Upcoming Professional Trainings & Events
listed in chronological order
Ethics Workshop
The Ethical Tightrope: Navigating Challenges in EFT
with Bonnie Lewis, LMFT
Date: Friday, June 28, 2024 | Time: 10am-1 pm Arizona time (MST)
Location: Online OR In-Person at Tempe Public Library
**Speaker will be online only.**
Cost: $45 for AZEFT members | $55 for non-members
** 20% discount offered to group practices of 5 or more who each register for the event; email us for the discount code
Certificate of Attendance: 3 hours
Count for AzBBHE's ethics CEUs licensure renewal.
Workshop Description:
Utilizing Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with clients presents distinctive challenges, whether working with couples, individuals, or families. In our session, we will explore specific ethical challenges that may arise and discuss effective strategies for navigating these situations using an Ethical Decision-Making Framework. Whether you attended the AZEFT Ethics training last year or are new to employing Ethical Decision Making, this will provide an opportunity for both review and the enhancement of decision-making skills. Additionally, participants will engage with the framework through the analysis of new case studies.
A particularly noteworthy challenge in the application of EFT is determining when and how to refer a client out. While Emotionally Focused Therapy serves as a profound modality forming the foundation of our work with clients, ethical considerations arise when it appears not to be the most suitable approach. This session will delve into the ethical dilemma of identifying the point at which EFT may not align with a client's needs. Participants will learn strategies for exploring personal barriers within themselves and their clients regarding EFT, all while recognizing the possibility that EFT may not universally suit every client. This interactive training aims to empower participants to grant themselves the permission to understand both their own and the model's limitations, all while considering the ethical implications involved.
Approach this session with an openness to embrace your humanity and that of your clients as we collectively engage in this interactive ethics training experience!
Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will develop an ethical decision-making framework informed by a systemic lens utilizing various scenarios when practicing EFT.
2. Participants will be able to list and describe the ethical principles for client care, including how those principles apply to our own personal and professional limits and not assuming we will be able to help every type of client with EFT.
3. Participants will develop an ethical transition plan to successfully close out a client when best for client care.
Bonnie Lewis, LMFT, is a Certified EFT Therapist and EFT Supervisor-In-Training. Practicing since 2014, one of Bonnie’s passions is teaching and mentorship. As an approved Supervisor with the AZBBHE and Clinical Director at Therapy with Heart, she enjoys providing supervision to practicing professionals in their journey towards obtaining their license. Bonnie has worked as a teacher’s assistant and is currently an adjunct professor and group supervisor at Fuller Theological Seminary for the Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Program. She facilitates couples workshops like Hold Me Tight and Created for Connection to help couples remove stumbling blocks to vulnerability to then be able to go deeper in their connection, resulting in their relationship being a source of healing. She was the Director of Training for AZEFT Board and is actively involved in the EFT Community. When not working, Bonnie cherishes the time with her husband and two daughters. She values her family, time outdoors, reading, traveling, being active, and connecting with her community.
Location: Online OR In-Person at Tempe Public Library
**Speaker will be online only.**
Cost: $45 for AZEFT members | $55 for non-members
** 20% discount offered to group practices of 5 or more who each register for the event; email us for the discount code
Certificate of Attendance: 3 hours
Count for AzBBHE's ethics CEUs licensure renewal.
Workshop Description:
Utilizing Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with clients presents distinctive challenges, whether working with couples, individuals, or families. In our session, we will explore specific ethical challenges that may arise and discuss effective strategies for navigating these situations using an Ethical Decision-Making Framework. Whether you attended the AZEFT Ethics training last year or are new to employing Ethical Decision Making, this will provide an opportunity for both review and the enhancement of decision-making skills. Additionally, participants will engage with the framework through the analysis of new case studies.
A particularly noteworthy challenge in the application of EFT is determining when and how to refer a client out. While Emotionally Focused Therapy serves as a profound modality forming the foundation of our work with clients, ethical considerations arise when it appears not to be the most suitable approach. This session will delve into the ethical dilemma of identifying the point at which EFT may not align with a client's needs. Participants will learn strategies for exploring personal barriers within themselves and their clients regarding EFT, all while recognizing the possibility that EFT may not universally suit every client. This interactive training aims to empower participants to grant themselves the permission to understand both their own and the model's limitations, all while considering the ethical implications involved.
Approach this session with an openness to embrace your humanity and that of your clients as we collectively engage in this interactive ethics training experience!
Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will develop an ethical decision-making framework informed by a systemic lens utilizing various scenarios when practicing EFT.
2. Participants will be able to list and describe the ethical principles for client care, including how those principles apply to our own personal and professional limits and not assuming we will be able to help every type of client with EFT.
3. Participants will develop an ethical transition plan to successfully close out a client when best for client care.
Bonnie Lewis, LMFT, is a Certified EFT Therapist and EFT Supervisor-In-Training. Practicing since 2014, one of Bonnie’s passions is teaching and mentorship. As an approved Supervisor with the AZBBHE and Clinical Director at Therapy with Heart, she enjoys providing supervision to practicing professionals in their journey towards obtaining their license. Bonnie has worked as a teacher’s assistant and is currently an adjunct professor and group supervisor at Fuller Theological Seminary for the Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Program. She facilitates couples workshops like Hold Me Tight and Created for Connection to help couples remove stumbling blocks to vulnerability to then be able to go deeper in their connection, resulting in their relationship being a source of healing. She was the Director of Training for AZEFT Board and is actively involved in the EFT Community. When not working, Bonnie cherishes the time with her husband and two daughters. She values her family, time outdoors, reading, traveling, being active, and connecting with her community.
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) Essentials-
formerly known as EFIT Level 1 and Level 2
with Kathryn de Bruin, LMFT and Rachel Thomas, LMFT
Date: August 13, 14, 15 and 16, 2024 | Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm MST (Arizona time)
Location: Sonoran University of Health Sciences (2140 E. Broadway, Tempe AZ 85282)
Cost: $945 Regular; $575 Students (Level 2 EFIT training at half price available for those who have completed EFIT Level 1)
Other: This training meets part of EFIT certification requirement.
Certificate of Attendance: 24 hours
**All attendees will receive a free Certificate of Attendance, which will suffice for all Arizona participants licensed under the BBHE or APA.
Description:
The training program is designed to provide participants with a robust groundwork and advanced understanding of the EFIT model, integrated within an attachment science framework. By blending theoretical instruction with experiential exercises, participants will be skillfully guided to implement the model in their clinical practice, fostering their development as proficient, attuned, and responsive EFIT therapists.
Learning Objectives:
- Articulate the fundamental tenets of the attachment perspective on personality and its significance in clinical intervention.
- Analyze client dynamics within and across cycles, elucidating how they co-create and interconnect, thereby contributing to presenting problems manifested as emotional disorders.
- Define the core components of emotional disorders, specifically depression and anxiety.
- Examine the process of change and the elements of the EFT Tango to shape corrective emotional experiences, including affect assembly and deepening.
- Identify the micro-interventions employed by EFT therapists.
- Assess the applicability of EFIT across clients with diverse symptomatology.
- Embrace an attachment humanistic viewpoint on clients, issues, and interventions.
- Unearth and distill core emotional experiences while nurturing emotional equilibrium.
- Outline protective, self-defining, and interactional iatrogenic patterns.
- Employ the 5 moves of the EFT Tango to craft corrective emotional experiences and EFT micro-interventions.
- Construct narratives that expand self-awareness and enhance interpersonal connections.
- Integrate corrective emotional experiences into models of self and other.
- Affirm the client’s sense of competence and worth in each session.
Required Reading:
- “A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT): Cultivating Fitness and Growth in Every Client” by Susan M. Johnson and T. Leanne Campbell, 2022. Routledge.
Recommended Reading:
- “Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families” by Dr. Susan M. Johnson, 2019.
- “Becoming an Emotionally Focused Therapist: The Workbook (2nd Edition)” by James L. Furrow, Susan M. Johnson, Brent Bradley, Lorrie L. Brubacher, T. Leanne Campbell, Veronica Kallos-Lilly, Gail Palmer, Kathryn Rheem, Scott R. Woolley, 2022. Routledge.
To learn more about the general objectives of EFIT Essentials and to register, click the button below!
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Essentials-formerly known as Externship
with Kathryn de Bruin, LMFT and Rachel Thomas, LMFT
Date: September 11, 12, and 13, 2024 | Time: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm MST (Arizona time)
Location: Sonoran University of Health Sciences (2140 E. Broadway, Tempe AZ 85282)
Cost: $975 Early Bird (end of June); $1,145 Regular; $795 Students
Other: This training meets part of EFCT certification requirement.
