Synonyms
Bonding event
Introduction
Emotion-focused therapy applied to couples (EFT-C) was developed by Greenberg and Johnson (1988) and integrates systemic perspectives with an experiential approach. EFT-C views emotion as the force that organizes couples’ interactions and considers effect as intrinsically linked to behavior, thought, and motivation (Frijda 1986). According to Greenberg and Goldman (2008), effect works through three primary systems of motivation: attachment, identity/validation, and attraction/liking. From the EFT-C perspective, couples’ conflict is understood as emerging most fundamentally from the painful feelings emanating from unmet adult needs for attachment (proximity, availability, and responsiveness) and identity (having one’s sense of self accepted and validated) and to be ameliorated by positive feelings of attraction and liking. Partners engage in all sorts of behaviors – from expressing anger to withdrawing – in attempts to have their emotions attended to...
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Woldarsky Meneses, C. (2019). Restructuring the Bond in Emotion-Focused Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_206
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_206
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