Emotionally focused therapy for couples takes an evidence-based approach to relationship problems, including damage caused by substance abuse. At Del Arroyo Recovery Center in Agoura Hills, CA, we tailor treatment to the individual. That includes tailoring addiction counseling to their relationships and social needs.
What Is EFT?
Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) is a type of therapy that focuses on helping couples strengthen their bonds. Couples learn to better express their needs, communicate more clearly, navigate conflicts effectively, and truly empathize with and understand one another. EFT may also be referred to as emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT).
Experts believe this kind of emotional marriage therapy works because of its basis in attachment theory. The theory holds that people need to form secure attachments to one another to function well in relationships, starting with the bond between infants and caregivers. EFT reworks and reinforces attachments between partners to make them healthy and secure.
How Emotionally Focused Therapy Works
With the help of a professional counselor, clients work on:
Identifying and de-escalating cycles – Finding negative interaction patterns that cause conflict and emotional distance, then exploring the needs and emotions that underlie them. This may also include identifying challenges presented by a co-occurring disorder.
Identifying and expressing emotions – Being able to name one’s feelings and communicate them in a healthy, effective way. Couples learn to feel their emotions without being overtaken by them, allowing them to express deeper feelings and needs.
Promoting attachment security – Improving things like accessibility, responsiveness, and emotional engagement between partners to create a more secure emotional bond.
Restructuring interactions – Developing new ways for the couple to interact and respond to each other’s needs without falling back into old cycles.
Consolidating and integrating strategies – Pulling all of the learned skills together and practicing them in daily life.
Deepening emotional engagement – Encouraging couples to be more open and vulnerable with one another, deepening their emotional intimacy and overall bond.
Reassessing – Checking in on the attachment over time, continuing to identify problems and keep the bond strong as the relationship moves forward.
When couples and substance abuse clash, there can be a lot of difficult emotions involved. EFT couples counseling helps them express these feelings safely and communicate better going forward. We provide EFT in Agoura Hills to help couples create secure attachments, preventing pressure and secrecy that can lead to relapse.
Our Approach to EFT Addiction Treatment
EFT is a powerful long-term therapy strategy that helps people function better in relationships with partners, friends, and family members. At our Southern California facility, we combine EFT with other evidence-based therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) for lasting recovery.
In our couples therapy in Agoura Hills, we incorporate EFT practices in a number of ways:
- Exploring the roots of addiction: Recognizing patterns and identifying emotions can help reveal underlying reasons for substance use.
- Building emotional resilience: Individuals learn to handle intense or difficult emotions without turning to drugs or alcohol.
- Fostering stronger relationships: Romantic and platonic relationships are strengthened through expression and communication, providing critical support in recovery.
- Encouraging secure attachments: Forming new, healthy bonds with others helps individuals build trust and find confidence to succeed.
- Couples drug treatment: If both partners are struggling with addiction, EFT can be worked into each of their programs.
All of these can be beneficial in different addiction treatment programs, including dual diagnosis depression treatment, anxiety treatment, or even couples ptsd (post-traumatic stress disorder) treatment. EFT creates a healthy foundation that can help ease the challenges of a co-occurring disorder.
Heal Your Relationship with Couples Emotional Therapy in CA
At Del Arroyo Recovery Center in Agoura Hills, we know that addiction treatment is never a journey you take alone. Whether the relationship has suffered from one spouse’s substance abuse or you need couples drug treatment, we can help you and your partner explore and rebuild your bond in an emotionally healthy way.
If you’re looking for rehab and emotional therapy in Los Angeles County, our Agoura Hills, CA counseling programs can help. Contact us today to get started.
