The heart of how we help: Emotionally Focused Therapy

Emotionally Focused Therapy is an evidence-based approach developed by Dr. Sue Johnson that helps people strengthen the emotional bonds that matter most. Rooted in attachment science, EFT teaches us that every person is wired for connection. When those bonds feel threatened or uncertain, we react, sometimes by protesting, sometimes by shutting down. These patterns can create distance, conflict, or disconnection in our closest relationships.

EFT helps you understand these patterns, slow them down, and create new ways of relating that support closeness, safety, and trust. The model is one of the most researched forms of therapy for couples, individuals, and families, with decades of outcomes showing meaningful, lasting change.

At Integrative Couples Therapy, collectively we are trained in all three branches of the EFT model: Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy for couples, Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy for individuals, and Emotionally Focused Family Therapy. This allows us to support you in whatever form your healing and relationship growth needs to take.

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT)

Strengthening the Bond Between Partners

EFCT focuses on helping couples understand and change the negative cycles that keep them feeling stuck. Couples often arrive with concerns about communication, parenting, intimacy, or recurring arguments, but these surface issues usually reflect a deeper question: Do I matter to you? Are you there for me? Can I count on you?

EFCT helps couples:

• See the negative cycle as the problem, not each other

• Understand the deeper emotions and needs underneath reactive moments

• Learn to respond to one another with clarity, warmth, and vulnerability

• Repair old injuries and rebuild trust

• Reconnect emotionally, intellectually, and sexually

As partners begin to shift interactions, and share their deeper experiences and longings, the relationship changes. Conversations become calmer, communication becomes clearer, and a renewed sense of connection takes root. EFCT offers a clear path to a more stable, loving, and supportive partnership.

Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)

Connecting with yourself and others

EFIT brings the wisdom of attachment science into individual work. Many personal struggles, such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and emotional overwhelm, stem from early patterns of connection that shaped how we relate to ourselves and others.

EFIT helps individuals:

• Understand the emotional patterns that keep them stuck

• Make sense of past experiences that shaped current coping strategies

• Access core emotions in a safe and structured way

• Strengthen self-compassion and emotional resilience

• Build the capacity for healthier, more secure relationships

The goal of EFIT is not just symptom reduction, but deeper, lasting transformation. As people feel secure inside themselves, they naturally show up differently, in their relationships, families, at work, and in their inner world.

Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT)

Restoring Connection in Families

EFFT supports families caught in cycles of disconnection, conflict, or misunderstanding. Whether challenges arise from adolescence, parenting differences, trauma, neurodivergence, grief, or major transitions, families often need help slowing down and truly hearing one another again.

EFFT helps families:

• Identify emotional patterns that fuel conflict or distance

• Understand each person’s experience beneath behavior or reactivity

• Create new conversations where emotions can be shared safely

• Rebuild trust, cooperation, and secure emotional bonds

• Strengthen the family’s ability to navigate challenges together

EFFT is especially powerful for families experiencing stress, loss, or change. It helps parents and children reconnect in ways that feel safe, supportive, and healing.

Why EFT Works

EFT is backed by more than thirty years of research and consistently shows strong, lasting results. What makes it unique is that it does not rely on quick fixes or communication tools. Instead, it reshapes the emotional patterns that underlie conflict and disconnection.

Whether you come for couples therapy, individual therapy, or family therapy, EFT provides a clear, compassionate framework for creating relationships where you feel secure, valued, and connected.

Our Team’s EFT Qualifications

Our team at Integrative Couples Therapy is deeply committed to learning and growing in the Emotionally Focused Therapy model. Among our group, we are trained in all branches of the model; EFCT for couples, EFIT for individuals, and EFFT for families. We engage in training and ongoing consultation, and each therapist participates in regular supervision and continuing education to strengthen their skills. We are actively working toward certification through the support of EFT Supervisors that are Certified by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy. We are dedicated to providing care that is both compassionate and firmly grounded in the most current research and best practices in the EFT model.

What the Research Shows

EFCT has been studied for more than thirty years and has some of the best outcomes of any couples therapy approach. Research shows that about 70 to 75 percent of couples move from distress to recovery, and about 90 percent experience significant improvement. Even more importantly, these gains are lasting. Couples continue to experience stronger bonds and better communication long after therapy ends.

EFCT has been successfully applied to many different kinds of couples, including those facing depression, trauma, chronic illness, and high conflict. The research is clear: when couples strengthen their emotional bond, they not only feel closer, they also become more resilient in facing whatever life brings. If you’d like to learn more about the science behind EFCT, you can visit the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT) research page here.