Emotion-focused Couple Therapy: Using Emotions as a Pathway to Change

Emotion-focused couple therapy (EFT-C) was introduced in the l980’s by Leslie Greenberg and Susan Johnson as an alternative to behavioral approaches which often viewed emotions, especially negative emotions, as part of the problem rather than as a powerful and necessary agent of change. The emphasis of EFT-C (Greenberg and Johnson, l988) was on creating a more secure attachment by helping the partners access and express their deeper feelings and adult needs for closeness as well as increasing the partners’ empathic responsiveness to these feelings. This restructures the emotional bond and creates stable, positive interaction cycles.