Emotion Focused Skills Training for Caregivers – Level B - 2 day workshop for clinicians

Who is this EFST training for?

Participants must have previously completed Level A.

NB: you need 15 hrs of supervision to complete level B and become certified.

This specific online EFST Level B training is for clinicians closely associated with one of the EFT-institutes around the world. The aim of doing an international online training is to promote the establishment of more EFST institutes within existing EFT institutes. There will be a maximum of 36 participants in the training. We would love it if it’s the most eager people who would like to become supervisors and trainers who joined this training. That would be great for the EFST community.

Information:

• Dates: 29th April 2024 - 30th April 2024
• Time: Every day from 9:00AM to 4:00PM (Norwegian time)
  
• Price: 3.400 NOK (Discount for lower to middle income countries according to isEFT guidelines)
• Place: Online (Zoom)
• Trainers: Anne Hilde Vassbø Hagen & Vanja Hjelmseth

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What do I learn?

Participants learn the specific tasks of EFST chair-work. In this intervention the parent has a conversation with their imaginary child in an empty chair or a part of themselves. This fuels the emotion, increases the level of experience and gives words and meaning to difficult feelings in challenging situations. EFST has five different chair works. Three where the parent practices different skills: validation, boundaries and apology. Two additional on different self-self-processes: Feeling traps in parents and in the clinicians.

Participants practice being both the caregiver and the supervisor in order to learn how to work with emotions in families, and to learn the chair work interventions. The participants also work with their own therapist material. It is painful to go into our own difficult emotions, especially about our parenting and our children. As parents we feel guilt, we are worried sick, or we just don’t know what to do – sometimes. All the same and actually because of it, this is essential in learning EFST. We can’t practice working with emotions without emotions present in the room. The exercises and experiential work are the uniqueness of EFST training. And the good thing is, if you have children or loved ones who struggle with mental health issues or is going through a difficult time – taking this training will have a fair chance of helping them and helping you. The research on EFST suggest that these interventions not only reduce children’s symptoms of mental health difficulties - it also happens in the parent! The trainer will facilitate an empathetic and caring group environment.

Who’s training me?

Anne Hilde Vassbø Hagen is a psychologist, author, mother of three, and filmmaker who produced the popular educational film series Alfred & Shadow. She is head of the Institute of Psychological Counseling, Inc., in Norway, and the director of The Norwegian Institute of Emotion-Focused Therapy. She has written several books in Norwegian about emotions. She is co-author of two English books; Emotion-Focused Skills Training for Parents: A Guide for Clinicians and Angry kids, Angry Parents – Understanding and Working with Anger in Your Family. She is an experienced trainer, speaker, and therapist in emotion focused therapy and emotion focused skills training for parents and is also trained in emotion focused couple’s therapy. She’s funny, warm and knows the model to the fingertips. She will take good care of you – AND she’s awesome at making sure you get enough brakes through the day. Both an EFST and EFT trainer.

Vanja Hjelmseth is a psychologist, author, and mother of two teens. She is a fabulous person, an EFST and EFT trainer. She is also one of the co-authors of the EFST textbook. She is an experienced speaker, and therapist in emotion focused therapy and emotion focused skills training for parents and is also trained in emotion focused couple’s therapy. Vanja is a great mix of nerd and a social master, who can connect to anyone in a split second and who never gets tired of speaking to you. She will make you feel like you are the center of attention and will applaud any ideas you might have for implementing EFST in your country.

When you read this text about the EFST workshop it’s obvious that English is not the mother tongue of either our trainers or staff. Both trainers are from Norway and speak norwenglish. Fortunately, they know the model like the back of their hands and together with you they will hopefully be able to figure out what is lost in translation.

What’s the structure of the workshop?

Day 1: The training starts with us exchanging experiences, answering questions, and discussing important issues that have arisen in the work with EFST. Furthermore, we teach and work with therapist feeling traps and practice chair work.

Day 2: Teaching and exercises on empathy and facilitating optimal emotional activation and deepening of experiencing, as well as more in-depth discussions and teaching of the technical skills. The day also includes practical exercises on chair work.

