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EFIT Training

Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) is a groundbreaking therapeutic model that facilitates emotional processing and the creation of secure relationships with self and others. Originating from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples, EFIT adapts these principles for individual therapy, offering a structured approach to help individuals address various challenges including anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship problems. EFIT’s unique approach empowers mental health professionals to help their clients transform restrictive emotional patterns, foster internal coherence, and build deep resilience. In other words, EFIT allows them to be fit to flourish in life and in love.

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Our trainings follow this format:

Seeing
(video/leader role plays)
Hearing
(didactic)
Doing
(small group exercises)
We emphasize small group exercises throughout the training. Each small group will have an experienced helper in their group facilitating the learning process at all times.

Trainings: 

1. Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) Essentials Training

“EFIT Essentials” (equivalent to EFIT Levels 1 and 2) is a training in the EFT for Individuals (EFIT) stream. There are also equivalent courses in EFT for Couples (EFCT) and EFT for Families (EFFT) streams.

Overview

Beginning in 2024, explore the enriching journey of Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) through our EFIT Essentials training. This consolidated program is an amalgamation of our previous Level 1 and Level 2 trainings, now offered as a seamless, intensive learning experience. The training is structured to provide a solid foundation and an advanced understanding of the EFIT model, embedded within an attachment science framework. Through a blend of theoretical instruction and experiential exercises, participants will be guided to apply the model with individuals in their practice, fostering their growth as adept, attuned, and responsive EFIT therapists.

This 4-day (24hr) training event is a didactic and experiential program where participants will be invited to apply the principles and interventions of Emotionally Focused Therapy with individuals. The training will delve into the heart of the empirically-validated EFIT model, presenting a coherent framework for understanding individual emotional processing and change.

What will I learn in “EFIT Essentials”?

Participants will learn to:

  • Describe the key elements of the attachment perspective on personality and its significance for clinical intervention
  • Set out clients within and between cycles and how they create each other and link to presenting problems that manifest as emotional disorders
  • Describe the core components of emotional disorders – depression and anxiety
  • Outline the process of change and the elements of the EFT Tango to shape corrective emotional experience, such as affect assembly and deepening
  • Describe the micro-interventions used by the EFT therapist
  • Outline the applicability of EFIT for different clients with different symptomatology.
  • Adopt an attachment humanistic perspective on clients, problems and interventions
  • Discover and distill core emotional experiences and promote emotional balance
  • Outline protective, self-defining and interactional iatrogenic patterns
  • Implement the 5 moves of the EFT Tango to shape corrective emotional experience and EFT micro-interventions.
  • Choreograph dramas that expand the self and open engagement with others
  • Integrate corrective emotional experiences into models of self and other
  • Validate the client’s sense of competence and worth in every session.

Who is this training for?

EFIT Essentials training is designed to be an immersive and enriching professional development opportunity, aimed at equipping mental health professionals with the essential skills and knowledge necessary for effective EFIT practice. Through a blend of theoretical teachings, practical exercises, and collaborative learning, this program aims to foster a deeper understanding and proficient application of the EFIT model, empowering participants to contribute to the mental health and well-being of individuals they serve.

 

Prerequisites & Sequence

ICEEFT recommends taking Fundamentals of EFT prior to this course. There are no prerequisites for EFIT Essentials.

EFIT Level 1 + EFIT Level 2 are equivalent to EFIT Essentials. Note: During 2024, EFIT Levels 1&2 was replaced by EFIT Essentials.

EFIT Consultation follows EFIT Essentials (or EFIT Level 2).

 

Required reading: A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT): Cultivating Fitness and Growth in Every Client by Susan M. Johnson and T. Leanne Campbell, 2022. Routledge.

 

Recommended Readings:
Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families by Dr. Susan M. Johnson, 2019. Guilford Press.

Becoming an Emotionally Focused Therapist: The Workbook, 2nd  edition, by James L. Furrow, Susan M. Johnson, Brent Bradley, Lorrie L. Brubacher, T. Leanne Campbell, Veronica Kallos-Lilly, Gail Palmer, Kathryn Rheem, Scott R. Woolley, 2022. Routledge.

2. Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) Consultation

“Mastering Skills and Overcoming Challenges in EFIT: A Consultation Process” is a new training in the EFT for Individuals (EFIT) stream. For brevity, this page will refer to the course as “EFIT Consultation”. There are also analogous courses in EFT for Couples (EFCT) and EFT for Families (EFFT) streams.

Overview

Beginning in 2024, advance your practice and improve your client outcomes by taking your EFIT skills to the next level! In this two-part course, you will learn from expert trainers as they show and talk about their therapy sessions – where they get stuck, how they get unstuck, and how the attachment map and EFT Tango provide a beacon in all cases! Next, you will join with your colleagues as they show their work, and watch as expert trainers help guide the therapy process through feedback, consultation, and role plays specifically aimed at framing clients’ problems through the lens of attachment, mapping the process, maintaining momentum, unblocking barriers to growth, and more!

What will I learn in “EFIT Consultation”?

You’ll Discover:

  • How to model safety as a surrogate attachment figure to promote relationship security and harness the potency of emotion to transform trauma, quell anxiety, dim the darkness of depression, and more!
  • Ways of creating and maintaining a robust therapeutic alliance.
  • Methods for tracking and identifying key inner and interpersonal patterns that block growth, connection, and progress in therapy.
  • How the EFIT therapist uses key interventions to first validate and then dissolve blocks.
  • How to harness the power of attunement, an attachment map, and key EFIT interventions to keep clients at their leading edge of discovery and promote growth within and between sessions.
  • A proven set of interventions that you can rely on to move any and all clients away from reactivity and numbing to greater emotional balance, paving the way for increased growth, and growth through connection.
  • Greater mastery of the core EFIT interventions, and how to use these skills to effectively move you and your clients out of stuck places and into growth!
  • A more nuanced understanding of the core EFIT macro-intervention, the EFIT Tango, and the power of attunement in using the Tango to propel the therapy process forward.
  • Key methods and interventions that will lead your clients into secure attachment, the platform for well-being and ongoing growth and connection!
  • The confidence and competence to help any type of client, with any presenting problem.

Who is this training for?

This 10-hour training is tailored for therapists working with Individuals. Engage with expert trainers as they navigate through real therapy sessions, revealing how to overcome common hurdles using the EFIT Tango and attachment map. In a collaborative setting, join your peers in presenting your own cases, benefiting from personalized feedback and consultation, alongside insightful role plays.

The EFIT Consultation journey will equip you with enhanced strategies to foster secure attachments, maintain a robust therapeutic alliance, and effectively navigate through therapy sessions, fostering growth and overcoming barriers to progress. With a balanced mix of expert insights, peer presentations, and interactive learning, you’ll gain the confidence and competence to address a diverse range of client challenges, enriching your practice and promoting meaningful change in your clients’ lives.

Prerequisites & Sequence

If you are new to EFT or EFT for individuals, it is strongly recommended you complete EFIT Essentials (or EFIT Levels 1 + 2) before starting this course.

If you have completed some EFT or EFIT training already, you may take Consultation as a stand-alone course.

For certification, both “EFIT Essentials” (or EFIT Levels 1 and 2) and EFIT Consultation are required.

Recommended reading: A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT): Cultivating Fitness and Growth in Every Client. (2022) Johnson, S. M., & Campbell, T. L. Routledge

Upcoming Events

19
Jan, 2026

Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) Essentials Training

Online
Duration: 4 days
Speakers
Prof Elmien Lesch
ICEEFT Certified EFT Trainer, South Africa. Clinical Psychologist and Professor
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