Couples Therapy
Emotionally Focused Therapy
A proven, attachment-based approach to help couples break negative cycles, deepen emotional connection, and build lasting security.
What is EFT?
Healing the Relationship Bond
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is one of the most extensively researched and effective approaches to couples therapy available today. Developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, EFT is grounded in attachment science: the understanding that humans are wired for close emotional bonds, and that relationship distress is often a signal that those bonds feel threatened.
EFT helps couples identify and shift the negative interaction cycles that keep them stuck: the pursuer-withdrawer dance, the escalating arguments, the painful silence. By accessing the emotions beneath these patterns, partners can begin to reach for each other in new, more vulnerable ways.
Research shows that 70–75% of couples move from distress to recovery through EFT, with 90% reporting significant improvement. These gains are maintained long after therapy ends.
EFT is exclusively offered as couples therapy in my practice, designed specifically to address relational dynamics and attachment bonds between partners.
What EFT Can Help With
- Communication breakdown and conflict
- Emotional distance or disconnection
- Trust repair after infidelity or betrayal
- Navigating major life transitions together
- Recurring arguments with no resolution
- Grief and loss affecting the relationship
- Anxiety or depression affecting the partnership
- Premarital and relationship enrichment
The Process
Three Phases of EFT
EFT follows a structured yet flexible framework that moves couples from conflict and distance toward secure, enduring connection.
De-escalation
Together, we identify the negative cycle, the recurring pattern of conflict or withdrawal, and help both partners understand the underlying emotions and attachment needs driving it.
Restructuring
Partners begin to share deeper, more vulnerable emotions in new ways. This creates moments of genuine connection and responsiveness, rewriting the relational dance.
Consolidation
New patterns are solidified. Couples learn to use these tools independently, building a more secure, resilient bond that can weather future challenges.
My Approach
EFT in Our Work Together
I bring over two decades of clinical experience and deep training in attachment science to couples work. In our sessions, I create a safe, non-judgmental space where both partners feel genuinely seen and heard, not triangulated or blamed.
EFT sessions are experiential: we don't just talk about your relationship, we work within it. I help you slow down reactive moments, get beneath the surface emotions, and access what you most need to say to your partner, and what you most need to hear.
When appropriate, I may weave in mindfulness practices, somatic awareness, and attachment-informed tools to deepen the therapeutic work and help you carry it outside of our sessions.
Ready to Reconnect?
The cycle you're caught in can change. Reach out today to begin the work of healing your bond.
Contact ElizabethCurrently accepting new clients · Daytime and evening appointments