapy Anne will help you recognize and transform the painful dynamics trapping you and your partner or loved one.
Anne will help you learn to identify the emotional underpinnings of your positions in this negative dance so that you will not only understand yourself better, but also develop empathy for your partner or loved one. Understanding what is happening for each person in the relationship creates a stronger and deeper bond and opens the way to creating a new and more harmonious way of relating.
EFT: a brief, structured therapy model
Anne uses Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) to help you with your relationship. EFT is an empirically validated, brief therapy model that has the highest success rate of any couple/relationship therapy approach. EFT views distressed couples as being trapped in a repetitive, negative dynamic that makes it very difficult—and often impossible—for partners to respond to each other’s needs for closeness, security, recognition, affection and desire. As a first step, EFT helps couples become aware of this toxic dynamic and of their respective positions and roles within it. The second phase of therapy aims at restructuring the bond between the partners and thereby changing negative behaviors. The title of the method reflects the focus on emotion as organizer of inner experiences and key interactions in love relationships. EFT transforms the emotions that underlie each partner’s behavior, thus fostering the creation of secure, deep and satisfying bonds in the couple.
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy is a brief therapy model. Brief therapy is short-term therapy focused on helping people resolve or effectively manage specific problems or situations and to make desired changes. Brief therapy is typically solutions-oriented, and sessions are more geared towards here-and-now more than exploration of the past. Sessions are more interactive than is typically the case in traditional psychotherapy.
If you are considering couples therapy and would like to know more about EFT, reading Sue Johnson’s book for couples “Hold Me Tight” is a good place to start.
Useful links: www.drsuejohnson.com — www.iceeft.com
In addition to therapy, Anne offers workshops for couples. Check the Events section of this website for upcoming workshops.
