Emotion-focused therapy for complex trauma : an integrative approach

This fully updated second edition presents theory, research, and practice guidelines for short term, evidence based individual treatment for adults experiencing the effects of complex relational trauma. Disrupted narrative and emotional processes are common effects of complex trauma, and emotion focused therapy for trauma (EFTT) is well suited to address these difficulties. Clients with complex trauma often suffer long term challenges after repeated exposure to violence and betrayals of trust, typically by attachment figures in the form of child abuse and neglect. The authors bring more than 25 years of research and clinical expertise to this evidence-based treatment model, which enables therapists to skillfully navigate the unique challenges facing these clients. Chapters present practical aspects of EFTT alongside supporting research, allowing clinicians from different theoretical perspectives to either apply the complete package, or integrate aspects of the model into their current practice. This comprehensive and essential resource is fully updated with current developments in research, clinical practice, and training. Psychotherapy clients with histories of childhood abuse and complex relational trauma are ubiquitous, and have notoriously high drop-out rates. These clients have been unable to heal past emotional injuries and often have difficulty handling exposure-based therapies, which usually are not designed for attachment related problems. Successful therapy requires helping clients access and explore painful feelings in order to modify maladaptive emotions. Emotion-Focused Therapy for Trauma (EFTT) is the only trauma therapy that is based on an empirically-verified model that identifies steps in the process of resolving past relational issues. In this book, the authors plumb fifteen years of research involving clinical trials, observation and analysis of therapy sessions, as well as their own extensive clinical experience to describe precisely how EFTT works to heal complex trauma. The book is organized into two main sections: Part I describes the EFTT treatment model and the theory behind it, while Part II examines clients' progress through the four phases of treatment, each of which can be revisited in a recursive fashion. The authors focus on the typical progression, beginning with cultivating the therapeutic alliance, through modifying self-concept, resolution of attachment injuries, and termination. Throughout the text, the authors make comparisons with other treatment approaches, and provide clinical examples of different kinds of emotion and emotional processing difficulties. This book will appeal to clinicians and researchers alike and is particularly suitable for use in outpatient trauma clinics and graduate programs that emphasize service and training in empirically-supported treatments. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction To Emotion-Focused Therapy for Trauma: Development, Defining Features, Strengths, and Contributions Part I Theory Chapter 1 Trauma and Its Effects Chapter 2 The EFTT Treatment Model Chapter 3 Working With Emotion Part II Practice Chapter 4 Cultivating the Alliance Chapter 5 Promoting Experiencing Chapter 6 The Imaginal Confrontation Procedure Chapter 7 Memory Work in EFTT Chapter 8 Reducing Fear, Anxiety, and Avoidance of Internal Experience Chapter 9 Transforming Guilt, Shame, and Self-Blame Chapter 10 Resolution of Interpersonal Trauma Through Adaptive Anger Chapter 11 Resolution of Interpersonal Trauma Through Sadness and Grief Chapter 12 Termination Afterword Appendix A: Short Form of the Client Experiencing Scale Appendix B: Short Form of the Working Alliance Inventory Appendix C: The Degree of Resolution Scale (Short Form) Appendix D: Yoga Therapy as a Complement to EFTT: Integrating Body-Based Interventions References Index About the Authors This fully updated second edition of Emotion-focused Therapy for Complex Trauma: An Integrative Approach presents theory, research, and practice guidelines for short-term, evidence-based individual treatment for adults. Now in a fully updated second edition, this book presents theory, research, and practice guidelines for short-term, evidence-based individual treatment for adults experiencing the effects of complex relational trauma.