When: Thursday & Friday, January 21 & 22, 2021, 12-3:15pm EST
Where: On Zoom
Instructor: Nancy Knudsen, LMFT
Target Audience: Social workers and other social service providers
Level: Intermediate
Rates: Full Rate – $145; Early Bird Rate by 11/20/20 – $130
Additional Rate for CEs: $10
CEs: 6 CEs approved for LICSWs and Lic. Psychologists
Hosted by Smith College School for Social Work
This workshop introduced the basic concepts of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), an evidence-based approach that has been shown to be highly effective in helping distressed couples repair their relationship and create a secure bond. Using attachment theory as a way to understand human bonds, a couple’s distress is viewed in EFT as a struggle to restore a sense of closeness and security. The EFT model provides a road map for guiding couples through de-escalating conflict and strengthening their bond. In this course, attendees explored assumptions made in EFT about the nature of relationships and how underlying attachment needs drive relational dynamics. Attendees also learned about contra-indicators and stages of EFT couples therapy as well as the concept of the systemic feedback loop present in a couple conflict cycle. Video demonstrations of clinical work along with small group breakout sessions were interspersed throughout the program.
At the conclusion of this program, participants were better able to:
- List 3 assumptions made in Emotionally Focused Therapy about the nature of relationships
- Identify 3 key elements of the systemic feedback loop present in a couple conflict cycle
- Describe the behaviors of each partner when feeling a threat to their bond
- List 2 underlying attachment needs that drive relational dynamics
- Identify 3 contraindicators for EFT couples therapy
- List the 3 stages of EFT couples therapy
Schedule:
Day 1 – January 21, 2021
12-1:30pm EST — Romantic relationships through an attachment lens: lecture with use of short videos to enhance learning
1:30-1:45pm EST — Break
1:45-2pm EST — Video demonstration of EFT Couple Therapy
2-2:30pm EST — Understanding the negative cycle
2:30-2:45pm EST — Breakout group exercise
2:45-3:15pm EST — Overview of components of EFT model
Day 2
Day 2 — January 22, 2o21
12-12:15pm EST — Questions from Day 1
12:15-12:30pm EST — Understanding couples conflict and the role of emotion
12:30-12:50pm EST — Video demonstration
12:50-1:15pm EST — Breakout group exercise
1:15-1:30pm EST — Large group discussion
1:30-1:45pm EST — Break
1:45-2:15pm EST — The EFT Tango: the five moves of the EFT therapist
2:15-2:30pm EST — Video demonstration
2:30-3pm EST — Breakout group exercise
3-3:15pm EST — Final remarks
Nancy Knudsen, LMFT is a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Northampton, MA with over 35 years experience in the field. She uses a family systems orientation to work with individuals, couples, and families on a wide range of issues. Over the past 10 years, Nancy’s primary clinical modality has been Emotionally Focused Therapy. She is a certified EFT therapist as well as a certified EFT supervisor, and serves on the planning committee of the New England Center for EFT. Nancy has taught a number of workshops on EFT for professionals. Additionally, she is a Past President of the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. She is co-founder and co-director of the Couple and Family Institute of New England.