Emotionally focused therapy / EFT-A16-4
Individual Emotional Cycle — Session activity
Facilitate a structured practice of individual emotional cycle with preparation, reflection, and an agreed closing.
30 minutes · Session guide · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Alex interprets a delayed reply as rejection and withdraws before checking.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. An individual can explore a recurring emotional sequence without involving another person.
0–5 min | Agree on purpose and fit
Explain the educational scope. Ask what would be useful, check readiness and access needs, and establish choices to observe, adapt, or pass. Use an ordinary example; do not solicit trauma narratives.
5–10 min | Orient with an example
An individual can explore a recurring emotional sequence without involving another person. Fictional example: Alex interprets a delayed reply as rejection and withdraws before checking. Ask what is observed and what remains uncertain.
10–20 min | Practice and compare
Map trigger, meaning, emotion, protection, and current support in a private fictional or ordinary example. Offer quiet individual work, a supported conversation, or an observing role. Compare two possible responses without evaluating people as right or wrong.
20–25 min | Reflect on meaning
Where might curiosity or support enter this sequence? Ask what fit, what did not fit, and how culture, power, disability access, or external conditions affect the options.
25–30 min | Integrate and close
Invite one optional next step or support request. Orient to the current setting, allow an unfinished question to remain unfinished, and agree how to revisit it. End early or adapt if activation increases.
Adaptations
For a group, use fiction and no compulsory round-robin disclosure. For remote use, allow off-camera reflection and private notes. For brief use, keep one example and one question while retaining opening and closing choices.
Prompts for this resource
- What outcome would make this practice useful?
- Where might curiosity or support enter this sequence?
- What adaptation or follow-up is needed?
Conceptual background
What is EFT? — International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.