The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection (Basic Principles Into Practice Series) [Paperback]

Susan M. Johnson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415945682 | ISBN-13: 978-0415945684 | Publication Date: August 1, 2004 | Edition: 2

Since its original publication in 1996, this volume has been a helpful guide to therapists in the practice of emotionally focused therapy. This second edition addresses the many changes in the field of couples therapy, including updated research results linked to clinical intervention and new information on using EFT to address depression and PTSD. A new section covers the growth of couples therapy as a field and its overall relevance to the mental health field, accompanied by coverage of how recent research into the nature of marital distress is consonant with EFT. Other new features are a section on EFT and feminism, as well as a section on cultural competence for the EFT therapist.

Written by a leading authority on emotionally focused couples and marital therapy, this second edition is an up-to-date reference on all aspects of EFT and its uses for mental health professionals.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Sue Johnson's The Practice of Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy is a truly remarkable book. In it, Johnson pulls off the extremely rare combination of speaking in a voice that is accessible and clinically meaningful to couple therapists yet remaining solidly anchored in research evidence. This is the definitive text describing Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy, one of the few approaches to marital therapy that has been proven to be effective. Filled with clinical vignettes and hands-on examples of what to do when, this book should be of great value to all couple therapists. Poignant and well written, it is certain to be a classic in the field of marital therapy.
.
–Jay Lebow is a senior therapist at the Family Institute at Northwestern and Clinical Associate Professor at Northwestern University

The leading couple therapist of our day has done it again! This brilliantly revised and expanded work will make learning and doing this highly effective, empirically validated form of therapy much easier. This book will find a prominent place in the minds, hearts, and libraries of all serious couple therapists, and countless couples and families will benefit as a result. Bravo Sue Johnson!.
–Scott R. Woolley, Ph.D., Director, MFT Graduate Programs, CSPP, Alliant International University

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) is a deceptively simple approach to work with couples in therapy because the tenets, practices, and integration are so clear because there clearly is a lot of art to doing this work. The book is nicely written with sufficient technical language to be useful and at the same time eminently accessible and enjoyable to read. This edition provides more detail than the first about the processes involved both internally and interpersonally between partners. The steps in therapy also are described in more detail and the chapters on working with trauma and families are new. I believe that the book would be useful for both those new to the approach and as a reference for more experienced therapists. Recommended for graduate students and experienced therapists..
–Thorana S. Nelson, Ph.D/Utah State University

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415945682
• ISBN-13: 978-0415945684
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #70 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Relationships > Marriage

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide for practitioners, December 2, 1998

By 

Thomas L. Daniels "Tom" (Newport RI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Practice Of Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy: Creating Connection (Basic Principles Into Practice) (Paperback)

Johnson does a beautiful job of laying out the process of effective therapy with couples in a manner that is both clear and respectful of the complexity of the process. Upon reading her book, it suddenly became clear to me why I have been successful with some couples and painfully inadequate with others. It's been a real jump-start to my feeling alive and effective again in therapy. Tom Daniels, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Structured and Useful Book For Couples Therapists, August 17, 2008

By 

Dr. Jeanette Raymond "http://www.drjeanettera... (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection (Basic Principles Into Practice Series) (Paperback)

Bringing insecure attachment dialogues to life is the most useful aspect of this book. The step by step approach to couples therapy is helplful especially for those therapists unfamiliar with how attachment issues play out in the therapeutic context.

More information on screeening out couples who may not benefit from this approach would have been invaluable - rather than just referring to couples who are breaking up. Many couples have not learned the language of emotion. Some express it somatically or by numbing it with substances or food. These couples would need far more than 12 sessions and a great deal of training and practice to be able to learn about their attachment dances and break the cycles that lead to distancing.

Insight is not the primary aim of EFCT, yet couples are encouraged to notice and become increasingly aware of their automatic processes that lead to misattuned connections. I think that is precisely what gaining insight is about,which in turn allows for new actions to be attempted in the future.

Johnson suggests that most couples therapists use problem solving approaches over emotionally focused strategies. Those of us who bring in Object Relations and Intersubjective ideas into our work facilitate couples in attending to and sharing their emotional experiences with their partners. This is the norm rather than the exception. Johnson's book makes the process more systematic and contained. It doesn't help with couples where one or both partners get secondary gains from making the other 'bad.'

Overall a useful adjunct for psychotherapists already doing emotionally focused work with couples.

[...]

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and concise, August 12, 2005

By 

Anna R. Brandon "Anna R. Brandon, Ph.D." (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection (Basic Principles Into Practice Series) (Paperback)

Good overview of the relationship between attachment and emotional functioning in marriage. The manualized treatment approach has been empirically supported so deserves more than just a glance. An excellent addition to the libraries of anyone interested in and encountering the challenges of couples counseling.