When

Friday, April 8, 2016  10 am - 5:30 pm
Saturday, April 9, 2016  9 am - 4:30 pm

Where:

Baruch College Newman Vertical Campus
Room 1-107
One Bernard Baruch Way
(55 Lexington Avenue)
New York, NY 10010

Cost:

Early registration by February 28
$350 for NYCEFT members/$380 non-NYCEFT members
Regular registration by March 27
395$ for NYCEFT members/$425 non-NYCEFT members

“Gaining Traction, Get to Softenings,” a 2-Day EFT Master Class received outstanding evaluation scores and overwhelmingly positive feedback over three presentations in Denver, Colorado.  This is the first time this material has been presented on the East Coast. 

 “This is an excellent workshop.  If you are able to take it, you will not leave disappointed.  Jim’s energy and authenticity helped me move my work with couples to a new and deeper level.”  – Kate Pickett 

This is an advanced level Master Class in Emotionally Focused Therapy designed to enhance, deepen and expand your work in this model through greater focus in Stage One and “Getting to Softenings” in Stage Two.  It is intended for those with at least an Externship in EFT and participation in Core Skills.  Basic questions about the application of EFT and attachment theory will not addressed during this Master Class.   Content assumes participants have knowledge of the Stages and Steps of EFT, major interventions and experience applying EFT with couples and/or families.

Tie the Bow on your EFT Work in this intermediate to advanced level workshop Getting to and Creating Powerful Bonding Events in EFT.  Learn to focus sessions, build momentum and deepen emotions with effective E.F.T. habits.  Then guide couples to Stage 2 and as Sue says, “Get to Softenings!”  Gain confidence, and come away inspired and more fully engaged in your own work with couples and families. 

Based on a series of conversations with Dr. Sue Johnson, EFT Research, watching other trainers clinical work, and his learning journey and lessons from his couples, Jim Thomas, LMFT, EFT Trainer, Clinical Fellow, Approved Supervisor, AAMFT is offering this 2-Day highly focused workshop for Emotionally Focused Therapists, “Gaining Traction, Getting to Softenings in E.F.T.”

As with any training Jim leads, important elements regarding our use of self will be woven throughout the 2-Days. The workshop will include brief didactic presentations, demonstration, discussion and application.   Participants will learn the “One Thing that will make everything else easier in EFT therapy for them as therapists.”  This one thing provides the unifying theme for the workshop.

Areas We Will Explore Together:

1)  Identify key moves that set the groundwork for getting to Stage Two prepared to do softenings.

2)  Identify and work with common barriers to moving through Stage One work to reduce the time spent “spinning your wheels” with couples through the same skills needed in Stage Two work: focused sessions, building momentum, deepening emotion and fostering vulnerability.

3)  Gain a framework for how working with emotion evolves throughout Stage One work, and how this framework provides a guide for fluid, forward moving work with couples in Stage One that fosters de-escalation and Stage 2.

4)  Deepen your understanding and felt sense of Stage 2 work, through viewing Stage 2 clips with several of Jim’s couples. 

5)  Explore the central importance of our emotional presence in the room and how to lean into a more transparent, authentic and even dysregulated you in session that ties all of these skills together.

How do they do it in those E.F.T. Research studies?  It seems like every couple gets to Stage 2 work, softenings and bonding events in those published studies?  Softening leading to bonding events, that is what drew us to the work.  We want to get to those moments we see on Sue’s tapes.  We come out of the Externship or Core Skills and our work with couples improves significantly.   But progress with couples gets mixed and some start to complain about wanting more and faster. We find ourselves stumbling around in Stage 1 feeling lost ourselves or we miss the opportunity to go in to Stage 2 work.  Our energy gets zapped as couples start complaining: *  “We’ve been over this cycle before, it’s not helping.” *  “I know it’s a dance, but he/she is responsible for the music.” *  “We need tools, now!”

Sometimes I Feel Lost in The Model:  It’s like we lost sight of the one thing or the key moves that could propel our work in to Stage 2.  This workshop’s singular purpose is to get out of the muck sooner, build momentum and get to softenings in E.F.T.   This is key. Our confidence decreases when we don’t get to experience bonding events. Bonding events, key for couples also fuel our work.  Without them, being an E.F.T. therapist becomes frustrating and draining.    We start to wonder if we missed something about Stage 2 work; this training ties that all together.

Workshop Outline

Day One:

• Focused Session
  
• Build Momentum
  
• Deepen Emotions
  
• Get To Softenings
  

Day Two:

• Get to Softenings Continued –
  
• Stage 2 work in EFT – Videos of Stage 2 Work

Jim Thomas, LMFT, EFT Trainer, has presented to thousands of therapists across the United States, and in Canada and Europe.  Director Emeritus, Denver Family Institute, Jim is the Director of the Colorado Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy.