Integrating EFT and Gottman Approaches in Couples Therapy

Course overview

Integrating EFT and Gottman Approaches in couples therapy is an clinical training designed to enhance effectiveness with distressed and high-conflict couples. Contemporary couples present with increasing clinical complexity, including attachment injuries, trauma histories, emotional dysregulation, comorbid psychopathology, and entrenched conflict cycles. Foundational couples counseling skills, while necessary, are often insufficient for addressing these challenges. The course explores attachment-based case conceptualization, systemic assessment, emotion regulation, and behavioral intervention. Emphasis is placed on managing high-conflict dynamics, repairing attachment injuries and betrayals, navigating ethical and safety considerations, and flexibly integrating emotion-focused and skills-based strategies across the course of treatment. Grounded in current research and clinical best practices, this course emphasizes ethical decision-making, therapist self-regulation, cultural responsiveness, and evidence-based care. Through an integrative framework, clinicians will learn to tailor interventions to the emotional, relational, and contextual needs of contemporary couples, supporting durable change, relational resilience, and professional competence in advanced couples therapy practice