Certificate of Attendance: 24 hours
**All attendees will receive a free Certificate of Attendance, which will suffice for all Arizona participants licensed under the BBHE or APA.
Description:
EFCT Essentials/Externship includes an overview of the entire model of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, including steps and stages, interventions, adult attachment theory, and application of EFT with couples. Learning will include lectures, live video demonstration, and, at times, breaking into smaller groups for discussion or role play led by experienced EFT therapists. The externship is recommended for all types of mental health clinicians who want to counsel or want to cancel couples. This is an official Externship, endorsed by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT) and brought to you by TRI EFT Alliant and Alliant International University. The training is limited to 70 participants. Attending this externship is a step towards becoming a certified EFT therapist.
Learning Objectives:
- To gain a clear understanding of the systemic concepts and basic experiential moves of an “Emotionally Focused Therapy” approach.
- To hold an attachment view clients coping with their interpersonal dilemmas so you can conceptualize relationship distress and repair based on theories of attachment and emotion.
- The focus of this training is on the general model of EFT as presented in the 2019 book, Attachment Theory In Practice, and how you can implement the model in couple and individual therapy sessions.
- To provide the opportunity to develop skills in sharing, maintaining and engaging in an open and collaborative alliance with your clients.
- To develop skillful use of the 5 moves of the basic macro-intervention “the EFT tango” in order to improve clients’ affect regulation, models of self and other, strategies for engaging with others and changing interactional patterns.
- To develop ability to utilize systemic and experiential models of interventions applied as EFT micro interventions.
- To participate in skills development to overcome common blocks and impasses across EFT therapy modalities so you can shape core corrective emotional experience that leads to constructive dependency and what we conceptualize as ‘secure attachment’.
- This training includes an overview of the entire model of Emotionally Focused Therapy including steps and stages, interventions, adult attachment theory, and application of EFT with couples and individuals. The externship is recommended for all types of mental health clinicians to counsel or want to cancel couples.
- Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families
- The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection by Susan M. Johnson, 3nd Edition, 2019.
- Becoming an Emotionally Focused Couple Therapist: The Workbook by Susan M. Johnson, et al, 2005.
Participation Requirements:
Participants must be familiar with and abide by professional and legal confidentiality requirements regarding all client information shared in the training. Certification in EFT is offered by ICEEFT based on completion of all requirements and demonstrated competence in the model. Completion of training does not guarantee competence or certification. Enrollment in this training constitutes an agreement to hold harmless The San Diego Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy, the Training and Research Institute for Emotionally Focused Therapy (TRI-EFT), and all presenters and trainers from any and all claims, actions, and judgements, including all costs of defense and attorney’s fees incurred in defending against the same. I have read and agree to follow the terms for participation.
About the Speakers:
Kathryn de Bruin, LMFT, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego, California. She is registered Play Therapist Supervisor and a Certified Emotionally Focused Therapy Therapist, Supervisor, and Trainer. She is passionate about supervising and consulting other professionals who work with children, families and couples. This includes weekly individual and group supervision to trainees and interns of the non-profit Alliant Couple and Family Clinic. Kathryn is born and raised I South Africa and completed her bachelors in Social Work, where she facilitated programs in schools for child therapy.
Rachel Thomas, LMFT, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist, Supervisor, and Trainer-in-Training. Rachel has been an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Approved Supervisor since 2005 and has provided supervision to many other practicing professionals as they progress forward in obtaining their license. Rachel is founder and owner of the largest EFT group practice in Scottsdale, Arizona, Therapy With Heart, and she provides on-going clinical supervision and consultation to the therapists. She also currently serves as President of AzEFT. Recently, Rachel has led trainings in EFT and Affairs, EFT Across Systems, Attachment-Based Suicide Prevention, EFT Supervision Reboot, and Intro to EFT.
To learn more about the general objectives of EFCT Essentials/Extnership and to register, click the button below!
Diversity Workshop
Mindful Tango: EFT Approaches to ADHD Neurodiversity
with Elizabeth Gillespie, LMFT
Date: Friday, September 27, 2024 | Time: 9am-12 pm AZ time (MST)
Location: Online
Cost: $35 for AZEFT members | $50 for non-members
** 20% discount offered to group practices of 5 or more who each register for the event; email us for the discount code
Certificate of Attendance: 3 hours
**Counts towards diversity CEUS for AzBBHE.**
Workshop Description:
As our understanding of ADHD has grown in the last ten to twenty years, we are seeing more clients with a diagnosis of ADHD seeking support with their partners. Given the significant impact of ADHD on an individual’s life and their relationships, we as EFT therapists have the unique opportunity to offer an experience of acceptance, empathy, and an organized, connected presence that is especially needed for clients with a diagnosis of ADHD.
