Workshops – Round 1

Date and time: Monday June 3rd from 11.15 am to 1.15 pm

Jef Slootmaeckers
EFT trainer

Gail Palmer
EFT trainer

Jim Furrow
EFT trainer

Lieven Migerode
EFT trainer

The wisdom of the body

Abstracts

When we live in fear or uncertainty, we lose connection with ourselves and others. We are flooded by emotions, thoughts and bodily responses. Using the body to bring one home to oneself is especially useful in trauma and core attachment wounds, where dissociation is prominent. Working on a more basic sensory level is an effective way to broaden the window of capacity in the client. By explicitly focusing on the wisdom of the body -by tracking and processing the body – we can deepen the experiential work.

As therapists, we learn how to stay present with the bodily sensations and work with them. We follow the body’s innate wisdom to reconnect oneself and other. Fear will dissipate in client and as therapists we feel grounded in the experience. Integrating the wisdom of the body can provide a profound enhancement to the therapy’s effectiveness.

Christine Weiß
EFT trainer

Anne Belgram-Perkins
EFT trainer

Is Imperfection a Hope in EFT? Our mistakes and our helplessness moments in Sessions

Abstract

We will show and discuss about videos in which we could observe moments where we lose Hope as therapists. Moments where our patients lose Hope, Moments where there is no reaction and everything seems frozen. Observe how we look for escape routes when it is too difficult for us or them. How we try to protect them and ourselves from difficult and painful emotions. How we observe and make sense of our reactive, protective strategies in the face of these blocks. And finally, how, with some clients, we fail, and there is no repair or happy ending. Observe also how shame plays an important role and can prevent us from seeking help, support, supervision, or worse, help to desist from the theoretical model and empathy toward clients to protect ourselves.

Our focus will be on how to be in this, without solutions, just as we are made to stay in our worst moments when they simply happen. We want the therapists, too, to connect with their own stuckness and difficulties, and through the Tango moves we will dance together and to be inspired and shaped through the experience they can do with each other directly during these two hours together. We would like the therapists to go home feeling that they are okay even in their imperfections, that is also okay not to be okay and in some moments we can simply stay there, that they gain the opportunity not to feel alone in these mistakes and loss of hope.

Peter Verboom
Registered psychologist, family therapist and EFT supervisor

Christiaan Rhodius
Specialist palliative care

“Can You See Me?” Cultural Humility Through an Attachment Lens

Abstract

Various aspects of an individual’s cultural background are significant, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, disability, socioeconomic status, and size. It is crucial for therapists to recognize the importance of humility when addressing a client’s cultural worldview. While Multi-Cultural Competence focuses on attitudes/beliefs, knowledge, and skills, it is not enough. Through the lens of Attachment theory, we emphasize the practice of ‘Being’ with diverse clients rather than ‘Doing’ it.

In this discussion, I will explain the definition and components of cultural humility, its importance, and ways to practice it, and illustrate with different case scenarios. This will not be just a lecture but an experiential presentation.

Participants will be gently encouraged to develop an understanding of their own cultural background and the ways that it influences their attitudes, values, and beliefs (i.e., attitudes/beliefs); develop an understanding and knowledge of the worldviews of individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds (i.e., knowledge); and use culturally appropriate interventions (i.e., skills). This tripartite model has dramatically influenced psychotherapists’ research, practice, and training.

Makiri Mual
Emotion Focused approach in non-clinical settings

Workshops – Round 2

Date and time: Tuesday June 4th from 11.30 am to 1.30 pm

From sexual shut down and disconnect to the freedom and pleasure: working through lifelong trauma in couples and individual EFT treatment

Abstract

Many clients struggle to have healthy and satisfying sexual lives. After years of teaching many EFT therapists we learned that dealing with sexual trauma is one of the most challenging situations. We can do excellent EFT work and reach relationship security but the sexual relationship may not come online. In the US over half of women and almost 1 in 3 men have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact during their lifetimes. Estimates published by WHO indicate that about 1 in 3 of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. Such experiences along with more subtle ways women are subjected to sexually inappropriate pressures in society affect not only their ability to experience pleasure and sexual desire, but also their View of Self and View of Other.

