Workshop 1 – Emotionally Focused Therapy with African American Couples

Deep Roots: Culture & Attachment
Duration: 1 hour 42 minutes

This training video series is intended for psychotherapists, educators, and graduate students who are interested in learning about diversity matters and applying them in a clinical setting. The videos are a companion to Dr. Guillory’s book on Emotionally Focused Therapy with African American Couples: Love Heals. The couple in this re-creation of therapy are played by actors. An actual couple therapy transcript is used as an anchor. An extensive write-up of this case is found in chapter five of Love Heals.

The literature regarding Black couples suggests that African American experience more threats compared to others racial groups to their romantic bonds. These threats include higher rates of divorce, and more intense conflicts. While race is typically treated as a demographic category, most models of couples therapy devote little to no attention to the dynamic nature of race-matters in the lives of African American relationship. As Nancy Boyd-Franklin, PhD, author, and Distinguished Professor suggests, Dr. Guillory’s clinical work is “trailblazing.”

These video tapes highlight a specific model of race-matters and integrates seamlessly with evidence-based Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). Dr. Guillory provides an in-depth experience the EFT interventions and clinical moves, and how to integrate these clinical interventions with a model of race-matters that include racism, racial identity, racial-distress cues, and cultural humility.

One Interracial Couple: Two Versions of Emotionally Focused Therapy – Part One

INTEGRATING THE CULTURAL & ATTACHMENT LENS

This training video series is intended for psychotherapists, educators, and graduate students who are interested in learning about diversity matters regarding and applying them in a clinical setting. The videos are a companion to Dr. Guillory’s book Emotionally Focused Therapy with African American Couples: Love Heals. Specifically, a discussion of this case is found in chapter four of Love Heals. In this video series Dr. Guillory demonstrates the powerful effectiveness of using both an EFT map for working with attachment bonds and using a model of race-matters to enhance the bond with an interracial couple.

This series is unique in clinical demonstration about interracial couple counseling. The work centers on the African American woman’s exploration of her internalized racial wounds and negative view-of-self along with her White husband’s lack of his racial identity awareness.

The audience has four perspectives on the presented clinical work: That is, there is one interracial couple in therapy struggling with their racial differences, and two EFT therapists working, with one therapist having a lens of cultural humility, and the other therapists without. There is also an ethnically diverse clinical consulting team discussion, and lastly a didactic perspective of race-matters and EFT couple’s therapy highlighting the clinical process.

Part one of this two-part series is focused on the clinical dynamitic and multi-dimensional concept of racial-identity, racial trauma, and emotional intelligence. In part one we see the wide distance created between the therapists when we view their clinical with a cultural humility lens. Dr. James has a limited concept of race-matters and does not have a map for addressing race-matters effectively. As a result, the emotional the emotional depth of his work is restricted, due to the salient issue of race-based distress that has led to emotional disconnection with this couple. Dr. Paul, who works with a model of race-matters, offers a uniquely integrative culture & EFT approach. Lastly, the diverse clinical discussion group offers their own instructive, and insightful that advances the concepts or race-matters and EFT couple’s therapy. Their lively discussion is also a model for discussing the dynamic nature of race, self-of-therapists, and clinical work.

One Interracial Couple: Two Versions of Emotionally Focused Therapy – Part Two

INTEGRATING THE CULTURAL & ATTACHMENT LENS

This video is a continuation of therapy with Lisa & Jeremy as they attempt to discuss the triggering negative cycle of race in their relationship. Again, we witness Dr. James working without a model of cultural humility, and Dr. Paul working from a dynamic and multi-dimensional model of race-matters. The diverse clinical consulting group offers significant clinical suggestions to both therapists.

In this video we see both therapists assembling racial experiences from a White community where the couple lives. Dr. James seems to assume that their neighborhood is neutral regarding racism and seems to align with Jeremy’s view that the problem is somehow with Lisa’s perspective. Dr. James frequently suggests that we can never know whether a White person’s behavior is racist or not, “We just don’t know.” Dr. Paul works with the same clinical material but from the perspective that racism exists, and impacts Lisa’s body when she experiences it. As a result, the two version of therapy go in different directions, and have demonstratively different levels of depth internally and interpersonally. This is particularly the case when a specific race-based event is processed with Lisa using the EFT tango moves.

Racial Identity Development: Expanding View of Self

These video clips are designed to fill a critical gap in clinical training. This training is intended for psychotherapists, educators, and graduate students. The literature suggests Black couples compare to other racial groups experiences more threats to their romantic relationships, have higher divorce rates and more intense conflicts.

These training videos “Racial Identity Development,” will demonstrate the dynamic and development feature of racial identity. In these two video clips we see these two Black men developing a great view of themselves. Racial identity development as a byproduct of effective coping was articulated best by Thomas Parham, a psychologist building on the work of William Cross, PhD and Janet Helms, PhD. While processing attachment vulnerability is at the essence of the corrective emotional experience in EFT therapy, processing the vulnerability from racial threats, challenges, and opportunities is the essence of the corrective emotional experience that liberates and expands the view of self for people of color.

Clinical interventions are detailed with respect to both cultural and attachment lens. Brief didactic instruction is included with each video that will enhance the learning of Cultural Attunement and Emotional Focus Therapy. These training videos will help you learn to create more safety and be a more effective couples’ therapists with all couples, and particularly with People of Color.

Healing Conversation: 5 EFT Tango Moves

These video clips are designed to fill a critical gap in clinical training. This training is intended for psychotherapists, educators, and graduate students. The literature suggests Black couples compare to other racial groups experiences more threats to their romantic relationships, have higher divorce rates and more intense conflicts.

The training videos “Healing Conversation, demonstrate an important aspect of couple therapy with Black couples … promoting and facilitating healing conversations. Healing conversations are an effective and much needed antidote to the interpersonal harshness reported in the literature of Black couples’ interactions. These video clips, and didactic instruction will demonstrate the use of Emotional Focus Therapy Five Basic moves central to processing a corrective emotional experience. These training videos will help you learn to create more safety and be a more effective couples’ therapists with all couples, and particularly with People of Color.