Counseling development workshop set Sept. 14-15

A professional development workshop “Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples: An Introductory Workshop” will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 14 and 15 in Room 726 of the Idaho State University Garrison Hall, located at 1440 Terry Street, Pocatello.

The workshop is sponsored by the ISU Kasiska College of Health Professions Department of Counseling.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is one of the most empirically supported models of couple therapy and is rapidly growing in popularity.  Based on attachment theory, EFT assumes that people are “hard-wired” to seek out intimate relationships and that much of relationship discord can be thought of in terms of attachment distress and injury. EFT is a short-term, focused treatment that blends family systems and experiential approaches to therapy.

This workshop is designed to help participants understand the phenomenon of marital distress in an attachment context. Participants will be taught the nine steps and three stages of EFT, identify specific interventions to help couples reprocess negative affect and restructure negative interaction. Additionally, participants will learn how the emotional responses of couples can be used to structure in-session enactments that help them develop new, more satisfying relationships. Video recorded EFT sessions will be shown to help participants gain a greater understanding of the model.

Fifteen contact hours or one graduate credit are available for attending this workshop taught by Rebecca Pack Jorgensen, Ph.D. The registration fee is $150.

For more information call (208) 282-3156 or 800-477-4781, or visit www.isu.edu/hpcounsl.