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    EFFT for Families with Young Children: Exploring and expanding resources for the EFT therapist

    • February 22, 2025

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EFFT for Families with Young Children: Exploring and expanding resources for the EFT therapist

VIRTUAL TRAINING

Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) is an attachment-based approach that blends systemic and experiential interventions to transform parent-child relationships. This workshop focuses on using EFFT with families of young children (0–6 years old), emphasizing attachment-focused assessment and play therapy practices for early childhood family distress and disorder.

Workshop Details:

Duration: 1 full day (6 hours)

Date: Saturday, February 22, 2025

9 - 4:00 PST

40 minute lunch & 2 x 10 minute breaks

Trainers: Kathryn de Bruin, MFT, Lisa Palmer-Olsen, PsyD and James Furrow, Ph.D.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Conceptualize family distress with young children using emotion and attachment theories.
  2. Delineate key EFFT practices with young children.
  3. Assess cultural factors influencing family engagement in treatment.
  4. Apply the CARE model to engage families around cultural practices.
  5. Identify therapist practices promoting a working alliance with parents and young children.
  6. Assess attachment of young children with parents.
  7. Analyze parent-child attachment interactions.
  8. Develop strategies for working with attachment-related affect in young children.
  9. Apply play-based techniques to address relational blocks in parent-child interactions.
  10. Practice play-based enactments to promote new interaction patterns.

Workshop Outline:

  • Preparation: Intake, cultural considerations
  • Theoretical Overview: Child development, parenting practices, play therapy
  • Early Treatment Phase: Session structures, assessments
  • Play Therapy & Attachment Assessments: Integration and examples
  • Middle Treatment Phase: Working with blocks, engaging family vulnerability
  • Late Treatment Phase: Rituals, family rituals discussion
  • Closing: Q&A

Professional Literature:

  • Efron & Palmer, Emotionally Focused Family Therapy. Innovations in Clinical Practice.
  • Furrow & Palmer, Journal of Systemic Therapies, Vol. 26, No. 4, 2007.
  • Hirschfeld & Wittenborn, Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 57:2, 133-150.
  • Kozlowska & Elliott, Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22(2), 245–259.
  • Willis et al., Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 42(4), 673–687.
  • Wittenborn et al., The American Journal of Family Therapy, 34:4, 333-342.

Instructor(s)

Kathryn de Bruin, MFT, Lisa Palmer-Olsen, PsyD and James Furrow, Ph.D.

BA (SW); MA (MFT), LMFT, AAMFT, CAMF. Certified EFT Supervisor

Kathryn de Bruin

I am the owner of Kathryn de Bruin Therapy and Training, and a licensed San Diego based Marriage and Family Therapist and Therapist Trainer.

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Certified EFT Supervisor and Trainer
AAMFT Supervisor
Registered Play Therapy Supervisor

Lisa Palmer-Olsen

Dr. Lisa J. Palmer-Olsen, Psy.D. is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in San Diego, California for over twenty years. She is also a Certified International Emotionally Focused Therapy Trainer and AAMFT approved Supervisor. Dr. Palmer-Olsen’s primary clinical and research interests are in the area of family systems and high conflict couple work, specifically with clients dealing with trauma and attachment related injuries. As a founder and Co-Director for Renova San Diego Inc, a non-profit 501(c)(3) based out of San Diego, she is committed to providing quality San Diego services accessible to all who seek it. Dr. Palmer-Olsen is passionate about providing affordable, high caliber training to mental health clinicians around the world. Dr. Palmer-Olsen completed her dissertation research on how to train and teach Emotionally Focused Therapy to professionals. Lisa was trained directly by the founder of the EFT model Dr. Susan Johnson.

Jim Furrow

James Furrow, Ph.D., is leader and contributor to the practice of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with couples and families. Together with EFT originator, Dr. Susan Johnson, Jim co-authored Emotionally Focused Family Therapy; Becoming an EFT Therapist: The Workbook and The EFT Casebook. He is also co-authored Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy for Dummies, a practical resource for couples and therapists seeking an everyday understanding of EFT principles and practices. Formerly Jim served as the Evelyn and Frank Freed Professor of Marital and Family Therapy at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, where he trained psychologists and marital and family and conducted research on adolescent risk and resilience. He is a clinical fellow and an approved supervisor of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, a member of the National Council on Family Relations, and a Certified Family Life Educator. He co-founded the Los Angeles Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy, where he served as Executive Director before relocating to the Seattle area. Jim is an ICEEFT certified EFT therapist, supervisor, and trainer.