ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the micro skills that constitute the emotionally focused therapy (EFT) therapists most basic tools in the change process. These skills arise originally from the integration of the work of Carl Rogers and systems theorists such as S. Minuchin and H. C. Fishman. As in the work of structural systemic family therapists such as Minuchin and Fishman, each partner’s behavior is constantly placed in the context of the other’s response. Experiential techniques are used to address specific emotional responses that seem to block emotional engagement in the marital sessions, or to focus intensely on problematic responses that undermine progress in the marital sessions. The EFT therapist conveys to both partners that they are entitled to their experience and emotional responses. The EFT therapist is always using new emotional experience to create new kinds of dialogue and then using that dialogue to create new interactional events, which then impact the inner emotional life of the partners.
