The Practice Of Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy: Creating Connection (Brunner/Mazel Basic Principles Into Practice Series, Vol 11)
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Consumer Rating: 
By: Susan M Johnson
Format: Paperback
From: Routledge
Pub. Date: July 1996
Product Details:
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 1996-08-01
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 256
Ean: 9780876308172
Isbn: 0876308175
ABOUT THE BOOK
This work serves as a clear, cogent description of the process of emotionally focused marital therapy (EFT) - which, at the same time, illuminates the promise this technique offers. While most of the literature in this area is based on the idea of intervention being primarily behavioral (with emotion considered as secondary at best, and disruptive at worst) this book identifies the role of emotion in marital distress, and then reveals its potential to play a central role in successful marital therapy. The Practice of Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy includes: A model for short-term, effective marital therapy Relevant theory of adult love and marital stress Change strategies with many clinical examples Nine steps in the process of change, together with key change events Step-by-step guide to intervention at specific points in therapy Specific ways to address a partners emotions to create new interactions and bonding events Applications of techniques with families This important new volume presents EFT as a powerful therapeutic technique for practicing professionals, and also serves as an instructive graduate-level text for courses in marital therapy, psychology, social work, and counselling.
"Bringing insecure attachment dialogues to life is the most useful aspect of this book. The step by step approach to couples therapy is helplful especially for those therapists unfamiliar with how attachment issues play out in the therapeutic context.
More information on screeening out couples who may not benefit from this approach would have been invaluable - rather than just referring to couples who are breaking up. Many couples have not learned the language of emotion. Some express it somatically or by numbing it with substances or food. These couples would need far more than 12 sessions and a great deal of training and practice to be able to learn about their attachment dances and break the cycles that lead to distancing.
Insight is not the primary aim of EFCT, yet couples are encouraged to notice and become increasingly aware of their automatic processes that lead to misattuned connections. I think that is precisely what gaining insight is about,which in turn allows for new actions to be attempted in the future.
Johnson suggests that most couples therapists use problem solving approaches over emotionally focused strategies. Those of us who bring in Object Relations and Intersubjective ideas into our work facilitate couples in attending to and sharing their emotional experiences with their partners. This is the norm rather than the exception. Johnson's book makes the process more systematic and contained. It doesn't help with couples where one or both partners get secondary gains from making the other 'bad.'
Overall a useful adjunct for psychotherapists already doing emotionally focused work with couples.
[...]
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~ Written on 2008-08-17
"Ms. Johnson offer a clear and concise overview of this approach for couples. Well worth the reading. "
~ Written on 2008-06-11
"This is my first book by Johnson and I found it to be easy to read and understand. Johnson's approach is based on attachment theory which I have found to be a good anchor in working with couples that want to resolve conflict and/or strengthen their bond. "
~ Written on 2008-03-02
"Susan Johnson's work through Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a great asset to the world of relationship therapies. Her work is in the new direction in therapy - calculated integration versus muddle-headed eclecticism.
Johnson's work carefully integrate structural family therapy (Minuchin) with attachment theory (Bowlby) and the experiential therapies. While mainly citing Rogers, this a misnomer. EFT is more Satir and Whitaker than Rogers as the therapist is active and directive as well as short-term to brief in her or his interventions. Rogers is a long-term personality-altering insight therapy, which offers little for today's reality of shorter time constraints whether through managed-care or government stipulations.
Better yet, EFT is an EBT (evidence-based treatment)! I believe it has a 70-73% efficacy rate for couple improvement and therefore is more ameniable to third-party reimbursement. EFT is also a great approach for PTSD (see Johnson, 2002) as in 33-38 sessions a full-blown PTSD sufferer can have significant improvement. This is because the partner, not the therapist, becomes the soother for the traumatized person and is much more available in the long-term for the PTSD sufferer. I believe the Department of Veteran's Affairs needs to "perk-up" and "pony-up" for EFT as the treatment of choice for our soon-to-be onslaught of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans come home.
We are so not prepared for this avalanche of need! "
~ Written on 2008-01-24
"This book is very good for people who want to learn more about EFT. it is easy to read and has lots of case examples. "
~ Written on 2007-01-09