Emotionally Focused Therapy For PTSD

If you have been through a traumatic event like a bad accident, a natural disaster, a violent attack, or combat, sometime after the event you are probably experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.  After trying to manage it yourself, you have now come to realize that you need professional help.  the good news is that SoulCare Counseling uses a model of therapy that is especially effective with PTSD.  We practice Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), which in a nutshell, helps people understand and express their emotions in a healthy way. Studies show that Emotionally Focused Therapy is an effective treatment for PTSD, helping to reduce flashbacks, nightmares, mood, and anxiety.  In fact, EFT was originally developed as a trauma treatment. 

What Is Emotionally Focused Therapy FOR PTSD?

In the 1980’s, Dr. Sue Johnson developed Emotionally Focused Therapy based on the fact that our emotions are a key driver in our mental health and in our relationships.  In response to any external event, we are created to respond with an emotion, positive or negative, intense or slight.  These emotions help us cope with various situations that we encounter.  When we experience negative emotions, especially disproportionately negative emotions, in response to stimuli, it produces mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.   

Studies consistently show that Emotionally Focused Therapy is an effective treatment for PTSD as well as anxiety and depression because it helps people manage and understand their emotions, which are the drivers of their anxiety, depression, or PTSD symptoms.  

What Makes Emotionally Focused Therapy For PTSD Different?

The most common type of therapy is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).  This model is taught in universities to students earning their masters degree in counseling, so by default it is the model that most therapists practice.  In a nutshell, CBT is designed to help people change the way they think about events in their lives.  The idea is that wrong beliefs and messages drive wrong behavior, so correct the beliefs and messages, and the behavior will follow.  That is often true.  And CBT is helpful in that regard. 

But Emotionally Focused Therapy for PTSD is different.  While CBT focuses on changing the way people think to change negative thoughts and behaviors, EFT focuses on changing the way people feel to change the emotions that drive negative thoughts and behaviors.  EFT also takes less time than CBT, often lasting only eight to twenty sessions. 

How Does Emotionally Focused Therapy Help PTSD?

Emotionally Focused Therapy works for PTSD by helping sufferers understand and cope with the emotions that are driving it, identifying and changing the negative messages that PTSD sufferers tell themselves that drive feelings of worthlessness, futility, inferiority, etc., and managing and reducing stress aroused by negative emotions.  In addition, EFT helps clients build healthy relationships in which they are given needed support.  And EFT helps people get a sense of control over their lives, which is often lost after a traumatic experience.

If you are struggling with PTSD, I encourage you to read more about trauma therapy with Emotionally Focused Therapy, and then reach out to us at SoulCare Counseling for a free thirty-minute consultation to get you started on the road to healing.

Catrina Berkey is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate and Licensed Marriage and Family Associate at SoulCare Counseling.  She is under the supervision of Dr. Bernis Riley, LPC-S and Certified EFT Therapist, and Dr. Shaun Burrow, LMFT-S and LPC-S.