Research Program

One objective of our research program is to build a deeper understanding of the therapeutic process of change in the EFT approach. Specifically, our research to date has addressed some of the following questions:

• What is the therapist doing in-session moment-by-moment that promotes change in the EFT model? Our interest is in better understanding how change unfolds in the dynamic interchange between therapist and the client(s), and creating effective training strategies to support successful practice of the EFT approach.
   
• Are there predictable patterns of client responses to EFT interventions? We are interested in understanding the role of emotional experiencing as a catalyst for relationship / systemic change in couples therapy. Our focus is on identifying how evocative interventions are used effectively to promote a deeper level of client emotional and attachment related experience.
   
• How is an understanding of adult attachment central to promoting systemic change in relationships? Our projects include efforts to deepen our understanding of attachment significant events in a couple/families relationship history and the significance of these events to assessment and treatment using EFT.

Our research program values discovery-oriented approaches to process research that grounds clinical observation and analysis within the moment to moment experiences of therapy. This often takes the specific form of methodology titled Task Analysis (Bradley & Johnson, 2005). We value the application of other methodological approaches, but our current central focus is on promoting a deeper understanding of the EFT model in practice.
 

Current Research Projects

Emotionally Focused Therapy with Couples of Autistic Children.

This is a clinical trial with an experimental and waitlist control group. Assisting Dr. Bradley are UHCL students Sara McConnell, Tara Louden, Jenny Dietz and recent graduate Laura Hicks, M.A.

This project addresses three prominent limitations noted in the couple therapy literature (Sprenkle, 2006):

1. Lack of empirical evidence with couple therapy approaches
2. Lack of replicated clinical trials apart from the authors of the approach
3. Lack of focus on specific populations with relationship strain

Softening Events in Emotionally Focused Therapy – The Average Clinician in the Trenches.

Phase I: Funding established. Project began: Collecting Data, Training Coders. Fall, 2006.
Phase II: Final Coding with Instruments, Gathering Results.
Phase III: Write-up: Spring, 2009.

Professional Objectives of Research Project:

1. Replicate and extend professor’s initial published research on Softening Events in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (Bradley & Furrow, 2004).
2. Create a mini-theory of the Softening Event based on second-generation therapists’ recorded sessions.
3. Compare and contrast expert and second-generation EFT therapist behaviors that produce successful softening events.
4. Compare and contrast successful vs. unsuccessful Softening Events to begin delineating where the softening process typically derails.
5. Demonstrate effectiveness and applicability of the Emotionally Focused Therapy Coding Scheme developed by the professor (EFTCS; Bradley, 2001).

Mapping the expert: A closer look at Susan Johnson’s softening events.

We are currently using the following instruments to track client processing through eft softening events. We are using data gathered for our original study (Bradley & Furrow, 2004), which focused on therapist process themes and interventions.
The following instruments are being utilized:

• Classification System for Counseling Responses (CSCR: Highlen & Lonborg, 1991): 18 categories of content based on intent of client.
• Client Vocal Quality Scale (Rice & Kerr, 1986): Nominal scale of four vocal qualities to track direction of attentional energy.
• Experiencing Scale (Klein, Mathieu, & Kiesler, 1986): 7-point ordinal scale measuring involvement in process.

Client Responses and Therapist's Interventions in Successful and Unsuccessful Blamer Softening Events

This study compared therapist interventions and client responses in successful and unsuccessful softening events. The analysis of each attempted softening events provides a better understanding of the relationship between therapist interventions and a client's level of emotional experiencing. The client's level of experiencing is evident in the persons level of engagement in the therapeutic process, which typically includes a turning to explore one's personal experience.

Specifically, the study tested the assumption that client emotional experiencing is important to a successful softening event. The analysis sought to identify the interventions that promoted a heightened slevel of experiencing. Findings from the analysis provide further confirmation of the softening mini-theory by providing a detailed analysis of client responses to therapist attempts to facilitate blamer softening.

Preliminary results of this study provide further support for the initial mini-theory. Findings suggest that therapist's focus on particular themes is as important as the use of particular interventions. Therapist focus on the theme of the blamer's fear of reaching proved important in predicting client's level of experiencing. The findings suggest that a successful softening event includes the therapist's intentional focus on increasing level of client experiencing up to the actual point of restructuring the couple's pattern of interaction.

Identifying Attachment Injuries: A Conceptual Model of Assessment

Betrayal events in couples relationships are receiving increased attention in treatment literature. Attachment Injuries, (Johnson, Makinen, & Millikin, 2001), represent a similar but broader description of events which result in a significant breech of trust in a couple's relationship. Often these attachment injuries result in impasses in couples therapy. Previous studies called for the identification and analysis characteristics common to these relational ruptures. Naaman, et al. (2005) suggested that factors such as the recency of the injury, each partner's attachment styles prior to injury, and the genders of the respective injuring and injured partners may shed light on the nuances of injury occurrence and resolution between different couples. This study uses content analysis of a clinical sample of couples where an attachment injury is present. Following a constant comparison approach the analysis aims to develop a more detailed understanding of these injuries and their link to impasses in EFT treatment.