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An Examination of the Integrative Nature of Emotionally Focused Therapy

George M. Simon

The Minuchin Center for the Family

Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) has been described by one of its originators as an integration of structural family therapy and experiential psychotherapy. This article explores whether the integration that has been achieved in EFT is a theoretically eclectic integration, which preserves intact the theoretical bases of both of the approaches being integrated, or an assimilative integration, which privileges the theoretical base of one of the approaches and grafts ideas and techniques from the remaining approach onto this base. The conclusion is reached that EFT is an exercise in assimilative integration. It is demonstrated that EFT is rooted in the worldview and values of experiential therapy, and that elements of structural family therapy that have been incorporated into the model have been subjected to fundamental modification, so as to allow them to fit into an alien theoretical context.

Key Words: psychotherapy integration • emotionally focused therapy • structural family therapy • experiential therapy • worldview

The Family Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3, 254-262 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1066480704264348
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This article has been cited by other articles:


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