Emotion Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)

A Pathway to Emotional Healing and Wholeness

Emotion Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) offers a compassionate, research-based approach to healing that centers on one of the most powerful and often overlooked aspects of human experience: emotion. Rooted in attachment science and experiential therapy, EFIT helps individuals not just understand their emotions, but transform them. Whether you're navigating depression, anxiety, trauma, or the aftermath of relational wounds, EFIT invites you into a healing process that connects head, heart, and soul.

While many therapy models focus on behavior or thought patterns, EFIT goes deeper—guiding clients into the emotional roots of their pain and helping them reorganize those experiences in the context of a safe therapeutic relationship. Developed by pioneers Dr. Leslie Greenberg and Dr. Sue Johnson, EFIT is grounded in both science and soul, making it a powerful pathway for change.

2. A Brief History of Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy

EFIT is an outgrowth of Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), which first gained recognition for its success in couple therapy. Dr. Leslie Greenberg initially developed EFT in the 1980s, drawing from humanistic, experiential, and Gestalt traditions. Dr. Sue Johnson later expanded EFT into the realm of adult attachment theory, which positioned emotional bonding and security at the center of psychological well-being.

While EFT for couples focuses on strengthening the attachment bond between romantic partners, EFIT translates these same principles into individual therapy. EFIT was formally introduced in the early 2000s, with its framework articulated in publications like Emotion-Focused Therapy: Coaching Clients to Work Through Their Feelings by Greenberg and Attachment Theory in Practice by Johnson. It is now widely recognized as an evidence-based model for individual therapy with a range of mental health concerns.

3. What Is EFIT?

EFIT is a therapy model designed to help individuals access, process, and transform core emotional experiences. Its foundation lies in the belief that emotion is not just a symptom to manage—but a vital source of meaning, motivation, and healing. When clients learn to tune in to their emotional world with curiosity and compassion, they often discover that longstanding struggles begin to shift.

In EFIT, the therapist becomes a secure base—a relational anchor that allows the client to explore painful emotions without fear or shame. Rather than focusing solely on insight or behavior change, EFIT emphasizes emotional transformation through experiential processing. Clients learn to identify maladaptive emotional responses (like shame or fear), access adaptive emotions (like sadness, anger, or self-compassion), and develop new internal narratives that support healing and growth.

4. Key Components of the EFIT Process

EFIT weaves together several essential components that make it both structured and deeply personal:

Emotion as the Target and Agent of Change

In EFIT, emotion is not just explored—it is the change process itself. By accessing primary emotions and transforming them through therapeutic experience, clients reshape their internal world.

Attachment Needs as Central to Healing

EFIT is grounded in the idea that unmet attachment needs—like the need to be safe, seen, soothed, and secure—are often at the root of psychological distress. Therapy becomes a place to name, mourn, and eventually heal those unmet needs.

Three Stages of Therapy

EFIT typically progresses through three phases:

• Bonding and Alliance Building: Establishing safety and emotional engagement between therapist and client.

• Emotional Processing and Transformation: Accessing, expressing, and reprocessing core emotional experiences.

• Consolidation and Integration: Reinforcing new emotional patterns and applying them to daily life.

The Therapist’s Role

The EFIT therapist acts as both an emotion coach and an attachment figure. Through attunement, responsiveness, and empathy, the therapist helps regulate the client’s emotional experience while gently guiding them into deeper healing.

5. Who Is a Good Fit for EFIT?

EFIT is especially helpful for individuals who feel stuck in traditional talk therapy, struggle to connect with their emotions, or carry emotional pain from unresolved experiences. It is often a good fit for:

• Adults dealing with depression or anxiety

• Survivors of trauma or relational abuse

• Individuals with insecure or disorganized attachment styles

• People who intellectually “understand” their struggles but still feel emotionally trapped

• Clients who desire a holistic, emotion-centered approach to healing

Because EFIT fosters deep emotional transformation, it resonates with clients who want more than symptom management—they want healing that reaches the core.

