Emotion-Focused Family Therapy

This treatment manual provides mental health professionals with guidelines for implementing emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT), an exciting new intervention in which caregivers play a pivotal role in their loved ones’ treatment. Initially created to treat eating disorders, the model has evolved into a transdiagnostic approach that can be applied to any emotion- or behavior-based disorder with various relationship dynamics across the lifespan, including parent–child relationships (even if the child is an adult) and romantic partnerships.   The authors describe how to teach caregivers advanced skills for supporting their loved ones through emotion and behavior coaching. Therapists will also learn strategies for healing and strengthening the relationship between the caregiver and his or her loved one to optimize supportive efforts. Techniques for processing caregivers’ emotional blocks are also explored, as are methods for clinicians to work through their own blocks via supervision. Vivid case examples illustrate the implementation of EFFT in a wide variety of realistic scenarios. Clinical handouts are included in the appendices and are also available online: http://pubs.apa.org/books/supp/lafrance.