Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) for Trauma

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Speaker

Leanne Campbell, PhD Related seminars and products

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Leanne Campbell, PhD, is co-developer of Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) and co-author with Dr. Susan Johnson of the first basic EFIT text, A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT). She also co-authored Emotionally Focused Therapy for Trauma and contributed to Becoming an Emotionally Focused Therapist: The Workbook.

Dr. Campbell is a registered psychologist in the province of British Columbia, vice president of the International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT), and an international speaker, writer, researcher, trainer and co-author of various EFT-related educational programs and materials. In addition to providing psychological services to hundreds of individuals, couples, and families over nearly three decades, Dr. Campbell provides trainings in Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT) to professionals around the globe with a primary focus in the areas of loss and trauma. Dr. Campbell’s dedication to advancing EFT principles and her commitment to helping others grow through emotionally focused interventions have made her a foremost authority in the field.  

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: T. Leanne Campbell maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: T. Leanne Campbell is a board member International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy. She is a member of the Canadian Psychological Association, the College of Psychologists of British Columbia, and the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy.

 

 

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Objectives

1. Utilize the DSM 5® classification of trauma and stressor related disorders to conceptualize clients’ presenting concerns.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Understanding DSM 5® trauma and stressor related disorders is a core educational requirement.
    
2. Identify how developmental trauma and attachment related trauma shape identity, emotional regulation, and core internal working models.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: CCTP requires education on developmental trauma and attachment related trauma.
    
3. Use validated tools and scales, including measures for PTSD, complex trauma, and trauma related symptoms, to conduct trauma assessments.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Assessment of trauma, PTSD, and complex trauma, including the use of assessment tools and scales, is required.
    
4. Differentiate trauma symptoms from common comorbidities and how these comorbidities influence case conceptualization and treatment.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: CCTP includes education on symptoms of trauma and comorbidities.
    
5. Apply the phases of trauma treatment—safety, stabilization, processing, and reintegration—within the EFIT framework.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Knowledge of the phases of trauma treatment is a required component of CCTP training.
    
6. Use an attachment based lens to conceptualize trauma presentations and integrate attachment principles into treatment planning.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Developmental and attachment related trauma is explicitly listed in the educational requirements.
    
7. Apply experiential, emotion focused interventions from EFIT to deepen emotional processing and support trauma resolution.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: CCTP requires exposure to various trauma treatment modalities and their evidence base.
    
8. Choose grounding, stabilization, and affect regulation strategies to enhance safety and emotional management in early phases of trauma therapy.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Interventions related to safety, stabilization, and emotional regulation fall under treatment phases and evidence based trauma interventions.
    
9. Use the EFIT Tango to structure corrective emotional experiences that reshape clients’ traumatic meanings and identity patterns.
   
   a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: CCTP training must include an overview of treatment modalities and evidence based practices; EFIT qualifies as a modality demonstrating principles of emotional processing and attachment healing.
    
10. Apply EFIT’s Attachment Injury Repair Model (AIRM) to support relational healing and trauma repair.
    
    a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Understanding attachment related trauma and treatment approaches addressing trauma injuries is required.
     
11. Evaluate the impact of traumatic stress on emotional, cognitive, relational, and somatic functioning across developmental stages.
    
    a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: CCTP standards include developmental trauma, symptoms of trauma, and systemic impacts of traumatic stress.
     
12. Integrate body based awareness and somatic engagement as pathways into emotional experience and trauma healing within EFIT sessions.
    
    a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Somatic and experiential methods fall under evidence based trauma treatment modalities, which the certification requires trainees to learn.
     
13. Determine how evidence based treatments—including EFIT—fit into modern trauma informed clinical practice.
    
    a.    CCTP Requirement Alignment: Staying current with the latest trauma literature and evidence based modalities is explicitly listed in CCTP educational standards.

Outline

Understanding Trauma Through the EFIT Lens

• Summarize the science behind EFIT and its core components
• Use an attachment frame to conceptualize trauma, stressor related disorders, and common comorbidities
• Track developmental considerations to understand the impact of developmental trauma
• Explore how shame, fear, and disconnection maintain entrenched emotional and relational patterns

The EFIT Approach to Emotional Transformation

• Explain the power of emotion and key relationships in transforming trauma
• Work with the body as the gateway to emotion—the target and agent of change
• Create corrective emotional experiences that expand capacity and reshape identity
• Understand how EFIT complements other evidence based trauma models (such as EMDR, IFS, and CBT)
• Note key safety considerations, risks, and limitations when applying EFIT with trauma

Assessment and Clinical Focus in EFIT

• Conduct attachment based experiential assessment using EFIT tools and scales
• Hold the C.A.R.E. frame (Context, Attachment, Relationship, Emotion) throughout therapy
• Identify blocks, markers, and emotional processes that guide pacing and depth
• Use assessment insights to structure sessions and tailor experiential interventions

The EFIT Tango: A Guiding Sequence for Trauma Work

• Explain and demonstrate the five moves of the EFIT Tango
• Use the Tango to create safety, maintain momentum, and shape corrective emotional experiences
• Identify indicators of readiness to deepen emotional work
• Apply the Tango across trauma presentations (acute, developmental, complex) with five simple tried-and-true interventions

Live In Session Demonstration (Deep Clinical Learning)

• Watch the EFIT Tango applied in real time with a client presenting with trauma
• Observe how Leanne and Robin track emotional cues, somatic shifts, and attachment needs
• See how emotional deepening unfolds moment to moment
• Experience how pacing, attunement, and safety create meaningful change events

Guided Clinical Debrief With Leanne Campbell

• Review Leanne and Robin’s intervention choices and clinical rationale as she engages in dialogue with Robin about the live session
• Explore timing, pacing, and decision points in shaping emotional experiences
• Discuss turning points, ruptures, repairs, and attachment shifts
• Engage in Q&A to clarify nuances of applying EFIT with trauma survivors

Working With Attachment Injuries and Developmental Trauma

• Define attachment injuries and understand their role in trauma presentations
• Use the AIRM (Attachment Injury Repair Model) to navigate relational injuries
• Restructure trauma based narratives rooted in shame, fear, or disconnection
• Support new emotional experiences that foster resilience and post traumatic growth

Integrating Micro Interventions for Trauma Resolution

• Apply EFIT micro interventions to access and process core emotion
• Expand emotional range and reorganize defensive processes
• Identify openings for vulnerability and emotional engagement
• Facilitate transformative moments that reshape identity and meaning

Moving Clients Through the Three Stages of EFIT

• Stage 1: Stabilization, engagement, and expanding emotional awareness, agility and flexibility
• Stage 2: Deepening emotion, processing traumatic material, reshaping identity
• Stage 3: Consolidation, integration, and strengthening secure attachment patterns
• Identify clinical markers that signal readiness to move between stages

Target Audience

• Psychologists
• Psychotherapists
• Counsellors
• Social Workers
• Occupational Therapists
• Nurses
• Addiction Counsellors