We will follow one couple through the process of healing the relational disconnect and the female partner through her exploration of all possible barriers to become a healthier sexual person. She learned to listen to her “Future Self” as a source of motivation and inspiration. Our creativity and our capacity as therapists to have faith in resilience of our clients are important components of healing. Through lecture and video clips of couples and individual EFT sessions, the presenter will provide a map and general principles of working with such clients, as well as demonstrate strategies and creative interventions. The workshop will also include self-reflective and experiential discussions.

Gianina Frediani
Certified EFT therapist

Lieven Migerode
EFT trainer

“Hope for ADHD impacted relationships”

Abstract

ADHD is a condition that affects the executive functioning part of the brain, which manages our working memory, ability to focus, ability to plan, stay organized, finish what we started, and regulate emotions, among other things. For ADHD affected individuals, those difficulties can be a real impairment in many areas of life, including their relationship. Research shows that those individuals have less satisfying relationships, in general.

It is not uncommon for them to be undiagnosed until later in adulthood, and by then, the relationship has been deeply affected. Their partners often complain that they are not paying attention to them, that they are disorganized, inconsistent, emotionally unstable, and unreliable. They often feel forgotten and unimportant and end up carrying a big part of the load, while complaining, blaming and criticizing their ADHD partner. This too will deeply affect the relationship. Realizing that ADHD plays a role in the relational dynamic is crucial to transforming anger into empathy, and developing strategies to better manage its impact and stay united against it.

In this presentation, we will look at how ADHD impacts the cycle, and we hope to show that despite statistics, there is hope even for those relationships, if we can depersonalize the symptoms, educate the partners, and provide an EFT space where vulnerability leads to safety, where anger can be validated and shame uncovered, so that couples can partner together to better manage the symptoms of ADHD, send clear signals to each other, and thrive.

Marlene Best
EFT Trainer

Kyriaki Polychroni
EFT Trainer

Introducing Hold Me Tight, Let Me Be Me. An educational program for improving relationships between adult children and their parents

Abstract

Hold Me Tight®/ Let Me Be Me, recently published by ICEEFT, is an educational program for Families with Adult Children designed to move the relationship between family members from insecure to secure connection. An adaption of the HMT® Couples Program, it is created by Drs. Aikin together with Dr. Sue Johnson. When HMT®/LMBM went online in 2020, Drs. Aikin initiated an international working group of EFT therapists meeting once a week on Zoom to support and further develop the program. Under the Aikin’s leadership, the group has now conducted seven programs online, benefitting over 45 families, representing a unique international collaborative effort.

The program’s workbook facilitates a dramatic restructuring of family relationships. By offering structured exercises conducted in family “breakout rooms”, tension levels are reduced, and a basis for repairing relational injuries established – allowing attachment needs to be expressed and met. EFT assistants are available to support each family, helping them interrupt negative family cycles and experience authentic healing. The online format allows families worldwide to meet and learn from each other. They witness that longing for family connection is truly universal, also within cultural differences that are honored, discussed, and understood.

This workshop will provide an overview of the program, illustrate how to facilitate the work, and speak to its usefulness. Participants will witness a demonstration of how we support families both in breakout rooms and when assembled collectively. An international panel from EFT Therapists who have participated, will be available for discussion, questions, and answers.

Robert Allan
EFT Trainer

Sandra Taylor
EFT Trainer

Caitlin Edwards

Andrea Wittenborn

Intervention with couples using EFT when one or both members may be on the autism spectrum

Abstract

In this workshop we will see videoclips from a couple where the members may be on the autism spectrum. The videos are in Spanish but will be subtitled in English. The fragments (from 3 sessions along a 20-session therapy) will exemplify what may be seen and how to intervene with couples when it’s suspected that one or both members of the couple could be on the autism spectrum in each one of the stages of EFT therapy.

The focus of this workshop is not to work on already diagnosed, more severe, presentations of autism spectrum disorder, but on undiagnosed verbal people who may fit with the ASD characteristics and who show up for therapy because of the couple’s distress that may be associated with the condition. Specific strategies and interventions will be suggested at each stage of EFT. In the first stage: Include a neurodiverse lens to decriminalize action tendencies. In the second stage: Take into account what it means to have lived a lifetime in a neurotypical world and how this impacts the view of self / view of others. In the third stage: Consider whether or not to seek an evaluation or diagnosis.

Attendees will have the opportunity to work in dyads to get a feeling of both roles (therapist and consultant) and to raise awareness to the struggles of this population. People on the spectrum are often an invisible minority that need our attention.