You will get a ready-to-go Power Point presentation for the parent 2-day work shop in English, with tips of what to say on each slide – you can translate this to your own language.

Is it a good workshop? Well, let’s hear what other participants say!

"I finally experienced contact with my own vulnerability, which I have struggled to achieve, and then I get this kind of contact in front of 36 unknown people - it was groundbreaking for me as both a father, partner and psychologist. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity you gave me".

"A super intense theoretical and practice-oriented course, where you as a clinician is both trained in the concrete skills to use for doing the parent counseling and workshops, while at the same time working on your own personal stance in the parental role and training as a therapist. A very meaningful and exchangeable course with the most empathetic, academically exuberant and rewarding teachers/fellow human beings. From the grasp❤️ of my heart I will soon return".

"I think course instructors communicate in a way that testifies to a very high level of professionalism and understanding of what is being communicated. Commitment and humility".

"Very happy with the course! So clinically relevant. Brilliant trainers sharing from their own lives. Can't give it good enough feedback".

"I would love to attend this course many times, because there is so much good to be gained from it - professionally and personally.”

"EFST is the best course I have ever attended!"

"Learning about emotions needs to be given more focus in today's society."

"Incredibly important course for my self-development as a human being and as a therapist."

Should I prepare for the workshop?

Nah, not if your busy and it just feels like it’s too much. Just show up as you are! But if your eager to learn something in advance, and you find the time, you can read the EFST textbook before starting the course. It’s written by Joanne Dolhanty, Anne Hilde Vassbø Hagen, Bente Austbø and Vanja Hjelmseth. You can buy it here: https://emptychairpublisher.com/ You will also find a report on EFST online workshops on Empty Chair Publisher soon.

Participants can, if they wish, purchase one year access to online recordings of the parenting workshop with the founder of EFST, Dr. Joanne Dolhanty, here: https://www.emotiontraininginstitute.org/courses/efstp

If you’re really curious and also want a book for you as a parent, you can order this book on EFST and anger, written by Anne Hilde & Joanne: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/angry-kids-angry-parents

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Where can I read up on the research behind the method?

Here’s the research on EFST:

Ansar, N., Hjeltnes, A., Stige, S.H., Binder, P-E., & Stiegler, J.R. (2021). Parenthood – lost and found: Exploring parents’ experiences of receiving a program in emotion focused skills training. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.fhi.no/en/he/hin/groups/health-immigrant-population/?term=

Ansar, N., Nissen Lie, H., Zahl-Olsen, R., Bertelsen, B. T., Elliott, R., & Stiegler, J.R. (2022). Effectiveness of parental emotion-focused skills training for internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children: A randomized clinical dismantling study. Journal of Clinical and Child & Adolescent Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2022.2079130

Ansar, N.; Nissen Lie, H.; Stiegler, J.R. (2023). The effects of Emotion Focused Skills Training on parental mental health, emotion regulation and self-efficacy: Mediating processes between parents and children. Psychotherapy research. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2023.2218539

Lehmann, V. O., Ansar, N., Kårstad, S. B., Markova, V. & Ness, O. (in process). Implementing an online program on Emotion Focused skills training (EFST) for parents in Norway: Insights from user involvement and cultural sensitivity.

Severinsen, L., Stiegler, J. R., Nissen-Lie, H. A., Sahar, B. & Zahl-Olsen, R. Effectiveness of emotion focused skills training for parents: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial in specialist mental health care. BMC Psychiatry. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-022-04084-x

Here’s some more research on emotions-focused approaches for parents and families:

Foroughe, M. (Ed.). (2018). Emotion focused family therapy with children and caregivers: A trauma-informed approach. Routledge.  

