Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT)
Rekindling the connection
Romantic relationships are hard work! They require consistent accessibility, responsiveness, and emotionally engaged with our partners.
Sometimes, we try and undertake the maintenance ourselves; however, there are times when, despite your best efforts, it’s just not working.
This is when we need to rely on an experienced, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist to help figure out what keeps us from feeling connected and emotionally close.
Misconceptions about couples therapy
Some might think that couples therapy is only for serious issues that affect a relationship, such as infidelity or addiction. Others may view it as ‘the final resort’ before deciding to end the relationship.
Some enter therapy with the idea that their partner needs to be forced to change since they are “the problem.”
These misconceptions prevent couples from seeking help early before things get bad.
Benefits of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT)
Many couples are unaware of the many benefits of EFT couples therapy in treating various relationship issues. They don’t know how vital it can be for improving overall relationship satisfaction and individual mental health.
Connection through Professional Support
Being an experienced, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist, I am sensitive to the issues that often arise in therapy and want to support couples in navigating through difficult times in their relationship.
My approach to couples therapy is based on an emotionally focused approach known as Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT). When couples disagree, most repeat the disruptive pattern: blame, criticize, defend, express contempt, distance, and emotionally or physically withdraw. Distress is not about how many fights you have or even if you resolve the disputes. Distress is about how you fight and whether you can retain some emotional connection after the fight.
While other types of couples counseling tend to be open-ended and seek to solve immediate problems, such as continual arguing, by focusing primarily on behavior change and communication skills, the EFT approach hones in on increasing a couple’s appreciation for how each partner feels to build trust and a secure base they can each rely on.
In this approach, couples learn to recognize the negative cycle they are stuck in, where one person criticizes and the other responds defensively or withdraws. Couples learn to identify the needs and fears that keep them in that cycle. They learn to identify and express their underlying emotions. Partners learn to empathize with each other and become more supportive of each other. Partners come together through the emotional needs they are each expressing and can begin to comfort each other’s needs.
The goal – is an emotionally connected relationship where I feel seen, heard, and felt.
Couples therapy with me can offer a safe space to explore issues and emotions experienced in your relationship. I can support you in enhancing your connection, so you can relate better to one another in a way that is most beneficial to the well-being of your relationship.
Contact me now at (310) 591-4432 to get started.