Emotionally focused therapy

Emotionally focused therapy and emotion-focused therapy (EFT) are a set of related approaches to psychotherapy with individuals, couples, or families. EFT approaches include elements of experiential therapy (such as person-centered therapy and Gestalt therapy), systemic therapy, and attachment theory.^[1] EFT is usually a short-term treatment (8–20 sessions).^[2] EFT approaches are based on the premise that human emotions are connected to human needs, and therefore emotions have an innately adaptive potential that, if activated and worked through, can help people change problematic emotional states and interpersonal relationships.^[3] Emotion-focused therapy for individuals was originally known as process-experiential therapy,^[4] and it is still sometimes called by that name.^[5]

EFT should not be confused with emotion-focused coping, a category of coping proposed by some psychologists,^[6] although clinicians have used EFT to help improve clients' emotion-focused coping.^[7]