Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a brief (12-20 sessions) therapy that rebuilds connection and bonding, resolves interpersonal conflicts, heals relationship traumas, and restores balance in adult relationships.

Dr. Sue Johnson developed the EFT approach in the 1980s based on research about love, attachment, and safe bond between two people. It was later adapted for work with individuals and families.

EFT is a research-validated approach that views disagreements between couples due to insecure attachments. Clients experience, accept and transform negative emotions and patterns into positive, bond-enhancing interactions. EFT helps intimate partners caught in a never-ending cycle of interaction that ends with the same outcome whenever either or both partners feel stressed.

EFT’s goal is to create a secure emotional bond between you and your partner. A secure emotional bond is the sense of comfort you get knowing that your partner is there for you in moments of stress and that they care about your needs.
When your sense of emotional safety is missing, your emotions dictate your actions instead of informing your decisions to encourage compassionate communication.
You become secure and safe in your relationship when you are aware of your emotional experience, recognize your emotions, attend to them, and transform them into loving interactions.

The EFT approach helps couples and family members form a more secure emotional bond, resulting in stronger relationships and improved communication.