Foroughe, M., Stillar, A., Goldstein, L., Dolhanty, J., Goodcase, E.T. & Lafrance, A. (2018). Brief emotion focused family therapy: An intervention for parents of children and adolescents with mental health issues. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. DOI:10.1111/jmft.12351  

Lafrance Robinson, A., Dolhanty, J., Stillar, A., Henderson, K. & Mayman, S. (2014). Emotion‐focused family therapy for eating disorders across the lifespan: A pilot study of a 2‐day transdiagnostic intervention for parents. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 23(1), 14-23.  

Lafrance Robinson, A., Strahan, E., Girz, L., Wilson, A. & Boachie, A. (2013). “I know I can help you”: Parental self-efficacy predicts adolescent outcomes in family-based therapy for eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review, 21(2), 108-114. DOI: 10.1002/erv.2180

Stillar, A., Strahan, E., Nash, P., Files, N., Scarborough, J., Mayman, S., Henderson, K., Gusella, J., Connors, L., Orr, E.S., Marchand, P., Dolhanty, J. & Lafrance Robinson, A. (2016) The influence of carer fear and self-blame when supporting a loved one with an eating disorder. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. DOI: 10.1080/10 640 266.2015.1133210  

Strahan, E., Stillar, A., Files, N., Nash, P., Scarborough, J., Connors, L., Gusella, J., Henderson, K., Mayman, S., Marchand, P., Orr, E.S., Dolhanty, J. & Lafrance, A. (2017). Increasing parental self-efficacy with emotion-focused family therapy for eating disorders: A process model. Person-centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, 16, 3. 

What are the training standards?

Level A: Completion of Basic EFT-F Training

1. Basic didactic/experiential workshop training: Minimum4 days

Level B: Certified EFT-F Clinisian

1. Completion of Basic EFT-F Training: Minimum 2 days
   
   
2. Direct Personal Supervision of clinical EFT-F practice (review of video recordings of sessions) for a minimum of 15 hrs (45 min), minimum of two clients; practice may be in group or individual format.
   

At NIEFT we offer supervision in groups. With 5 people in the group the price is NOK 450,-/39 euro pr person pr hrs (45 min). 15 hrs of group supervision at NIEFT will cost 585 euro pr person. You are free to do your supervision with any approved EFST supervisor.

Certified EFT-F Supervisor

To be approved as an EFT-F supervisor, you must take a video exam after the following have been attained:

• Recommendation by EFT-F Supervisor
• Certified EFT-F clinician with an active practice for at least 2 years
  
• Completion of at least two emotion focused 2-day parent workshops
• Completion of at least 30 hours of supervision with an approved EFT-F supervisor (you can count the supervision hours from when you were first certified as an EFT-F clinician). At least two of these supervision sessions should be supervision of supervision.
• Completion of EFT-I Level 1 training
• Completed a workshop on becoming a competent supervisor (minimum 3 hours). Not needed if you are already an EFT or EFT-C supervisor.
  

EFT-F Trainer

The following are the criteria for becoming a trainer:

• Certified EFT-F supervisor
  
• Recommendation by an approved EFT-F Trainer per their judgement on the basis of supervision (planning, review and/or observation) of at least one parent workshop or two different individual parent supervisions.
• Attend at least four days of discussion-based supervisor/trainer training workshop; or equivalent supervision or consultation on training. Either the trainer in training can shadow an experienced EFST trainer somewhere else or at a training in their own region, but we recommend it being a training in their own region.
  
• Approval from an international-based trainer at an EFT/EFT-F institute.
  

Cancellation:
Registration is binding.

Note! We offer a 24-hour cancellation period for all our courses. Cancellation rules beyond this are:

Cancellation 6-12 months before the course start:Course fee will be refunded
Cancellation 3-6 months before the course start: Half of the course fee will be credited
Cancellation 0-3 months before the course start: Course fee will not be credited.

We reserve the right to make changes regarding the date and course instructor due to unforeseen circumstances. The course will be conducted subject to a sufficient number of registrations.

Absence limit
The absence limit on this course is 20%. If you are absent more than a total of 20% you will not get the course approved.
Questions about absence should be raised in writing with the course department via e-mail: kurs@ipr.no

Do you have questions regarding courses?

Send an email to: kurs@ipr.no