Our New Zealand EFT Trainers

Background On Our New Zealand EFT Trainers

Our New Zealand EFT trainers were certified by the International Centre for Excellence in EFT (ICEEFT) which is based in Ottawa. Our trainers' certification tapes were personally reviewed and approved by Dr. Sue Johnson.

PATHWAY TO CERTIFICATION:

There is no single certification overview page with ICEEFT that you can link to for now, but a page like that is in the works.
There are currently 3 separate certification overview pages - these include upcoming courses, resources and readings, and a clear Pathway description for each type of EFT training.

https://iceeft.com/what-is-emotionally-focused-therapy-for-couples/

https://iceeft.com/what-is-emotionally-focused-therapy-for-individuals/

https://iceeft.com/what-is-emotionally-focused-therapy-for-families/

EFCT - EFT for couples & relationships

Like thousands of therapists around the world, come and discover the power of the EFT model in creating secure attachment in loving bonds. Viewing romantic love through the attachment lens, you will experience how EFCT creates moments of change and growth at the relational and individual level.

This experiential, attachment-based model prioritises emotions and shapes corrective emotional experiences that restructure the attachment bond. Witnessing change happen before your eyes is truly inspirational.

ICEEFT-endorsed EFCT training courses and therapist pathway:

• Externship EFCT training includes 24hrs (4 days) of introductory training in EFCT that is endorsed by the International Centre for Excellence in EFT (ICEEFT).

• Core Skills of EFCT forms the final training requirement for eligibility for Certification as an EFCT Therapist with ICEEFT. Therapists have the option of completing “Basic” Core Skills which includes 24hrs (4 days) of skills development in EFCT or “Advanced” Core Skills, which includes 48hrs (8 days) of skills mastery in EFCT. Either course is sufficient for ICEEFT Certification as an EFCT Therapist. Which course is available to you will vary by Trainer and region of the world.

• For all EFCT training events, handouts and a certificate of completion are provided as well as reduced-rate membership to ICEEFT

• For those who become ICEEFT members, their details will be listed in the ICEEFT therapist directory, and they can choose to list their practitioner details on the NZCEFT Find a EFT Therapist directory.

1.) Externship

The Externship in EFCT is the first step in becoming a Certified EFT Couple Therapist with the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT). It contains didactic teaching about the theoretical underpinnings of the EFT model, the evidence-base for EFCT, the 3 stages of the EFCT model (the EFT road map), a comprehensive overview of the key EFT therapist interventions including the EFT Tango, as well as video demonstrations, small-group activities and, where possible, a live demonstration of an EFCT session. The training has a focus on diversity and inclusion.

At the end of training, participants will be able to:

• Describe the key elements of the attachment perspective on adult love and bonding, relational distress and creating attachment security in loving relationships

• Track negative cycles of interaction that lead to disconnection and insecurity in the attachment bond

• Describe the micro-interventions used by the EFT therapist and use them de-escalate negative interactional patterns

• Outline the process of change and the elements of the EFT Tango to shape corrective emotional experience, such as affect assembly and choreographing engaged encounters

• Shape bonding moments in-session that restructure the attachment bond and revise internal working models of self and other

Take the first step of your EFT journey with the Externship training. Learn a comprehensive approach to working with couples in a new way.

If you have any queries regarding the criteria for New Zealand therapists, please contact Yve or Heike.

2.) Core Skills- Basic Training - The next step on the EFCT training journey

Core Skills - Basic in EFCT is the final training required for becoming a Certified EFT Couple Therapist with the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT). This four-day (24hr) course revises and deepens therapists’ understanding of the EFCT model and the interventions used to achieve the three change events identified by process research that move loving relationships from insecurity to security.

Core Skills in EFCT focuses on building therapists’ proficiency in specific interventions that aim to stabilise distressed relationships in Stage 1, to restructure the attachment bond in Stage 2, and to consolidate changes in Stage 3. It includes case presentations, video demonstrations, and experiential exercises, as well as providing practical resources for therapists to use with their clients. There is a focus on diversity and inclusion in training.

