Rehab Kids

Transforming Trauma
with Emotionally Focused
Individual Therapy (EFIT)
Leanne Campbell, PhD

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 Transforming Trauma
with Emotionally Focused
Individual Therapy (EFIT)
Leanne Campbell, PhD

Rehab Kids

ZNM058655
9/24
Copyright © 2024

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15pp

9/24

Rehab Kids
 Materials Provided By

Dr. Leanne Campbell, is a Registered Psychologist, a co-founder

and managing partner of Campbell & Fairweather Psychology
group, and an ICEEFT (International Center for Excellence in
Emotionally Focused Therapy) Certified Trainer. In addition to
providing psychological services to hundreds of individuals,
couples, and families over the past three decades, Dr. Campbell
provides trainings in Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) to
professionals around the globe with a primary focus in the areas
of grief and trauma. Most recently, she co-authored with Dr.
Sue Johnson the first individually focused EFT book, A Primer
for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT): Cultivating
Growth and Fitness in Every Client (Routledge, 2022).

For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography in activity advertising.

Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the
authorized practice of certain professionals. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing
the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in
accordance with and in compliance with your profession’s standards.
 As required by several accrediting boards, speaker and
activity planning committee conflicts of interest
(including financial relationships with ineligible
organizations) were disclosed prior to the start of this
activity. To view disclosure information, please see
activity advertising.

Please note: Following links (including QR code scanning) in

this, or any, document may take the user outside of the
educational activity.
 Transforming Trauma with
Emotionally Focused
Individual Therapy (EFIT)

Dr. Leanne Campbell



Materials that are included in this

course may include interventions
and modalities that are beyond the
authorized scope of practice for
your profession. As a licensed
professional, you are responsible for
reviewing the scope of practice,
including activities that are defined
in law as beyond the boundaries of
practice in accordance with and in
compliance with your profession’s
standards.

1
Conflict of Interest Disclosures

As required by several accrediting

boards, speaker and activity
planning committee conflicts of
interest (including financial
relationships with ineligible
organizations) were disclosed prior
to the start of this activity. To view
disclosure information, please see
activity advertising.

OVERVIEW

What do our Clients Say?

Understanding Trauma through the Lens of Attachment

Key EFIT Goals

Three-Stage Model and Key Interventions

Tuning in and Staying Attuned with C.A.R.E.

Transforming Trauma with EFIT: Clinical Demonstrations and
Commentary

2
 CLIENT’S WORDS/EMOTIONAL
HANDLES

Alone - Heartbroken – Unseen

Hijacked – Overwhelmed – In Chaos

Crazy – Defective – Damaged – Ashamed

Empty – Numb – No Meaning – Frozen/Shut Off

“I can’t count on me” - “I don’t matter to anyone”

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS OF

TRAUMA THROUGH THE LENS OF
ATTACHMENT

emotion – ‘to move’

“effective affect regulation … a process of moving with and through an
emotion, rather than reactively intensifying or suppressing it, and then being
able to use this emotion to give direction to one’s life.”
S. Johnson, 2019, p. 11

Finite number of ways to emotionally navigate intolerable stress/trauma exposure
when faced alone:

Turn emotion up, down, some combination of both.

Anxiety or Avoidance (attachment science).

Hyperarousal or Hypoarousal.

3
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS OF
TRAUMA THROUGH THE LENS OF
ATTACHMENT, cont.

In the context of intolerable stress/trauma exposure, and absence of a key trusted

other
 capacity to move with and through emotion is blocked,
 growth is thwarted,
 perceptions of self become infused with blame and shame, and
 others are viewed as untrustworthy and unavailable.

INSECURE ATTACHMENT

ATTACHMENT INSECURITY AS A RISK

FACTOR FOR MALADJUSTMENT

Insecure Attachment Linked with, for example,:

Vulnerability to depression, anxiety, trauma and stressor—related
disorders

Personality Disorders

Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
(see Johnson, 2019)

4
IMPACT OF SECURE CONNECTION
ON MENTAL HEALTH

Secure Attachment Linked with, for example,:

Resilience

Confidence

Sense of belonging

Optimism
(see also Johnson, 2019)

ATTACHMENT VIEW OF HEALTH: A

FELT SENSE OF SECURITY, WITH SELF
AND OTHERS, typified by ...

