I have been involved in the training of Clinical Psychology students in couple and family therapy over many years. In 2002, I came across Susan Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Model and immediately felt drawn to it as it resonated with my own ideas and style of working. Furthermore, the model provides a clear and accessible theoretical framework and map to guide learning and implementation of the model. Since my first exposure to the model, I have immersed myself in learning it, and I have been certified as an EFT Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer. Training and supervising mental health professionals and trainees in this model bring me much joy. I find that the EFT principles resonate with many students and practitioners on a personal and professional level.
A crucial part of my work as an academic, is to generate new knowledge through research. I am interested in forms of, and processes in, close/intimate relationships (including romantic, family and friendship relationships) in different communities in South Africa with the view to develop community-appropriate relationship interventions. (See publications list below for examples of recent studies.) I would like to conduct or be involved with EFT effectiveness studies in various South African communities. I hope that by making EFT training available and assisting South African relationship practitioners to become EFT therapists that we will develop a team of competent and enthusiastic EFT therapists that will participate in such an endeavour. It would be great if more couple therapists want to do further formal studies (e.g., a PhD in Psychology) to contribute to our understanding of couple therapy practice in South Africa and on the African continent, and specifically the practice of EFT. If you are interested, contact me.
We have started an initiative to reach out to practitioners on the rest of the African continent with a view to provide training to interested professionals and to create an African network of EFT practitioners that could work together to explore the effectiveness of this model for people living on the African continent. So, if you have come across this website and do couple and family work on the African continent, please make contact with us.