Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) for Trauma

Understanding Trauma Through the EFIT Lens

• Summarize the science behind EFIT and its core components
• Use an attachment frame to conceptualize trauma, stressor related disorders, and common comorbidities
• Track developmental considerations to understand the impact of developmental trauma
• Explore how shame, fear, and disconnection maintain entrenched emotional and relational patterns

The EFIT Approach to Emotional Transformation

• Explain the power of emotion and key relationships in transforming trauma
• Work with the body as the gateway to emotion—the target and agent of change
• Create corrective emotional experiences that expand capacity and reshape identity
• Understand how EFIT complements other evidence based trauma models (such as EMDR, IFS, and CBT)
• Note key safety considerations, risks, and limitations when applying EFIT with trauma

Assessment and Clinical Focus in EFIT

• Conduct attachment based experiential assessment using EFIT tools and scales
• Hold the C.A.R.E. frame (Context, Attachment, Relationship, Emotion) throughout therapy
• Identify blocks, markers, and emotional processes that guide pacing and depth
• Use assessment insights to structure sessions and tailor experiential interventions

The EFIT Tango: A Guiding Sequence for Trauma Work

• Explain and demonstrate the five moves of the EFIT Tango
• Use the Tango to create safety, maintain momentum, and shape corrective emotional experiences
• Identify indicators of readiness to deepen emotional work
• Apply the Tango across trauma presentations (acute, developmental, complex) with five simple tried-and-true interventions

Live In Session Demonstration (Deep Clinical Learning)

• Watch the EFIT Tango applied in real time with a client presenting with trauma
• Observe how Leanne and Robin track emotional cues, somatic shifts, and attachment needs
• See how emotional deepening unfolds moment to moment
• Experience how pacing, attunement, and safety create meaningful change events

Guided Clinical Debrief With Leanne Campbell

• Review Leanne and Robin’s intervention choices and clinical rationale as she engages in dialogue with Robin about the live session
• Explore timing, pacing, and decision points in shaping emotional experiences
• Discuss turning points, ruptures, repairs, and attachment shifts
• Engage in Q&A to clarify nuances of applying EFIT with trauma survivors

Working With Attachment Injuries and Developmental Trauma

• Define attachment injuries and understand their role in trauma presentations
• Use the AIRM (Attachment Injury Repair Model) to navigate relational injuries
• Restructure trauma based narratives rooted in shame, fear, or disconnection
• Support new emotional experiences that foster resilience and post traumatic growth

Integrating Micro Interventions for Trauma Resolution

• Apply EFIT micro interventions to access and process core emotion
• Expand emotional range and reorganize defensive processes
• Identify openings for vulnerability and emotional engagement
• Facilitate transformative moments that reshape identity and meaning

Moving Clients Through the Three Stages of EFIT

• Stage 1: Stabilization, engagement, and expanding emotional awareness, agility and flexibility
• Stage 2: Deepening emotion, processing traumatic material, reshaping identity
• Stage 3: Consolidation, integration, and strengthening secure attachment patterns
• Identify clinical markers that signal readiness to move between stages