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Predicting Key Change Events in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy
Author(s) -
Dalgleish Tracy L.,
Johnson Susan M.,
Burgess Moser Melissa,
Wiebe Stephanie A.,
Tasca Giorgio A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/jmft.12101
Subject(s) - key (lock) , psychotherapist , psychology , clinical psychology , computer science , computer security
In emotionally focused couple therapy ( EFT ), the blamer‐softening event helps individuals express and respond to partners’ unmet attachment needs. This study examined the impact of this event in relation to attachment at intake and changes in marital satisfaction from pre‐ to posttherapy. Thirty‐two couples were provided an average of 21 sessions of EFT . Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the occurrence of a softening event significantly predicted increased marital satisfaction. Furthermore, the occurrence of a softening event significantly moderated the relationship between attachment avoidance at intake and change in marital satisfaction from pre‐ to posttherapy. For couples who had a softening event, partners with higher levels of attachment avoidance were less likely to have positive changes in marital satisfaction.