EFT Research

Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples EFT-C

Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples pays close attention to the emotional undercurrents that are hijacking your relationship. Have you ever had a mundane conversation with your spouse and become surprised that a fight or disagreement broke out? Of all of the methods for couples counseling, EFT has the most outcome research done on it.

But this isn’t why I love it so much. I love it because I’ve seen the benefits my clients have gotten from these methods. Feel free to look at any of the links below for research on EFT.

Predicting Change in Marital Satisfaction Throughout Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy

Two-year follow-up outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: An investigation of
relationship satisfaction and attachment trajectories.” Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 43(2),
227-244.

The effectiveness of emotionally focused couples therapy on sexual satisfaction and marital adjustment of infertile couples with marital conflicts.

The Effectiveness of Emotionally-Focused Couple Therapy in Resolution of Marital Conflicts between the Couples Who Visited the Consultation Centers.

The Impact of Emotionally Focused Therapy on Emotional Distress in Infertile Couples.” International Journal of Fertility and Sterility, 7(4): 337-
344.

Nurturing Connections in the Aftermath of Childhood Trauma: A randomized controlled trial of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) for
Female Survivors of Childhood Abuse.” Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol.2(3), 209-221.\

“A Study on the effectiveness of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy on Intimacy of Couples.” Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol.82, 461-465.

“Resolving Attachment Injuries in Couples using Emotionally Focused Therapy: A 3 year follow-up.” Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, 9, 31-
47.

Gottman Method

Gottman Method Marriage Counseling

John Gottman has done so much for the field of marriage research. He managed to find key indicators (4 horsemen) that predict with a high degree of accuracy (93-95%) whether the couple will be together in the next 5 years.

In my work with couples, I find that most couples who have entrenched cycles of fighting do not respond particularly well to these methods. They are very cognitive based, and can work for couples that have a cycle that isn’t as entrenched.

Below is one of the few outcome studies they have - and it’s not on their couples counseling methods at all. Below is a link to a paper on the empirical support for the validity of couples research. When John Gottman first started his research on couple well-being, it was debated whether individual behavior could be decoded and interpreted, much less couple interactions.:

https://cdn.gottman.com/wp-content/uploads/Empirical-Basis-for-Gottman-Method-Therapy-May2013.pdf

EMDR Research

Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Trauma treatment.

EMDR is one of the most researched forms of PTSD treatment. It’s one of a handful of treatments approved by the Department of Defense for treatment of PTSD. Below is a pdf that links to multiple studies on EMDR. This is the single best curated list that I know of (there may be others I’ve missed)

https://cdn.ymaws.com/emdria.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/docs/Research2016.pdf