Week 4 - Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) Flashcards
foundations EFT developed on
- humanistic person-centered
- experiential
the therapeutic relationship as a key healing factor (person-centred conditions, Rogers)
- empathy and understanding
- presence and genuineness
- unconditional acceptance: a deep trust in the client’s process, valuing them without judgment
this supportive relationship fosters the client’s natural tendency for self-actualization, growth, and self-healing
experiential (Gendlin)
EFT is a combination of:
- person-centered psychotherapy
- emotion therapy
- markers & tasks: gestalt-therapy techniques
core characteristics of EFT
- neo-humanistic approach
- emotion-focused
- relational stance
- empathic exploration
- process differentiation
- evidence-based
neo-humanistic approach
a modern reformulation of the humanistic and experiential therapy traditions
emotion-focused
emotional awareness and reprocessing are key to facilitating meaningful client change
relational stance
the therapist actively follows the client’s content while subtly guiding the therapeutic process
empathic exploration
the therapist’s response style emphasizes deep, empathic exploration of the client’s emotional experiences
process differentiation
provides detailed descriptions of various client and therapist processes, particularly those involving emotions
evidence-based
supported empirically validating its effectiveness
EFT combines two components:
- following
- guiding/leading
following
- presence and empathic attunement: the therapist remains fully present and attuned to the client’s emotional state
- communication of relational attitudes: the therapist conveys supportive, empathic attitudes through their responses and interactions
guiding/leading
facilitation of emotion processing: the therapist helps the client process emotions in specific ways at appropriate times during the session
emotions as fundementally adaptive
- emotions play a central role in how we construct and interpret reality
- they signal what is personally relevant to us
- help survive by offering automatic responses
- integrate responses and give them meaning
- serve as a compass, reflecting our wishes and needs
emotion theory
why are emotions important
- emotions help identify what matters to us
- they reveal our needs and wants, guiding actions
- they provide a sense of consistency and wholness
ignoring key aspects
we may get stuck in an emotion if we overlook an important part of it
covering adaptive emotions with others
sometimes, the most important emotion is hidden beneath more obvious ones
emotions becoming unbalanced
emotions can be disproportionate, either too intense or too weak, making it hard to process them effectively
universal human emotions
key emotion concepts
- emotion schemes
- emotion response type
- emotions regulation
emotion scheme
consists of several elements that organize an emotional experience, which may or may not be immediately conscious. it is often fully recognized after reflecting on all parts of the scheme
perceptual/situational elements
awareness of the current situation and memories of relevant past events
bodily/expressive elements
physcial sensations and non-verbal expressions of emotion, such as nervous laughter or a fearful facial expression
symbolic/conceptual elements
verbal and visual representations, including statements, metaphors, and identities
motivational/behavioral elements
desires, needs, wishes, and intentions or action tendencies
problems with incomplete processing of emotion scheme
when only one or two elements of the emotion scheme are attended to, it leads to incomplete emotional processing, resulting in various issues
externalizing (perceptual/situational)
focusing on other people or external events, neglecting full emotional experience
somatizing (bodily/expressive)
focusing on physical symptoms or chronic pain, ignoring the emotional aspects
flooded (implicit/experienced emotion)
becoming overwhelmed by intense emotion without understanding its cause or context
rationalizing (symbolic/conceptual)
using abstract or linguistic explanations without connecting to actual emotional experiences
impulsive/acting out (motivational/behavioral)
acting on desires or impulses without reflection, driven by emotion without considering the broader emotional context
emotion response types
- primary adaptive emotion responses
- maladaptive emotion responses
- secondary reactive emotion responses
- instrumental emotion responses
adaptive emotions characteristics
in the moment, in response to changing circumstances
primary maladaptive emotion characteristics
- feelings of being overwhelmed or bad
- stuck in the emotion without relief
- families, recuring bad feelings that feel like an emergency or call for help
- each time, the emotions feel as intense as the last experience
- cues: deep distress, such as sobbing or intense emotional reactions
emotion regulation
the process of managing and controlling your emotions, especially in difficult situations, to respond in a balanced and healthy way
secondary emotion characteristics
- obscure: the emotion is unclear or hard to identify
- reactive: the emotion is a response to another emotion
- diffuse: the emotion is spread out and not focused
- cues: feelings of being upset, hopeless, confused, or inhibited
principles of emotional change
- accessing and expressing
- modulating and understanding
- transforming and moving forward
emotional productivity
and emotional expression is therapeutically productive if a client experiences a primary emotion in a way that
- emotion utilization
- emotional transformation
emotion utilization
the client is able to use the valuable information from an adaptive emotion
emotional transformation
a maladaptive emotion can be transformed into a more helpful, adaptive emotional experience
case formulation in EFT
it is the ongoing interaction between the client and therapist, where they gradually build a narrative of the client’s emotional process
markers & tasks
- empathy
- focusing
- systematic evoactive unfolding
- 2-chair work
- empty chair work
empathic expression
is the toolbox of the experiential therapist
- empathic reflection and affirmation
- empathic exploration
focusing (Gendlin)
involves turning attention inward to what feels vague or implicit, connecting with a unique form of bodily awareness known as the “wisdom of the body”
2-chair work
experiential technique where the client moves between two chairs, each representing different parts of themselves or opposing perspectives. this allows the client to engage in dialogue between these parts, helping to resolve inner conflicts and gain clarity
marker empty chair
this technique is used to address chronic, unresolved bad feelings towards a significant person from the past or present. the empty chair represents the person with whom the client needs to process these emotions
6 stages of unfinished business
- marker
- create contact
- express and differentiate
- unmet need
- explore perspective
- other accountable
marker
identify the unfinished business or unresolved feelings
create contact
establish a connection with the representatives of “the other” person involved
express and differentiate
move from maladaptive emotions to adaptive ones
unmet need
recognize the unmet primary needs as valid and adaptive
explore perspective
understands the perspectives of “the other” person
other accountable
acknowledge the other’s responsibility and allow for grieving and leeting go of the unmet need
