Efficacy of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy: A Review

Supporting Evidence for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy

Initial EFT Research – the 1980’s The evidence base for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) contains a rich history of research not only by its founders, but also by a wide range of professionals within the fields of counseling and psychology. Johnson and Greenberg (1985) first examined the effectiveness of the EFT model by comparing the outcomes of EFT treated couples to those of couples treated in a traditional problem-solving manner. Through newspaper recruitment and subsequent assessment interviews, 45 couples were chosen to participate in a study in which 15 were randomly assigned to EFT treatment, 15 to cognitive-behavioral problem-solving treatment, and 15 to a control

Iranian researchers Soltani, Molazadeh, Mahmoodi, & Hosseini (2013) conducted a quasi-experiment with 14 couples in distress. They randomly assigned couples to either a control group or a group exposed to EFT treatment for 10 weeks. Utilizing the Intimacy Needs Questionnaire and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, they measured pre-treatment and post-treatment intimacy. Significant improvement was found in intellectual, temporal, relationship, physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional intimacy. They found no change in social-recreational and spiritual intimacy. Since this study, much of the research has focused on specific populations such as infertile couples, survivors of abuse, and couples with substance abuse issues (Wiebe & Johnson, 2016). The efficacy of EFT in helping distressed couples increase intimacy and relational health is well established after 30 years of research. In the future, research will focus on utilizing EFT’s attachment-oriented principles for other applications including parenting, depressive disorder treatment, and couples facing chronic illness (Johnson & Wittenborn,

Johnson and her colleagues conducted a new kind of research centered on the attachment centers in the brain. Thirty-five married couples with some distress were recruited through media outlets. Utilizing a Tesla Siemens Magnetom MR brain scanner, they measured the difference in brain activity of the female partners before and after 23 sessions of EFT treatment, which included increased hand holding between the partners. They concluded that EFT alters the manner in which the brain responds to bonding and attachment in couples (Johnson, Moser, Beckes, Smith, Dalgleish, et al., 2013). A number of weaknesses become evident in this study upon closer examination. The study only included the scanning of the brains of the women, neglecting to measure the effects on the men. Also, the researchers did not use a control group, leaving too many variables that could have affected the brain scans. While providing for interesting reading, this study does not strengthen the case for the effectiveness of