Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a short-term therapy designed to help adults focus on things like relationships, bonding, and attachment issues. These are issues that typically stem from childhood but could be impacting your life (and relationships) right now.
EFT is often used by families and couples to improve relationships.
However, it can also be used to overcome depression and anxiety caused by past trauma. That’s one factor that not as many people are aware of, but it’s just as important and just as effective.
Unfortunately, far too many people experience trauma and don’t know how to fully process it. As a result, it leads to feelings of depression and anxiety. Dealing with those conditions requires you to get to the “root cause,” which is why EFT can be so effective.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how Emotionally Focused Therapy can help you overcome anxiety and depression that may have been triggered by past trauma.
How Trauma Contributes to Anxiety and Depression
Like any effective therapy, EFT will work on helping you identify the core components of past trauma. From an emotional standpoint, that could include things like child abuse, sexual abuse, or a variety of traumatic events you witnessed as a child.
Trauma can lead to anxiety and depression in a variety of ways. You might constantly live with the fear of what you experienced or saw. Or you might have tried to “repress” those thoughts over the years, but they’ve always been lingering beneath the surface.
Trauma can also change the way your brain operates. The amygdala is known as the “fear center” of the brain. Individuals who have experienced trauma or extreme stress tend to have a smaller hippocampus—a component that works closely with the amygdala. That can lead to heightened fight-or-flight responses in everyday life.
Others might be more susceptible to experiencing depression due to past trauma. That can manifest itself in many ways, including feelings of extreme sadness and hopelessness about your life and the future.
What to Expect from EFT
If you think you might be dealing with depression and anxiety from past trauma, it’s important to know what Emotionally Focused Therapy can do.
EFT involves nine steps throughout the treatment process.
Throughout those steps, you’ll cover everything from unacknowledged fears and attitudes associated with them, to negative patterns that could be contributing to your anxiety and depression.
In the later steps of your treatment plan, you’ll learn to break free from those patterns. EFT keeps you in the present, encouraging you to focus on the here and now rather than the past. You’ll learn to express your emotions in more positive ways, rather than remaining trapped in a negative cycle of anxiety and depression symptoms.
At the end of your EFT sessions, you’ll discover how the trauma you experienced in the past contributed to the anxiety or depression you’re experiencing today. You’ll learn skills to cope with those symptoms so you can move forward with your life without letting past trauma dictate your mental well-being.
Is EFT Right for You?
Many people associate Emotionally Focused Therapy with families and couples. However, it can be just as effective for individuals. That’s especially true when you’re trying to overcome trauma from childhood or from a past relationship.
Getting to the underlying cause of your anxiety or depression is the key to managing it. EFT is one of the best solutions for that. It can help you take control of your present and future in just a few sessions.
Interested in learning more about Emotionally Focused Therapy and how it can help you heal from past trauma? Feel free to contact me.