At the end of training, participants will be able to:

• Use the therapeutic relationship as a powerful attachment-based tool for creating security in loving bonds

• Intervene successfully to interrupt, track and de-escalate negative interactional patterns

• Utilize the present moment in session for therapeutic change, using the EFCT interventions and the EFT Tango in a natural and organic way

• Know and intentionally choose an EFCT intervention or micro-skill from a range of options in order to best achieve the desired outcome in a given moment in-session

• Work creatively with therapeutic blocks and “stuck” patterns – working within and between to create movement and attachment security between partners

• Deepen emotional engagement and gain mastery in choreographing engaged encounters (enactments) for on-target, powerful change

• Shape bonding moments in-session that restructure the attachment bond and revise internal working models of self and other

Enrol for Core Skills level training to further your EFT journey. Hone your ability to use theories of attachment and emotion in your work with couples.

Prerequisite:

Proof of completion of Externship in EFCT training with an ICEEFT Certified EFT Trainer must be provided in order for a participant to be eligible to enroll in a Core Skills- Basic in EFCT course.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFCT) Training New Zealand 2025

Register Now with Heike / Yve

EFT FOR INDIVIDUALS 

(EFIT)

EFT draws on a huge body of empirical research and is effective in reducing relationship distress. The same principles that EFCT has been so successful with also apply when working with EFT for Individuals, EFIT. The EFIT training focus on how the therapist can work collaboratively with the client to enable them to move into responsiveness and full engagement with others, which characterises secure attachment. The goal of EFIT is to enable clients. to shape an expanded, coherent, and competent self to become a fully alive human being. As a result, the client can work differently with their previous stuck patterns which left them often isolated and alone to having flexibility and choices in their responses to life and life events. 

EFT For Individuals: EFIT training pathway:

Essentials of EFIT

This four-day training outlines the theory and practice of EFIT, focusing on the primacy of emotion and the creation of a safe haven & secure base alliance, core models of health and dysfunction from an attachment perspective including how within and between cycles interact and block growth and adaptation, a systematic sequence of interventions, the EFT Tango, as well as more micro-interventions, and how to stay with present processes in each and every session to shape key change events. Didactic presentations will be accompanied by the viewing of EFIT sessions and experiential exercises. Recommended reading for this course is A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT).

EFIT Mastering Skills: 

This two-day training (10 hours) follows on from Essentials of EFIT and helps you deepen your understanding of the model and discover effective ways to overcome obstacles and barriers to change. In this training we will delve deeper into objectives and provide more extensive practice.

Participants will be able to:

• Describe the key elements of the attachment perspective on personality and its significance for clinical intervention

• Set out clients within and between cycles and how they create each other and link to presenting problems that manifest as emotional disorders

• Describe the core components of emotional disorders – depression and anxiety

• Outline the process of change and the elements of the EFT Tango to shape corrective emotional experience, such as affect assembly and deepening

• Describe the micro-interventions used by the EFT therapist

• Outline the applicability of EFIT for different clients with different symptomatology.

EFIT – Special Topic: EFIT & Neurodiversity (1 day)

The third EFIT training offering in the pathway draws on the individual trainer’s interests and specialisations to offer a single day intensive focusing on EFIT and a special topic.

EFIT & Neurodiversity workshop participants will:

• Develop an in-depth feel and grow to understand the different dynamics that inform the worldviews of neurodiverse people.

• Learn about different sorts of trauma that neurodiverse people can carry.

• Gain understanding of how to work with neurodiverse clients using both the attachment framework and the EFT Tango.

• Have a chance to practice how to lean into clients’ neurodiversity when using the EFT model. 

• Build a solid alliance and ultimately secure attachment when using EFT frameworks.

Participants will also watch videos and demonstrations of the 5 moves of the EFT tango as shown working with a neurodiverse client.  Additionally, they will gain practical experience in the breakout rooms to practice working in a neuro affirmative way.