Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
by Sue Johnson
Sue Johnson demonstrates Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy in an actual couples therapy session. 
Sue Johnson demonstrates Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy in an actual couples therapy session. Watch this master therapist and learn how to emotionally engage couples within a structured, manualized therapy format.

In this video, Johnson works with a couple on the brink of divorce. Leslie says she can’t take Scott’s explosive temper anymore; Scott says he thinks Leslie sees him as “just a mean and nasty guy.” Johnson helps Leslie communicate that it is not Scott she can’t be close to, but his temper that keeps her away. As Johnson helps Scott explore “softer” emotions hidden underneath his anger, the couple discovers how difficult it is to traverse this foreign territory. Nonetheless, Johnson’s persistent and gentle coaching helps them to take risks and begin to connect in ways they’ve never experienced before, providing a spark of hope that they can reverse their downward spiral.

What therapists are saying…

"This video gives a good overview of the first few steps of the EFT process. Sue Johnson gets an “angry guy” – the kind of man who thinks other emotions are for sissies – to express softer feelings to his estranged wife, and build the bond between them. You'll get a sense of how the therapist externalizes the problem as a negative interactional pattern or “dance,” and helps each partner understand and acknowledge the other’s position. The discussions before and after the live session provide an introduction to EFT and how the theory is applied in a clinical situation."

-- Annette Holloway, PsyD, Mill Valley, CA

"In this video, Johnson demonstrates how to get right to the heart of the matter in couples therapy. She re-inspires the couple and the therapist viewer that there is hope for this relationship, and for others, even when things may seem bleak. Johnson’s use of EFT showcases a very positive and effective direction for the field of couples therapy to be heading."

-- Amy Bunn, MFT, San Francisco
In Depth
Specs
Bios
By watching this video, you will:

• Learn how to help couples deescalate their negative emotional interactions and create new, healthy patterns and cycles of engagement.
• Gain an understanding of the research that backs the Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy approach.
• Develop new ways of working with couples that allow you to facilitate visible change within the therapy session.

Length of video: 1:55:00

English subtitles available

Individual ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-189-5

Individual ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-189-4

Group ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-190-9

Group ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-190-0

Dr. Sue Johnson is one of the originators and the main proponent of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), now one of the best validated couples interventions in North America. She is Director of the Ottawa (Canada) Couple and Family Institute and the International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy as well as Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Ottawa and Research Professor at Alliant University in San Diego, California.

She has received numerous honors for her work, including the Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Couple and Family Therapy Award from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the Research in Family Therapy Award from the American Family Therapy Academy. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.

She received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of British Columbia in 1984. She is a registered psychologist in the province of Ontario, Canada, and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy and the Journal of Family Psychology. She is a Research Professor in the Marital & Family Therapy Program at Alliant University in San Diego.

Her 2004 book (2nd Ed), The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy: Creating Connection (Brunner Rouledge) is a foundational text on EFT for couples. She is the senior editor of the 2003 book, Attachment Processes in Couples Therapy (Guilford Press), and the 1994 book, The Heart of the Matter (Guilford Press). She has also written a book on trauma and couples, Focused Couple Therapy with Trauma Survivors (2002).

She trains counselors in EFT worldwide and consults to Veterans Affairs, the U.S. and Canadian military and New York City Fire Department. Sue is an Approved Supervisor for the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and is internationally known for her workshops and presentations on practice, theory and research in couple therapy, adult attachment and emotion in psychotherapy. She maintains a private practice and lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and two children.

To contact Dr. Johnson and learn more about her work, visit her website and The International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy.

See all Sue Johnson videos.

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