Emotion Focused Therapy

This week was very informative and many of the components of EFT matched on to my orientation (or maybe my orientation matched to EFT). From a theoretical standpoint on the function of emotions, I agree with EFT that emotions can prompt action and provide useful information. Though emotions can easily become overwhelming or hold too much power in a way, I do believe they are important and can be useful tools. I got the sense that EFT is considered with the root of the problem that is causing some weeks to pop up. Rather than focusing on pulling the weeds or sprinkling some weed killer on top of them, EFT wants to dig in and cut the distress off at the base. I have pictured other modalities as being like a lid to an already full cup. It keeps the cup from overflowing and helps the individual prevent future distress. I feel like EFT, on the other hand, is trying to drill a hole in the cup so that the current water and future water can drain out. In EFT, the focus on the core emotional pain allows the distress to be directly resolved, which then impacts other patterns that have been developed to protect against feeling this pain. Focusing on the root can stop new weeks from popping up and make room for more helpful plant growth. I really understood and agreed with the idea of triggers, needs, core emotional pain, and avoidance. I think we all have one or two primarily emotional pains that cause patterns in our cognitions and behaviors. For better or for worse, I think we can all be boiled down to one or two core emotions. 

I also found myself agreeing with the core components that a therapist needs - the belief that experiences are central, people are greater than the sum of their parts, people are capable of self-determination, and growth exists. EFT also feels eclectic to me because it integrates components of a CBT approach, psychodynamic, attachment focus, family systems, humanistic, and I am sure other modalities. Though the practice may be pretty unique, the conceptualization and theory seems to integrate different components- which I like. 

Although I found myself really liking the conceptualization piece of EFT, I did question the utility of it within my work. I do not know how an emotion-focused therapy would play out when the majority of the population I will work with has antisocial personality disorder. How would I explore emotions with a client that some would consider emotionless? Now, I think that ASPD is a spectrum, and insight-building can be very helpful for some. I just think that a more behavioral change approach is more applicable for some clients because the ability to understand and care about emotions may not be as present or distressing. I would be interested to see the applicability of EFT with externalizing disorders. Most of the research has focused on internalizing disorders, which makes sense since internalizing disorders are characterized by emotional distress. With externalizing disorders, there is still emotional distress, but it is being expressed externally by using substances or acting out. Therefore, therapy is sometimes more focused on behavior change. Is there a responsibility to address the behavior before the core emotion? Can we address the core emotion while the substance use continues or do we need to address the substance use before addressing the core emotion? Though I think I naturally fall into a more EFT realm when it comes to conceptualization, I am still a firm believer that there is a time and place for everything. EFT may not be the most useful tool for some clients and that is okay. That being said, I was really happy to learn about EFT and I am excited to keep learning about it and how I can implement it within my work. 

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