Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Supporting healing through emotional awareness and transformation
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based approach that helps people understand, process, and transform their emotions in ways that lead to greater self-awareness, resilience, and inner peace. Developed by Dr. Les Greenberg, EFT is rooted in the understanding that emotions are not problems to be controlled; they are vital sources of information about our needs, values, and experiences.
When emotions become overwhelming, suppressed, or confusing, it can be difficult to know what they’re trying to tell us. EFT offers a structured, compassionate process to work with emotions directly, helping you access the wisdom beneath them and move toward more adaptive, life-giving responses.
What EFT can help with
EFT can be helpful for individuals experiencing:
Anxiety, depression, or emotional numbness often present in eating disorders
Self-criticism, shame, or perfectionism
Grief and loss
Difficulties in relationships
Disconnection from one’s feelings or inner world
Moving through big emotions/ working with high sensitivity
Unresolved experiences from the past that still carry emotional weight
How EFT works
In EFT, we work together to explore your emotional experiences in the present moment, not only through talking about feelings, but by working with them as they arise.
Using careful attention and empathy, the therapist helps you:
Identify and differentiate between primary and secondary emotions
Access core feelings that may have been blocked or defended against
Understand what your emotions are communicating about your needs and values
Transform painful emotions into more adaptive ones, such as compassion, strength, or assertive clarity
Over time, this process supports a deeper sense of emotional integration and authenticity, leading to meaningful shifts in how you relate to yourself and others.
EFT and eating disorders
For many people, struggles with food and body image reflect deep emotional conflicts, often around control, safety, identity, or unmet needs for care and acceptance. EFT provides a gentle, experiential framework for exploring these layers without judgment. By working directly with the emotions that drive restrictive, binge, or self-critical patterns, EFT helps individuals develop greater self-compassion and reconnect with the parts of themselves that long for nourishment and peace.
The goal of EFT
The goal of Emotion-Focused Therapy is not to eliminate difficult emotions, but to cultivate a healthy, responsive relationship with them.
By learning to recognize, tolerate, and transform emotion, you can develop greater emotional flexibility: a key ingredient in psychological health and personal growth.
Research and effectiveness
EFT is supported by extensive research demonstrating its effectiveness in treating eating disorders and disordered eating, as well as depression, anxiety, trauma, and interpersonal difficulties. It’s also one of the most empirically validated humanistic therapies. Studies show that clients often experience lasting improvements in emotional well-being and self-acceptance.
In summary
EFT is a powerful, compassionate approach that invites you to turn toward your emotions not as enemies, but as guides. Through this process, healing and change arise naturally, from within.