Australian Institute of Emotion Focused Therapy

What makes Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) different? On Emotion Awareness Day, we're celebrating the role emotions play in helping us make sense of ourselves and the world around us.

EFT is built on a simple but powerful idea:
Emotions are not obstacles to overcome. They are a key source of information. By helping people understand and work with their emotions, EFT supports lasting emotional change.

Learn more about the science behind EFT: https://aieft.org.au/blog/science-behind-eft/

“I’m stuck!” is a common way people arrive in therapy. It can also emerge mid-therapy, when momentum slows and everything starts to feel gridlocked.

At first, this can seem straightforward. We may move quickly into problem-solving, strategies, or practical steps to help clients move forward. Yet many people remain stuck, struggle to access the tools offered, and make limited change despite best efforts. Over time, this can create frustration for both client and therapist.

So what then?

Our upcoming Working with Stuckness workshop, with Dr Anna Oldershaw, explores what it really means to feel “stuck” in therapy, how to recognise and differentiate different forms of stuckness, and how to work more effectively with what is happening in the room and in the client’s life.

We’ll introduce new and adapted tasks developed through the SPEAKS program, alongside practical ways to support engagement, emotional processing, and therapeutic movement.

Friday 26 – Saturday 27 June - 4pm to 8pm AEST each day | Online via Zoom | $437 non-members or $397 members (AUD)

Find out more - https://events.humanitix.com/working-with-stuckness

Wonderful news for the EFT community in Australia 🇦🇺

Barry Strmelj has been accredited as an ISEFT International Society for Emotion Focused Therapy Trainer — a well-deserved recognition of his expertise, contribution, and commitment to Emotion-Focused Therapy.

Many in our community will already know the depth, care and integrity Barry brings to his teaching. This milestone strengthens the future of EFT training in Australia, and we’re proud to celebrate it.

Congratulations, Barry 👏

📣 Last chance to join our Emotion-Focused Therapy Foundations training — Live this Saturday.

This is the only online offering for 2026.

EFT Foundations introduces participants to the origins, evidence-base, and central philosophy of EFT, covering topics including emotion theory, creating an alliance, advanced empathic attunement, process formulation, developing a collaborative focus, identifying markers of underlying affective/cognitive problems, and using Grounding and Safe Place strategies.

🔗 https://events.humanitix.com/foundations-march2026

Join us! January is a great time to become a member of the AIEFT, with memberships running for a calendar year it maximises your benefits.

Membership provides many benefits such as member only video screenings & discussions, practise days and event discounts (see more below). It is also great value at just $115.50.

Join or find out more here - https://aieft.org.au/membership/

The Annual Melissa Harte Memorial Lecture is now open for bookings. Melissa Harte’s Legacy: A Safer Focusing-Based Approach to Trauma Therapy Workshop with Lou Cooper.

Blending tribute with theory and practice this lecture presents the Expanded Focusing Task as outlined in Melissa’s book, Processing Emotional Pain using Emotion Focused Therapy (2019), and describes the therapeutic safety principles that underpin this approach. As its name implies the Expanded Focusing Task builds on Gendlin’s focusing approach as practiced in Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT).

⏰ When - Syd/Melb time (GMT +11) - Tuesday 3 February 8am - 9.30am (Monday 2 February 9pm - 10.30pm GMT)
💻 Where - Online via zoom (also recorded for watching back or watching at a time convenient to you)
💰 How - By self select fee. Proceeds from this lecture will go to the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA) to support the training of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychology students in Australia.

Register or find out more - https://shorturl.at/RmgSH

Did you catch AIEFT's Lead Trainer, Dr Lou Cooper, on ABC Overnights this morning? Lou was discussing emotions and Christmas 🎄 a topic, no doubt, many can relate to.

You can catch it here, from 2:25:10 - https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/overnights/overnights/106082520

Thinking about becoming an AIEFT member? Here’s why now’s the perfect time to join:

- 2026 membership comes with the remainder of 2025 for free
- Be part of Australia’s growing EFT community
- Access member-only events and training discounts
- Join a network of practitioners committed to professional growth

Secure your 2026 membership now and step into the new year with everything already sorted.

Join the AIEFT community for 2026 - https://aieft.org.au/membership/