What is it about?
Clear evidence that couple therapy helps couples with relationship distress and other concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD, trauma, affairs). All studies of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) were pooled into one large database to get a better idea of the helpfulness of EFT. Our large scale synthesis of all existing studies shows that 70% of couples are symptom free at the end of therapy, and that these gains last. Therapists who truly implement EFT help couples the most, as the method works!
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Why is it important?
This study should help couples be informed consumers leading them to see well trained couple therapsts, such as therapists trained in Emotiotionaly Focused Couple Therapy, known through research to work. Ask your therapist: Are you trained in couple therapy? And what model of couple therapy do you use?
Perspectives
As a couple therapist I was drawn to EFT because of the abundance of positive research and opportunities to get better at EFT. But I was also skeptical about some claims and wanted to establish scientifically the helpfulness of EFT. This study helps us as couple therapists because we kow that the better we are at using EFT, the more couples benefit.
Paul Spengler
Ball State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A comprehensive meta-analysis on the efficacy of emotionally focused couple therapy., Couple and Family Psychology Research and Practice, September 2022, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/cfp0000233.
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Contributors
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