Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) in Calgary

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therapy to understand your emotions

What is Emotion-Focused Therapy?

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is a therapeutic approach focused on helping you analyze, process and accept your emotions. This therapy not only creates awareness of your emotions in day to day life but also how it affects your behaviour, perspectives and ability to progress in therapeutic spaces.

This approach is relevant because it not only helps you process and create awareness around your emotions, but also helps to create new meanings for them. It works to destigmatize “negative” feelings by acknowledging that all emotions have a space in human behaviour and are not only useful but also essential for navigating your environment - and for your survival.

In practice, an EFT therapist will start by helping you unpack the feelings you associate with certain situations. They will also focus on the way you communicate those feelings and the way you view your emotions/emotional reactions. The therapist will then lead you towards changing the narrative around those emotions by teaching acceptance and restructuring. Over time, this will build emotional regulation and a stronger sense of self and self esteem.

If you associate shame with your emotions/reactions or find yourself dismissing and delegitimizing your feelings, EFT will be extremely useful in helping you break down, accept and restructure them.

What Issues Can EFT Help With?

  • Anxiety

  • Building self-acceptance/understanding

  • Self esteem issues

  • Emotional regulation

  • Emotional suppression/disconnection

  • Trauma

  • Depression

Too Long, Didn’t Read:

EFT helps people accept their emotions by creating awareness and restructuring the narratives around them. It builds self esteem, emotional regulation and a stronger sense of self.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  • Instead of focusing on thought patterns, or physical sensations, EFT looks at emotions as a central part of human behaviour and works primarily with processing and acceptance them.

  • The first stage is developing a therapeutic bond with you by working off of a foundation of empathy. The next stage is creating awareness of your emotions and language surrounding them. The final stage is promoting acceptance and restructuring of harmful narratives.

  • No, they are different types of therapy. Emotion-Focused Therapy is usually used in individual therapy to help people better understand, express, and work through their emotions. Emotionally Focused Therapy is mainly used with couples to improve relationship patterns and build stronger emotional bonds. The main difference is that one focuses on personal emotional growth, while the other focuses on relationships. Both are based on the idea that emotions are key to healing and change.

Our EFT Therapist in Calgary