Couples therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on helping you and your partner improve your relationship. Couples therapy can help partners address a range of challenges including recurring conflicts, feelings of disconnection, infidelity, sexual difficulties or challenges due to stressors outside the relationship.

At Spirit, an evidence-based approach called Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is used. Developed by psychologist Dr. Sue Johnson, EFT is based on emotions and attachment theory and focuses on identifying harmful cycles of behaviour in your relationship and shifting them. The therapist works with both partners to increase communication between the two of you - ultimately rebuilding the attachment bond between you and your partner that is the foundation of your relationship. Through greater emotional awareness and transformative conversations with your partner, your bond will become more secure and satisfying.

Considered a short-term, structured therapy, an average course of EFT is approximately 10 to 20 sessions. Most couples begin to feel relief in their relationship after about 8-10 sessions.

EFT can help to reduce conflict in relationships, even when only one person attends. If you are the partner attending, it is likely you will be asked for permission at some point to speak to your partner, to see if they might consider coming to even one session.

In research, EFT has been shown to have a success rate of approximately 70-80%. There are factors that can affect time frame and success such as commitment to the relationship, desire to heal, frequency of therapy sessions and past trauma in the relationship.

Many therapists are trained in Basic EFT which means they have attended an intensive 28-30 hour Externship. They have observed live and/or video-recorded sessions, have had presentations of theory and clinical techniques, skills training exercises and discussion of specific cases, clinical material and issues. This provides the therapist with a roadmap to work with a client’s underlying emotions and facilitate therapeutic movement.

Additionally, a therapist may also have completed an EFT Core Skills seminar which is an additional 8 days of intensive training in a small group, over the period of one year. During Core Skills, a therapist is expected to present their own work through a video-recorded couple session.

To become an EFT-Certified therapist, one must complete all of the above in addition to further supervision and submission of their work to an internationally recognized panel (see https://iceeft.com/road-to-certification/). The therapist is then accepted into full certification and placed on an international list of Certified EFT Therapists. This process can take up to two years and denotes a standard of excellence in training past the basic EFT training in principles and practice.

Anita Sablone, owner of Spirit and a Registered Counselling Therapist (RCT), is currently nearing completion of her EFT Certification process and hopes to be fully certified by ICEEFT mid 2023.