Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart
-Carl Jung
What is Emotion-Focused Therapy?
Healing with heartfelt support: heal the root of emotional pain with EFT
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is a form of talk therapy that enhances your emotional intelligence and grows your self-soothing abilities, which can help you solve problems, manage your behavior, and work through emotions or intense feeling states. Not to be confused with Emotionally-Focused Therapy, a couples therapy approach, EFT is an individual therapy that helps you reach a deeper level of self-connection and develop a felt sense of wholeness within yourself.
Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth in uglier ways
-Freud
The Role of the Body in Emotion-Focused Therapy
Emotions live in the body before they reach the mind. We often experience them as tightness in the chest, tension in the shoulders, a sinking feeling in the stomach, or a warm flush in the face. In EFT, we pay attention to these bodily sensations because they are direct gateways to the emotional truth beneath the surface.
Your therapist may guide you to focus on where in your body you feel an emotion, helping you “stay with” the sensation long enough for it to shift naturally. This is sometimes called developing a “felt sense,” which is a deeper, non-verbal understanding of your inner state. Through this process, you learn how to regulate your emotions by tuning into your body, not just your thoughts.
This body-based awareness is especially powerful for those who have experienced trauma, since trauma often disrupts the connection between the mind and body. Rebuilding that connection can be a key step toward lasting emotional stability.
Emotion-Focused Therapy and Depth Work
Because EFT looks beyond surface-level symptoms, it is especially compatible with depth-oriented therapy approaches like psychodynamic or Jungian work. Together, these modalities allow us to address both the here-and-now of emotional experience and the deeper, unconscious patterns that shape them.
For example, if you find yourself repeatedly feeling unworthy in relationships, EFT might first help you identify and process the emotions that arise in those moments; perhaps sadness or shame. Depth therapy could then help you uncover the early experiences or unconscious beliefs that created that emotional pattern in the first place.
This integration means you’re not only working through immediate struggles but also addressing their root causes, paving the way for more lasting change.
What does Emotion-Focused Therapy treat?
EFT is an evidence-based approach that can treat:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Trauma
- Emotional dysregulation
Emotion-Focused Therapy: A Depth Therapy That Goes Beyond CBT
Unlike some therapeutic approaches, EFT believes that working with emotion is a source of healing and healthy change. Through EFT, you can:
- Increase awareness of your emotions
- Welcome, accept, & work with emotions
- Describe emotions with more clarity
- Understand what your emotions are trying to tell you about yourself & your needs or wants
- Identify the source of uncomfortable feelings
- Work through anxiety, depression, and trauma
Who Can Benefit from Emotion-Focused Therapy?
EFT is helpful for anyone who struggles with identifying, expressing, or regulating their emotions. It is particularly beneficial if you:
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Tend to overthink but feel “cut off” from your emotions.
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Experience frequent emotional overwhelm.
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Have difficulty trusting your feelings or making decisions based on them.
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Struggle with chronic self-criticism or shame.
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Have experienced trauma and want to rebuild a sense of inner safety.
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Feel stuck in repetitive patterns in relationships or life choices.
EFT is also valuable for highly sensitive people (HSPs) who experience emotions more intensely, as it offers tools for both emotional expression and self-regulation.
Why Work Directly with Emotions?
Many people enter therapy hoping to “get rid of” certain emotions: whether it’s sadness, anxiety, anger, or shame. While symptom relief is important, suppressing emotions can actually make them more intense over time. Emotion-Focused Therapy approaches emotions differently: instead of avoiding them, we help you face and understand them, transforming their energy into insight and growth.
Working directly with emotions can help you:
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Reduce emotional overwhelm by learning how to process intense feelings without shutting down or reacting impulsively.
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Increase emotional clarity so you can recognize the difference between fear that signals danger and fear that comes from old patterns.
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Build a stronger sense of self by connecting your feelings to your values and life goals.
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Improve relationships through clearer emotional expression and healthier boundaries.
EFT doesn’t see emotions as “good” or “bad;" only as messages. Once we can understand what those messages are saying, we can respond in ways that align with our needs and values.
Frequently Asked Questions About Emotion-Focused Therapy
Is Emotion-Focused Therapy the same as Emotionally-Focused Therapy for couples?
No. Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for individuals is different from Emotionally-Focused Therapy for couples. While they share a focus on emotional connection, individual EFT works with your inner emotional world, whereas the couples version is aimed at strengthening relationship bonds.
How long does EFT take to work?
Some clients begin noticing changes within a few sessions, especially in how they relate to their emotions. However, deeper changes, such as shifting lifelong patterns, often require several months of consistent work.
What happens in an EFT session?
A session typically involves talking through a situation, noticing emotions as they arise, and gently exploring their meaning and origin. You may also be guided to tune into your body to locate where emotions are being felt and allow them to shift naturally.
Do I have to re-live painful experiences?
No. EFT is not about re-traumatizing you or forcing you to re-live painful events. Instead, we work at your pace, focusing on what feels manageable while still moving toward greater emotional understanding.
Can EFT be combined with other therapies?
Yes. EFT works well alongside approaches like psychodynamic therapy, schema therapy, psychodynamic therapy, brainspotting, and hypnotherapy. This allows for both emotional processing and deeper exploration of unconscious patterns.
Next Steps: Work with a Therapist Who Gets It
If you are seeking help identifying and processing your emotions, I encourage you to book a session. Together, we’ll work on increasing awareness of emotions, exploring how to understand your feelings, and using healthy emotions to guide action.