Awareness of and access to vulnerabilities and

needs

Capacity to assert these needs coherently and
directly to key others/attachment figures

Ability to give attuned support to another

Ability to take in comfort and affirmation from
supportive other/attachment figure

see also Johnson, 2019, p. 33



5
 Key goal of
EFIT: Expand TARGET OF CHANGE: Attachment
Security

the Self, Move

ANTIDOTE TO TRAUMA: Helping clients
Clients into Felt to feel what was unsafe, intolerable,
unacceptable to feel – in the presence of
Sense of a key other/others

Security with  CORRECTIVE EMOTIONAL

EXPERIENCE
Self and Others  IDENTITY EPIPHANY



GOALS:

To identify and unblock barriers to growth/unleash organic

HOW? growth process

GROWTH THROUGH
To offer corrective experiences that positively impact

CONNECTION models of self and other and shape stable, lasting change

To enable clients to move into the accessibility/openness,

responsiveness and full engagement that characterizes secure
attachment with others
“Our sense of who we are is constructed and
evolves in our most important relationships”
(Johnson, 2019; Johnson & Campbell, 2022)
To enable clients to shape a coherent sense of a competent
self that can deal with existential life issues and become a fully
alive human being



6
 THREE-STAGE
PROCESS
STAGE 1: STABILIZATION

STAGE 2: RESTRUCTURING – SELF AND

SYSTEM

STAGE 3: CONSOLIDATION/INTEGRATION



TUNING CONTEXT

in and

Identity; Environmental factors; Experiences

ATTACHMENT

Pivotal experiences/key moments that have shaped

STAYING models of self and other; Coherence of narrative; Current

relationship resources; Potential intergenerational
impacts; Risk/vulnerability and resiliency/protective
factors

ATTUNED RELATIONSHIP/THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE

Therapist monitors the therapeutic alliance throughout

with
the process of therapy
EMOTION

C.A.R.E.

Core features of ‘emotional disorders’; Strategy
(anxiety/avoidance) and Capacity (narrow/broad;
flexible/automatic); Process elements; Emotional handles



7

EFIT looks past diagnosis
core elements of emotional
ATTACHMENT disorders process elements
and felt experience as
MAP represented by emotional
handles. Identify
patterns/themes/pivotal
events.



TRAUMA AS VIEWED THROUGH

THE LENS OF ATTACHMENT …

ATTACHMENT SECURITY (on a

continuum)

Model/View of Self and Other

Affect Regulation

Strategy (Hyperarousal,
Hypoarousal, some combination
of both)

Capacity (Rigid/Flexible)

‘Window of Tolerance’



8
Emotion is considered key in
organizing negative interactional THE
cycles, and is viewed as the target
and agent of change POWER
AND
Change involves new experience, POTENCY
and new relationship events –
corrective emotional experiences
OF
or identity epiphanies EMOTION


Trusted others –

key resource in moving out of
protective strategies that were
previously adaptive or are
ATTACHMENT adaptive in other contexts (e.g.,
first responders; military) into
MAP growth and resilience.

key resource in symptom

reduction (Stage 1), and in
restructuring self and system
(Stage 2).

9
Video
Demonstration
and Exercise

Resourcing the Client.
Following this short clip,
consider some of the clients
you are working with. Are
there resources you might
build upon to further
support the therapeutic
process? How might you
resource yourself for this
training? For your work
more generally?


-,

10
Video
Demonstration
and Exercise

Focusing the Session and Building
on Momentum.

As you watch the video
notice especially how the
therapist works with emotion
to gain access to underlying
vulnerability/deeper
experience. Notice also the
moves of the EFIT Tango.

Think about how you might
summarize what happened
in this session.



