Externship in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy® (EFCT) hosted by the Washington Baltimore EFT Community

An Externship in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) is an intensive, four-day (24+ hour) training experience designed to provide therapists with a solid foundation in this evidence-based approach. This externship is the first step toward specializing in EFCT and is also offered in equivalent formats for EFT for Families (EFFT) and EFT for Individuals (EFIT).

Why Attend an EFCT Externship?

This immersive training provides a comprehensive introduction to the EFCT model, grounded in attachment science and a systematic approach to couple therapy. It equips therapists with the essential skills to help couples build more secure and resilient relationships. Completing an externship is a prerequisite for advanced EFCT training and certification, ultimately enhancing therapists’ effectiveness and confidence in working with couples.

What You Will Learn:

This externship will provide participants with:

• A clear understanding of the core experiential and systemic concepts of Emotionally Focused Therapy.
• The ability to conceptualize relationship distress and repair through the lens of attachment and emotion theory, understanding clients within their interpersonal attachment context.
• A focus on the EFCT model as outlined in Attachment Theory in Practice (2019), specifically as applied to couple therapy.
• Skills in establishing and maintaining an engaged, open, and collaborative therapeutic alliance.
• Proficiency in the five moves of the EFCT Tango, the core macro-intervention for transforming patterns of affect regulation, self and other models, engagement strategies, and interactional patterns.
• Skills in utilizing EFT micro-interventions derived from experiential and attachment-systemic models.
• Strategies for navigating common blocks and impasses in couple therapy, facilitating corrective emotional experiences that foster constructive dependency and what Carl Rogers termed “existential living.

Who Should Attend?

This training is designed for licensed mental health professionals, including:

• Psychiatrists
• Psychologists
• Family Physicians
• Social Workers
• Psychiatric Nurses
• Counsellors (including couples and family therapists)
• Pastors and Clergy

Students currently enrolled in training programs for these professions are also welcome.

School counsellors and occupational therapists who are licensed and belong to a professional body with established standards of practice for psychotherapy/counselling may also attend.

Please note: Life coaches are not eligible to attend unless they also meet one of the mental health professional criteria listed above.