Learning Objectives:
Participates will be able to...
Elizabeth Gillespie, LMFT, is a Certified EFT couple and family therapist, and the owner of a private practice in Colorado that among other things, provides neuro-affirming support to neurodivergent clients and their families. Married with three children, she has experience with ADHD on both sides of the therapy room, and is passionate about increasing the EFT community’s understanding and recognition of ADHD in the therapy room.
Location: Online
Cost: $35 for AZEFT members | $50 for non-members
** 20% discount offered to group practices of 5 or more who each register for the event; email us for the discount code
Certificate of Attendance: 3 hours
**Counts towards diversity CEUS for AzBBHE.**
Workshop Description:
As our understanding of ADHD has grown in the last ten to twenty years, we are seeing more clients with a diagnosis of ADHD seeking support with their partners. Given the significant impact of ADHD on an individual’s life and their relationships, we as EFT therapists have the unique opportunity to offer an experience of acceptance, empathy, and an organized, connected presence that is especially needed for clients with a diagnosis of ADHD.
Learning Objectives:
Participates will be able to...
- List some identifying characteristics of ADHD and how they might present in your couple’s work.
- Describe ways EFT work is helpful for neurodivergent clients, and ways that the neurodivergent brain may need support in experiential, emotion focused work of EFT.
- Explain how to remain neuro-affirming while also supporting dialogue between partners and families about the impact of the diagnosis on the system.
Elizabeth Gillespie, LMFT, is a Certified EFT couple and family therapist, and the owner of a private practice in Colorado that among other things, provides neuro-affirming support to neurodivergent clients and their families. Married with three children, she has experience with ADHD on both sides of the therapy room, and is passionate about increasing the EFT community’s understanding and recognition of ADHD in the therapy room.
Two-Day Annual Training
Addiction Unplugged: The Power of Attachment in EFT
with Michael Barnett, LPC
Date: November 15-16, 2024 | Time: 9am - 5pm MST both days, Arizona time (MST) (lunch break 12:30-1:30)
Location: Sonoran University of Health Sciences (2140 E Broadway Rd, Tempe, AZ 85282)
Certificate of Attendance: 14 hours (7 hours of instruction per day; 1-hour lunch not included)
**All attendees will receive a free Certificate of Attendance, which will suffice for all Arizona participants licensed under the BBHE or APA. Formal CE certificates are available for $30 if a free certificate of attendance is not sufficient - this may be an ideal option for non-Arizona, out-of-state participants.
Cost: By 7/31/24 - Members $350, Non-Members $385, Students $125
8/1/24 - 9/30/24 - Members $375, Non-Members $410, Students $135
On or After 10/1/24 - Members $400, Non-Members $435, Students $145
**A $100 discount is offered to attendees working in a community mental health agency or who are active members of the military
Description:
This powerful experiential training will provide trauma informed lens for the most challenging aspects of working with clients on the addictive continuum. An integration of sociocultural sensitivity, family of origin influences, and emotional process will be addressed in approaching addiction through the lens of attachment. This workshop will offer participants practical ways of tailoring EFT skills and interventions to work more effectively across stages to help couples heal and strengthen their bond when it’s been shattered by the impact of addiction.
Learning Objectives:
Program Level: Intermediate
Michael Barnett, MA, Ed.S, LPC, LPCC is a licensed psychotherapist in both California and Georgia with over 30 years of clinical experience. Michael is an ICEEFT certified supervisor and trainer in EFT, and is the founder and director of the Atlanta Center for EFT. Michael is an active member of the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, American Counseling Association, the California Professional Counselor’s Association, and the Licensed Professional Counselor's Association of Georgia, where he served on their board of directors for several years.
The central focus and passion of Michael's work is both couple’s therapy, and training professionals who work with couples. His interest in couple's therapy began early in his career. Michael specifically noticed that effective and successful couple’s therapy healed not only the relationship, but in the process of therapy, the individuals within the relationship consistently evolved into the best and most authentic versions of themselves, healing emotional pain and historical wounds in the process. In addition to his clinical work, supervision and training, Michael conducted a research project that incorporated EFT into inpatient addiction treatment protocols at a leading alcohol and drug treatment center in Atlanta.