CORRECTIVE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE/

Dancing the IDENTITY EPIPHANY

Depth of experiencing key

Tango

Emotional expression varies across cultures,
communities, individuals

Through
TANGO AND DEPTH OF EXPERIENCING –
CONCEPTUAL ANCHORS

Interventions are pitched at deeper levels as

Stage 1 into

Client has increased access to core
vulnerabilities and key identity dilemmas

Individual has more capacity to engage more

Stage 2
deeply with emotion/experience, with more
coherence and for longer periods

Views of self and other become more
accessible – increased flexibility and capacity



11
 Video
Demonstration
and Exercise

Restructuring Self and System.

As you watch the video
notice especially how the
therapist uses the EFIT
Tango to expand and shift
model of self.

Think about how you might
describe the key
mechanisms of change in
EFIT.



STAGE 3:
CONSOLIDATION OF A
SECURE BASE
Shaping a new narrative that integrates the
past and holds hope for the future

Changes are distilled, highlighted,
celebrated

Shifts in client’s narrative are illuminated

Shifts in model of self are exemplified,
consolidated, integrated

New modes of engagement with key
others are consolidated

New action tendencies and increased
flexibility are made vivid

Client is invited into vision of future,
goals, aspirations



12
 With attention to …

Personal Resources (& Risk
Factors)

‘Window of Tolerance’

Social/Relationship Resources
MANAGING
Grief and Loss

Contextual Factors
ONGOING
VULNERABILITY



More than symptom reduction

Template set for ongoing growth

Increased capacity, confidence and

competence
SECURE
Increased ability to navigate interpersonal
ATTACHMENT relationships, including interpersonal conflict

More flexible affect regulation strategy and

broader and deeper capacity

Emotional balance and resilience

13



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EFIT RELEVANT RESEARCH

As an intervention, EFT has a substantial and impressive research base (see
also www.icceeft.com for a summary).
Attachment theory – on which EFT and EFIT are based - has literally thousands of
studies on becoming and belonging, health and dysfunction, in adults and
children.

SUMMARY: Much of what has been measured in EFT couple studies focuses on change
WITHIN individuals. We use the same interventions and rely on the same basic

RESEARCH
process of change when working with couples or individuals.
KEY STUDIES:
EFT interventions have been found to change partners’ attachment styles to

BASE
more secure, with these changes observed at three-year follow-up (see
Burgess-Moser et al., 2015).
Brain scan studies demonstrated that after a course of EFT, individuals’ brains
responded differently to threat (see also drsuejohnson.com/videos).
EFT has been shown to change individual variables such as depression (see, for
e.g., Wittenborn et al., 2018).

The first large (three-site) study on EFIT has been conducted, with data now being
analyzed (this examines process and outcome, including variables such as
depression, anxiety and trauma-related symptoms).

14
EFIT
BOOKS

Attachment Theory in Practice − Emotionally Focused Therapy with

Individuals, Couples and Families by Sue Johnson, 2019, Guildford Press.

RESOURCES
A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) –

Cultivating Fitness and Growth in Every Client by Sue Johnson & Leanne
Campbell, 2022, Routledge.

TRAINING VIDEOS

There is a growing library of training videos and courses available at
www.iceeft.com/training-videos and at PESI

CERTIFICATION in EFIT

If you have been inspired by the power and potency of working with
emotion and an attachment map in transforming trauma, please consider
joining us on the journey to certification, and lifelong growth! We welcome
you! Details can be found on the ICCEEFT website, and courses are offered
through both ICEEFT and PESI.

DR.
Leanne Campbell Leanne’s Contact Information

Dr. T. Leanne Campbell trained T. Leanne Campbell, Ph.D.

with Sue Johnson in the 90s and Registered Psychologist
has continued to practice EFT,
ICEEFT Certified Trainer and Supervisor
working with individuals,
CAMPBELL & FAIRWEATHER PSYCHOLOGY
couples and families with a GROUP
primary focus in trauma and grief. Professor, psychologist
Phone: 250-933-4884 (Nanaimo)/778-440-
and manager of a multi-site practice and EFT Trainer for 4884 (Victoria)
many years, Dr. Campbell has trained professionals
eftvancouverisland.com
around the globe and been involved in EFT research
(currently site coordinator for an EFIT study) and in the cfpsych.ca
development of various books and training materials. drleannecampbell.com


30

15
NOTES
NOTES