6. Who Might Not Be a Good Fit for EFIT?

While EFIT is powerful, it is not ideal for every individual or situation. It may not be the best initial approach for clients who:

• Are actively suicidal or in acute crisis

• Struggle with severe dissociation or psychosis

• Are unable or unwilling to engage with their emotional world

• Require highly structured, skills-based stabilization first (e.g., DBT)

In such cases, other forms of treatment may be necessary to stabilize the client before EFIT work can begin. Once a baseline of safety is established, EFIT may then be introduced to address deeper emotional material.

7. What to Expect in EFIT Sessions

EFIT sessions are both gentle and transformative. The therapist will work collaboratively with you to create a safe emotional space where you can explore what’s happening inside. You’ll learn to identify patterns in your emotional experience—such as avoiding sadness, pushing down anger, or getting stuck in shame.

The therapist may use experiential techniques like:

• Focusing: Attuning to bodily felt emotions

• Chair work: Engaging in internal dialogue with parts of the self

• Imagery: Revisiting emotionally significant memories to offer new responses

You won't be asked to "fix" yourself. Instead, you'll be invited to slow down, feel, and stay present in the moment—so that your emotional responses can be transformed rather than avoided.

8. Effectiveness of EFIT

Research supports EFIT as an effective treatment for a wide range of emotional and relational issues. Studies have shown significant reductions in:

• Depression and anxiety symptoms

• Emotional dysregulation

• Relational distress

• Trauma-related symptoms

EFIT is supported by advances in affective neuroscience, which show that emotion processing—when done safely and relationally—leads to more lasting change than insight or behavior modification alone. In particular, EFIT has demonstrated success with clients who have experienced complex trauma, attachment disruptions, and emotional neglect.

9. Length of Treatment

EFIT is often a mid- to long-term therapy. Some clients experience meaningful change within 12–25 sessions, while others—especially those with trauma histories—may need more extended work.

The pace of therapy depends on several factors:

• The client’s emotional accessibility

• The depth and complexity of past wounds

• The strength of the therapeutic alliance

• The presence of external support systems

What EFIT offers is not a quick fix, but a steady invitation toward emotional wholeness.

10. Why Faith-Based Clients May Find EFIT Meaningful

EFIT aligns beautifully with a faith-based worldview that honors the sacred nature of relationship, emotion, and healing. For Christian clients, EFIT can resonate with theological truths such as:

• God’s relational nature: We are made in the image of a God who desires connection. EFIT’s focus on attachment and healing through relationship mirrors this divine reality.

• The role of lament and honest emotion: Scripture is full of emotional expression—from the Psalms of lament to Jesus’ tears at Lazarus’ tomb. EFIT gives permission to feel and bring our whole selves into the healing process.

• Transformation through grace: EFIT doesn’t force change; it creates space for it. As clients experience compassion from the therapist, they often begin to see themselves through the lens of God’s grace rather than shame or fear.

When integrated with spiritual direction or Christian counseling, EFIT can help individuals reclaim their emotional lives as sacred territory—not something to suppress or manage, but something to heal and restore in the presence of God.

11. Conclusion & Call to Action

Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy offers something many clients don’t even know they’re longing for: the opportunity to heal from the inside out. Not just by talking about problems, but by being seen, felt, and known in the places that hurt the most.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in your head but disconnected from your heart… If you’ve struggled with emotional numbness or shame that won’t budge… If you’re ready to stop managing symptoms and start healing the roots…

EFIT may be the next step in your journey.

At Restoration Counseling, our trained therapists are ready to walk with you into the sacred space of emotional healing. Reach out today to schedule a consultation and begin the process of becoming whole.

EFIT Reference List (APA Format)

• Greenberg, L. S. (2015). Emotion-focused therapy: Coaching clients to work through their feelings. American Psychological Association.

• Johnson, S. M. (2019). Attachment theory in practice: Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) with individuals, couples, and families. The Guilford Press.

• Greenberg, L. S., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2006). Emotion in psychotherapy: A practice-friendly research review. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 62(5), 611–630. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20252

• Watson, J. C., & Greenberg, L. S. (2017). Emotion-focused therapy for depression and anxiety. American Psychological Association.

• Paivio, S. C., & Angus, L. E. (2011). Emotion-focused therapy for complex trauma: An integrative approach. American Psychological Association.