What is Emotion Focused Therapy?

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is a way of working with emotions to help you feel better, make sense of your feelings, and create lasting change. Instead of avoiding emotions or trying to push them away, EFT helps you listen to your emotions and use them as a guide for healing and growth.

Unlike therapies that focus on changing thoughts, EFT works directly with emotions, addressing how past experiences and emotions are stored in the body. This approach is particularly beneficial for individuals who carry complex trauma or unresolved emotions from difficult childhoods, neglect, or challenging relationships.

Why do emotions matter?

Emotions shape how we think, act, and experience the world. They tell us what we need—whether it’s connection, safety, or understanding. Sometimes, emotions get stuck or feel overwhelming, and that’s where EFT helps. By working directly with emotions, EFT helps you move through emotional pain and transform it into a source of healing and growth.

How does EFT work?

Many traditional therapies, like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), focus on changing thoughts to feel better. While CBT is effective for many, EFT works from the “inside out”—starting with emotions rather than thoughts. This is crucial for trauma survivors because emotions, rather than thoughts, are often at the root of patterns that keep people feeling stuck.

When trauma occurs in early or significant relationships, it affects how we feel about ourselves and others. EFT helps bring these buried or overwhelming feelings to the surface safely, allowing you to process them, understand them, and ultimately transform them into emotions that support healing.

EFT therapists create a safe space where you can explore your feelings with support and understanding. They tune into how you feel, helping you make sense of emotions that may be buried or confusing. In sessions, you may be guided through different exercises to express and process emotions in a healthy way. This can help turn difficult feelings, like shame or sadness, into self-compassion and confidence.

Why EFT May Be Valuable for Healing Trauma 

For many who’ve experienced childhood trauma, relational trauma, or complex trauma, EFT can be a deeply transformative experience. The therapy focuses not on pushing emotions aside but on listening to them and understanding their messages. EFT offers a pathway to process old pain and move toward feelings like self-compassion, acceptance, or a new sense of safety and calm.

The value of EFT lies in its ability to help you make peace with your emotions, ultimately helping you to see yourself in a new, compassionate light. For those carrying the weight of unprocessed emotions from trauma, EFT allows you to approach your feelings gently, transforming them into tools that support healing and personal growth.

What Can You Expect in an EFT Session?  

In an EFT session, you’ll explore your emotions in a safe and non-judgmental space. If you’ve struggled with pushing emotions away or feeling overwhelmed, EFT allows you to gently process and work through emotions rather than suppressing them. Together, we’ll explore what your emotions are trying to tell you, guiding you toward feeling lighter, clearer, and more grounded.

You may encounter emotions that are difficult or unexpected, especially if you’re working through trauma. That’s okay—EFT helps you move at your own pace, ensuring you feel supported every step of the way.

Expanded focusing: An added layer to traditional EFT

In my practice, I also incorporate Melissa Harte’s Expanded Focusing Task. This method takes EFT even deeper by allowing you to slow down and connect with your body’s sensations and responses. While traditional EFT helps you process emotions, Expanded Focusing adds a layer where we explore physical sensations and subtle images that arise.

With Expanded Focusing, we might spend time noticing how your body feels as emotions surface—exploring the messages and memories it might hold from past experiences. Although not part of the standard EFT approach, Expanded Focusing offers a natural extension to the process, adding depth that can be especially helpful if trauma has left you feeling disconnected from yourself or overwhelmed by emotions. By allowing the body to guide you, Expanded Focusing connects you directly to past memories without the conscious mind filtering or interfering. This direct connection can take you straight to the root of the problem, helping you access deeper insights and resolve long-standing emotional patterns. In this way, your body becomes a powerful guide to healing, opening doors to insights beyond words.

Is EFT right for you?

If you feel weighed down by emotions from past trauma or are looking for a way to finally break free from patterns of pain, sadness, fear, or anger, EFT could offer the relief you’ve been seeking. In my practice, I combine EFT with Expanded Focusing to help you reconnect with your body and mind in a way that fosters deep and lasting change.

Healing from trauma takes time and care, but EFT provides a gentle and profound way to move forward. If you’re ready to explore a new approach to healing and transform how you relate to yourself and your emotions, I would be honoured to help you.