Creating relationships that foster resilience in Emotionally Focused Therapy

• Secure attachment is associated with health and well-being.
• Secure attachment is associated with a reduced neurophysiological stress response.
• EFT helps couples create secure attachment bonds.
• Couples show reduced neurophysiological stress with their partner after EFT.

Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT) is an evidence-based couple therapy based in attachment theory. Research has amassed over the past three decades pointing to the role of relationships in health and and well-being. Affective neuroscience suggests that secure relationships appear to foster adaptive stress co-regulation. The effectiveness of EFT has been demonstrated in couples facing high levels of stress, and has been shown to reduce depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Furthermore, EFT has been shown to help couples regulate their neurophysiological stress response. In this paper we review the literature in attachment, affective neuroscience and EFT and propose that creating secure attachment bonds for couples can help foster resilience.