Diversity Statement: This presentation is informed by the ICEEFT statement and commitment to anti-racism. Specifically, this training includes an assessment focus on the CARE model outlined by Johnson & Campbell (2022), which guides therapist to evaluate attachment, emotion, and therapist alliance issues within the context of ethnicity, culture, and social location of families. Various examples are used through the training to illustrate the application of EFFT to families representing different social contexts.
Cancellation / Refund Policy: In the event that you have paid for an upcoming event but are not able to attend, you may request a refund up to 30 days prior to the event. Refund requests must be received in writing via email to: azeftcommunity@gmail.com. Requests received at least 60 days prior to the start of the event will receive a full refund of the registration minus the Eventbrite refund fee. Requests received between 30-59 days prior to the start of the event will receive a 50% refund of the registration minute the Eventbrite refund fee. No refunds will be issued for cancellations received less than 30 days prior to the start of the event.
Location: Sonoran University of Health Sciences (2140 E Broadway Rd, Tempe, AZ 85282)
Certificate of Attendance: 14 hours (7 hours of instruction per day; 1-hour lunch not included)
**All attendees will receive a free Certificate of Attendance, which will suffice for all Arizona participants licensed under the BBHE or APA. Formal CE certificates are available for $30 if a free certificate of attendance is not sufficient - this may be an ideal option for non-Arizona, out-of-state participants.
Cost: By 7/31/24 - Members $350, Non-Members $385, Students $125
8/1/24 - 9/30/24 - Members $375, Non-Members $410, Students $135
On or After 10/1/24 - Members $400, Non-Members $435, Students $145
**A $100 discount is offered to attendees working in a community mental health agency or who are active members of the military
Description:
This powerful experiential training will provide trauma informed lens for the most challenging aspects of working with clients on the addictive continuum. An integration of sociocultural sensitivity, family of origin influences, and emotional process will be addressed in approaching addiction through the lens of attachment. This workshop will offer participants practical ways of tailoring EFT skills and interventions to work more effectively across stages to help couples heal and strengthen their bond when it’s been shattered by the impact of addiction.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe an attachment-based understanding of the impact of addiction on the brain and relationships.
- Identify therapist biases in working with clients on the addictive continuum
- Discuss cultural influences on our current opinions on addiction
- Discuss the role of trauma in the development of addictive behaviors.
- Describe EFT Assessment Skills when a client presents with behaviors on the addictive continuum
- Discuss how to determine if EFT is indicated when addiction or possible addiction surfaces in treatment.
- Describe the systemic elements to addictive processes (i.e. how they effect a couple’s cycle)
- Practice placing addiction and addictive processes into a couple’s negative cycle.
- Explain the impact of addiction on emotional regulation and processing specific to EFT work.
- Practice EFT skills that are tailored to work with the emotion regulation abilities of clients on the addictive continuum
- Describe the role of shame on the clinical presentation in working with couples on the addictive continuum
- Discuss how Stage 2 EFT processes can effectively heal the emotional pain that substances historically were used to dull.
Program Level: Intermediate
Michael Barnett, MA, Ed.S, LPC, LPCC is a licensed psychotherapist in both California and Georgia with over 30 years of clinical experience. Michael is an ICEEFT certified supervisor and trainer in EFT, and is the founder and director of the Atlanta Center for EFT. Michael is an active member of the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, American Counseling Association, the California Professional Counselor’s Association, and the Licensed Professional Counselor's Association of Georgia, where he served on their board of directors for several years.
The central focus and passion of Michael's work is both couple’s therapy, and training professionals who work with couples. His interest in couple's therapy began early in his career. Michael specifically noticed that effective and successful couple’s therapy healed not only the relationship, but in the process of therapy, the individuals within the relationship consistently evolved into the best and most authentic versions of themselves, healing emotional pain and historical wounds in the process. In addition to his clinical work, supervision and training, Michael conducted a research project that incorporated EFT into inpatient addiction treatment protocols at a leading alcohol and drug treatment center in Atlanta.
Diversity Statement: This presentation is informed by the ICEEFT statement and commitment to anti-racism. Specifically, this training includes an assessment focus on the CARE model outlined by Johnson & Campbell (2022), which guides therapist to evaluate attachment, emotion, and therapist alliance issues within the context of ethnicity, culture, and social location of families. Various examples are used through the training to illustrate the application of EFFT to families representing different social contexts.
