Fall 2021
The fall Foundations course is now wait-list only. We’ll be offering it again the Spring of 2021. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you can register as soon as the spring dates are announced.
Emotion-Focused Therapy is a modern, empirically 
supported approach that, as its name suggests, focuses directly on emotion. It is an integration, refinement, and further development of Person-Centered Therapy and Gestalt Therapy, is grounded in a contemporary theory of emotion, and is informed by decades of research.
This course will introduce participants to EFT’s emotion theory, which provides for both a moment-by-moment emotional process diagnosis, and a map of treatment from initial presentation to the conclusion of therapy. Along with emotion theory, this course will introduce clinicians to a large number of fruitful ideas and insights which EFT has synthesized from the humanistic tradition.
In addition, participants will learn & practice a highly differentiated suite of interventions designed to access and process emotions. In a cumulative sequence of focused, experiential exercises, participants will observe, offer, receive and discuss these interventions.
Meetings will include: Lectures on EFT theory; live & video demonstrations of interventions; small & large group experiential exercises; small and large group discussions.
What: A foundational course on the theory and most basic interventions of Emotion-Focused Therapy.
When: Wednesdays, from 9am to 12:15pm, Fall 2021
- 9/8/21, 9/15/21, 9/22/21, 9/29/21, 10/6/21
- 10/13/21, 10/20/21, 10/27/21, 11/3/21, 11/10/21,
- 11/17/21, 12/1/21, 12/8/21, 12/15/21, 12/22/21
Where: 95 High Street, Suite 207, Portland, Maine.
Who: For Counselors and therapists who wish to add Emotion-Focused interventions to their repertoire.
Read participant feedback here.
Topics include:
Meeting 1: Clearing a Space, Introduction to EFT Emotion Theory
Meeting 2: Attending, Symbolizing, Focusing
Meeting 3: Empathic Attunement, Congruence
Meeting 4: Basic Empathic Responding (Empathic Reflection, Following Responses, Empathic Affirmation)
Meeting 5: Basic Empathic Responding II, Emotion Regulation
Meeting 6: Introduction to Empathic Exploration, The Empathic Conjecture
Meeting 7: Vocal Patterns, Differentiation, The Exploratory Reflection
Meeting 8: Depth of Experiencing, The Evocative Reflection
Meeting 9: Productive Emotional Processing, The Exploratory Question, Agency
Meeting 10: Retroflections, The Process Observation
Meeting 11: The Gestalt Experiment, The Process Suggestion
Meeting 12: Self-Interruption, Empathic Refocusing, Acceptance
Meeting 13: Experiential Presence, The Process Disclosure
Meeting 14: The Experimental Formulation
Meeting 15: Consolidation & Review
Learning Objectives
By the end of the 15 meetings, participants will be able to:
- Contrast the four types of emotions found in EFT Emotion Theory: Primary Adaptive Emotions, Primary Maladaptive Emotions, Secondary Emotions, and Instrumental Emotions.
- Describe each of EFT’s experiential response modes: Basic Empathy, Empathic Exploration, Process Guiding, and Experiential Presence. They will be able to classify diverse interventions within this system.
- Distinguish the constituent elements of Productive Emotional Processing: Attending, Symbolizing, Regulation, Accepting, Differentiation, Congruence, and Agency.
- Differentiate a dozen distinct categories of humanistic interventions designed to access & process unprocessed emotion.
What this course is NOT: This course does not cover EFT Markers and Therapeutic Tasks; rather, it covers micro-interventions that lead up to, and are often included within, tasks. Markers and tasks are introduced in EFT Level 1. This course is also not Sue Johnson’s attachment-focused model of EFT.
Early Bird Registration (until August 31, 2021):
- Pre-Licensed Clinicians (i.e., students or conditionally licensed): $675
- Independently Licensed Clinicians: $750
Regular Registration (After August 31, 2021):
- Pre-Licensed Clinicians (i.e., students or conditionally licensed): $750
- Independently Licensed Clinicians: $900
A certificate of 45 Contact Hours will be provided upon completion of the program.
Maximum of 9 Participants.