This accessible information handout describes the key principles of emotion-focused therapy (EFT).
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based therapy that emphasizes the role of emotion in psychological change. Developed by Leslie Greenberg and colleagues, EFT provides therapists with structured interventions to help clients access, regulate, and transform maladaptive emotions. This What Is Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)? information handout is designed to introduce clients to EFT.
This handout provides an accessible yet comprehensive explanation of EFT. Therapists can use it to:
Start a conversation about the potential benefits of EFT.
Use the information handout to explore the key ideas in EFT.
Help clients reflect on how EFT might be helpful to them.
Use the handout to consolidate client learning between sessions.
Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based talking therapy that is used to address a wide range of emotional and psychological difficulties. It began development in the 1970s, integrating person-centered therapy (Rogers, 1951), experiential focusing (Gendlin, 1969), gestalt therapy (Perls, 1969), and contemporary emotion theory. Leslie Greenberg and Laura Rice pioneered this early work, using process research to study how clients change in therapy and develop active therapeutic tasks (Greenberg & Rice, 1981). While many approaches treated emotions as disruptive or secondary to cognition, EFT identified them as the primary organizers of experience and meaning. The development of EFT is most closely associated with Greenberg’s work, alongside Robert Elliott, Jeanne Watson, and Rhonda Goldman (Elliott et al., 2004).
Central to EFT is the idea that emotions are at the core of human experience and the route to therapeutic change. Emotions guide our sense of self, shape our relationships, motivate behaviour, and influence the meanings we attach to experiences. While emotions are generally adaptive, they can become maladaptive when shaped by past unmet needs or unresolved experiences. EFT aims to help clients access, regulate, and transform these emotions within a supportive therapeutic relationship.
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