Cancellation / Refund Policy: In the event that you have paid for an upcoming event but are not able to attend, you may request a refund up to 30 days prior to the event. Refund requests must be received in writing via email to: azeftcommunity@gmail.com. Requests received at least 60 days prior to the start of the event will receive a full refund of the registration minus the Eventbrite refund fee. Requests received between 30-59 days prior to the start of the event will receive a 50% refund of the registration minute the Eventbrite refund fee. No refunds will be issued for cancellations received less than 30 days prior to the start of the event.
Community Workshop
Turning Up the Heat: Sexual Intimacy and EFT
with Valerie Southwick, LPC
Date: December 6, 2024 | Time: 10am-1 pm AZ time (MST)
Location: In-Person, Tempe Public Library
Cost: $45 for AZEFT members | $55 for non-members
** 20% discount offered to group practices of 5 or more who each register for the event; email us for the discount code
Certificate of Attendance: 3 hours
Workshop Description:
Explore the transformative realm of Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) in this engaging workshop designed for Marriage and Family Therapists. Delve into the intersection of intimacy and emotions, gaining valuable insights into how to navigate complex dynamics within couples. Through interactive discussions , participants will develop a nuanced understanding of the interplay between emotional bonds and sexual connection, equipping them with practical tools to address issues ranging from communication barriers to intimacy challenges. This workshop promises to enhance therapeutic skills, empowering therapists to foster deeper connections and promote the holistic well-being of the couples they serve.
Learning Objectives:
Objective 1: Enhance Therapist Self-Awareness
Develop an increased self-awareness, enabling participants to recognize and manage personal biases, values, and reactions that may impact their ability to address sensitive issues related to sex and intimacy in therapy.
Objective 2: Strengthen Assessment Skills in the Context of Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy
Equip participants with assessment techniques tailored to the unique challenges of couples' sexuality and emotional dynamics. Participants will learn to identify underlying issues affecting intimacy and develop a comprehensive understanding of how to assess both individual and relational factors influencing a couple's sexual well-being.
Objective 3: Master Key Interventions in Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy
Acquire a set of interventions specific to Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy, enabling therapists to guide couples through the exploration of emotional and sexual connection. Participants will practice and integrate interventions related to sensate focus, engagement and response models, and trauma healing.
Valerie Alston-Southwick, LPC, specializes in repairing relationships using Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). She also employs EMDR for trauma recovery and has received specialized training from the American Association of Sex Addiction Therapy (AASAT), focusing on sex addiction, pornography issues, and affair recovery.
Location: In-Person, Tempe Public Library
Cost: $45 for AZEFT members | $55 for non-members
** 20% discount offered to group practices of 5 or more who each register for the event; email us for the discount code
Certificate of Attendance: 3 hours
Workshop Description:
Explore the transformative realm of Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) in this engaging workshop designed for Marriage and Family Therapists. Delve into the intersection of intimacy and emotions, gaining valuable insights into how to navigate complex dynamics within couples. Through interactive discussions , participants will develop a nuanced understanding of the interplay between emotional bonds and sexual connection, equipping them with practical tools to address issues ranging from communication barriers to intimacy challenges. This workshop promises to enhance therapeutic skills, empowering therapists to foster deeper connections and promote the holistic well-being of the couples they serve.
Learning Objectives:
Objective 1: Enhance Therapist Self-Awareness
Develop an increased self-awareness, enabling participants to recognize and manage personal biases, values, and reactions that may impact their ability to address sensitive issues related to sex and intimacy in therapy.
Objective 2: Strengthen Assessment Skills in the Context of Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy
Equip participants with assessment techniques tailored to the unique challenges of couples' sexuality and emotional dynamics. Participants will learn to identify underlying issues affecting intimacy and develop a comprehensive understanding of how to assess both individual and relational factors influencing a couple's sexual well-being.
Objective 3: Master Key Interventions in Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy
Acquire a set of interventions specific to Sex and Emotionally Focused Therapy, enabling therapists to guide couples through the exploration of emotional and sexual connection. Participants will practice and integrate interventions related to sensate focus, engagement and response models, and trauma healing.
Valerie Alston-Southwick, LPC, specializes in repairing relationships using Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). She also employs EMDR for trauma recovery and has received specialized training from the American Association of Sex Addiction Therapy (AASAT), focusing on sex addiction, pornography issues, and affair recovery.