Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy

Hanna Levenson, PhD, is professor emerita at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. She also maintains a private practice in Oakland where she sees individuals and couples for therapy and professionals for consultation/supervision. Dr. Levenson has specialized in brief dynamic therapy and supervision for over 4 years. She has authored over 85 professional papers and multiple books, including Deliberate Practice in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Deliberate Practice in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, and has released five professional videos with APA illustrating her approaches. Dr. Levenson received the Distinguished Contribution to Psychology as a Profession Award given by the California Psychological Association.  Sam Jinich, PhD, is a certified trainer in emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT). He specializes in clinical practice with couples from diverse backgrounds. He is founder and director of the San Francisco Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy and cofounder of EFT Academia in Argentina. As a bilingual and bicultural trainer, Dr. Jinich has been responsible for establishing EFCT in Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, Chile, and Spain through mentoring and supervising practitioners, supervisors, and trainers. He was involved in the first-ever multinational randomized clinical-trial research study in Spanish on the effectiveness of general couples therapy and EFCT.  Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is director of training at the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program and Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). Dr. Vaz has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He is founder and host of amp ldquo Psychotherapy Expert Talks, amp rdquo an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is program director of the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program, and executive director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). In 2 7, Dr. Rousmaniere published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, amp ldquo What Your Therapist Doesn amp rsquo t Know. amp rdquo Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes clinical outcome data at drtonyr.com. He is president of Division 29 of APA.

• Series PrefaceTony Rousmaniere and Alexandre VazAcknowledgmentsPart I. Overview and InstructionsChapter . Introduction and Overview of Deliberate Practice and Emotionally Focused Couple TherapyChapter 2. Instructions for the Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Deliberate Practice ExercisesPart II. Deliberate Practice Exercises for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy SkillsExercises for Beginner Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy SkillsExercise . Evocative Inquiry: Identifying Patterns and Eliciting Attachment Fears and NeedsExercise 2. Evocative Reflection: Eliciting and Heightening Emotional ExperienceExercise 3. Validating Partners amp rsquo Experiences and Tracking Dysfunctional PatternsExercise 4. Attachment-Reframed ValidationExercise 5. Deepening Emotions With RISSSSC: Speaking Simply, Slowly, and SoftlyExercises for Intermediate Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy SkillsExercise . Tracking the Therapist amp rsquo s Inner ExperienceExercise 7. Providing a Rationale for Emotionally Focused Couple TherapyExercises for Advanced Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy SkillsExercise 8. Gathering and Assembling Elements of EmotionExercise 9. Enactments: Deepening Emotional Experience and Choreographing Engaged EncountersExercise . Slicing the Risk Thinner: Helping Partners Express Difficult EmotionsExercise . Interrupting Negative Process Early in Therapy: Catching the Bullet IExercise 2. Interrupting Negative Process Later in Therapy: Catching the Bullet IIComprehensive ExercisesExercise 3. Annotated Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Practice Session TranscriptExercise 4. Mock Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy SessionsPart III. Strategies for Enhancing the Deliberate Practice Exercises Chapter 3. How to Get the Most Out of Deliberate Practice: Additional Guidance for Trainers and TraineesAppendix A. Difficulty Assessments and AdjustmentsAppendix B. Deliberate Practice Diary FormAppendix C. Sample Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Syllabus With Embedded Deliberate Practice ExercisesReferencesIndexAbout the Authors

Emotionally focused couple therapy training needs more goal-directed exercises like the ones provided in this book. The deliberate practice exercises make training more specific and more relevant. We need to get this book in front of trainers and supervisors. - Sue Johnson, EdD, Founding Director, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, Ottawa, ON; Distinguished Research Professor, Alliant University, San Diego, CA, United States; and Professor Emeritus, Clinical Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada A highlight in this groundbreaking series, Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy is sure to become essential reading for those learning about or active in the practice of this therapy. Brilliantly structured around well-chosen exercises, the reader is helped not only to understand this approach but also with very specific ways on how to build competence with each of its fundamental methods. - Jay Lebow, PhD, Clinical Professor and Senior Scholar, The Family Institute at Northwestern and Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy powerfully illustrates and wisely guides a reader through the challenges and opportunities awaiting clinicians seeking to master this time-tested model of relationship change. The authors transform learning into practical confidence and curiosity into clinical competence. - James L. Furrow, PhD, Couples and Family Therapy Program, Seattle University, Seattle, WA, United States The focused specificity of the exercises in this book breaks down the therapeutic process into manageable micro moves and in the process empowers therapists to progress from confusion to competency and confidence. - George Faller, MS, LMFT, EFT Trainer, Founder of New York Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy, New York, NY, United States Whether you are new to the emotionally focused therapy approach to working with distressed dyads or an experienced clinician or mentor, this book is an excellent resource! An evidence-based approach to learning and mastery, this volume offers both a theoretical and scientific overview of the model and a step-by-step approach to not only skill development but also, as the authors aptly describe, the sweet spot for deliberate practice, the balance between procedural and declarative knowledge-art and science, method and map, fluidity and clarity. This book will sharpen the skills of any therapist and is a brilliant companion to anyone teaching the model! - T. Leanne Campbell, PhD, ICEEFT Certified Trainer in EFT; coauthor with Dr. Sue Johnson of "A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT): Cultivating Fitness and Growth in Every Client"; and coauthor of "Becoming an Emotionally Focused Therapist: The Workbook"