Family Counseling

At Catalyzing Courage, our goal with families is to improve connection and dynamics within the family system by utilizing Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT). For more challenging behavioral struggles we also employ Parent Management Training to create more structure and stability in the family system.

Emotionally Focused Family Therapy

EFFT is a short-term, goal-oriented therapy that helps families improve their emotional connection and communication. EFFT is based on the attachment theory, which suggests that our early relationships with our caregivers shape our emotional responses and our ability to form and maintain close relationships.

EFFT therapists help families identify and understand their attachment patterns. They then use a variety of techniques to help families repair their emotional bonds and learn new ways of communicating with each other. EFFT is a highly effective therapy for a variety of family problems, including:

• Conflict and disconnection

• Divorce and separation

• Stepfamilies

• Child behavior problems

• Eating disorders

• Anxiety and depression

EFFT is a strengths-based therapy that focuses on the family's resources and resilience. It is also a collaborative therapy, which means that the therapist works with the family to create a plan that is tailored to their specific needs.

Here are some of the key concepts of EFFT:

Attachment: Attachment is the emotional bond that we form with our caregivers in early childhood. This bond shapes our ability to form and maintain close relationships throughout our lives.

Secure attachment: Secure attachment is characterized by a sense of safety, trust, and comfort in our relationships with others. People with secure attachment are able to express their emotions openly and honestly, and they feel confident that their needs will be met.

Insecure attachment: Insecure attachment is characterized by a sense of anxiety, fear, or distrust in our relationships with others. People with insecure attachment may have difficulty expressing their emotions, or they may be overly clingy or avoidant in their relationships.

Reactivation: Reactivation is the process of bringing up old attachment wounds in the present moment. This can happen when we are triggered by something that reminds us of a past experience of insecure attachment.

Change process: The change process in EFFT involves helping families to identify and understand their attachment patterns, and then to learn new ways of communicating and relating to each other.

Parent Management Training

Parent management training (PMT) is a type of therapy that helps parents learn how to manage their children's behavior. PMT is based on the principles of operant conditioning, which states that behavior is influenced by its consequences. In PMT, parents learn how to identify and reinforce positive behaviors, and how to effectively manage negative behaviors.

At Catalyzing Courage, we use a modified form of this therapy that is respectful of the relationship and takes great care regarding potential harm from child isolation and disconnection.

PMT is a highly effective treatment for a variety of child behavior problems, including:

• Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)

• Conduct disorder (CD)

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

• Tantrums

• Bedwetting

• School refusal

In PMT, the therapist works with the parent on a weekly basis providing support, while co-creating structure and forming a new family dynamic that will create a sense of safety for the parent and child. During these sessions, parents learn about the principles of operant conditioning and how to apply them to their own parenting. They also have the opportunity to practice their new skills with their children. PMT is a relatively short-term therapy. However, the benefits of PMT can last for many years.