Philadelphia Center for EFT

01/15/2026

Check out the first installment of our new quarterly newsletter, "The Attachment Brief." In this issue, we share a variety of short articles by PCEFT board members, Purvi Parikh-Shah, TJ Walsh, and Jill Knerr. We also introduce you to two of our "in-house" supervisors-in-training. Let us know what you think!

Purvi Parikh-Shah, PhD PCEFT Board Member In this regular blog offering I want to explore EFT questions, concerns, celebrations, and the self of the therapist.  On emerging from the holidays, I felt mixed. While I enjoyed the time away with my family, I felt tired and overwhelmed. Regardless of whe...

01/12/2026

We at the Philadelphia Center for EFT are proud to announce the publication of Dr. Ting Liu’s latest book on EFIT, The Power of Emotion: Theory and Practice of Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy, written in Chinese. This book is one of a 4 part series of books Ting has been asked to write. We are thrilled to have such a brilliant author and skilled therapist in our midst. Please join us in celebrating with Ting on her newest publication.

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Author’s Preface (translated to English)

This year marks my eighteenth year of bringing Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) certification training to Asia.

Since 2007, I have traveled to major cities throughout Asia every year to teach EFT theory and techniques to helping professionals. I often find myself asking: spending nearly half of every year teaching the same curriculum and answering similar questions—how do I remain so consistently passionate and find such genuine joy in it?

I believe it all stems from my faith in the profession of psychotherapy.

My daughter is twenty years old this year. Between the extreme weather caused by global warming, a world where superpowers dominate the economy, politics, and even warfare, and an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to replace many jobs and human functions—the challenges she will face are far beyond anything I can imagine. I am not a politician; I cannot shake the earth with the stamp of a foot. I am not an expert in science or medicine; I cannot invent knowledge that benefits all of humanity. Nor do I possess immense wealth to donate freely to those in need.

However, I want to do something for my daughter and for the future of this world. What I can do is apply my professional expertise to help every individual who walks into my therapy room to the best of my ability.

Psychotherapy is a highly specialized field. A competent therapist requires more than just solid professional knowledge and skills; they must be willing to serve as a vehicle for change, while continuously reflecting on and monitoring how personal factors influence the therapeutic process. More importantly, it is only through the accumulation of rich clinical and life experience—the synthesis of these many conditions—that we can fully utilize our potential to effectively alleviate a client’s suffering and achieve therapeutic goals.

I often tell my students: as helping professionals, we face the most vulnerable and painful aspects of the human experience. Therefore, every moment of every session should be approached with the utmost gravity. While we have no magic to instantly erase a client's pain, we must do everything within our power. Every minute we delay or falter means another minute of prolonged suffering for the client. Yet, every client we accompany also provides us with "corrective emotional experiences" that we might not otherwise encounter in our personal lives. As we provide therapy, we heal and grow alongside them.

I hope that on the day I finally step down from this professional role, I can still look at myself in the mirror and say with a clear conscience: "I have been worthy of the trust every client placed in my hands, because I assisted them with my whole heart and accompanied them with all my strength, ensuring they did not have to walk the rugged and bumpy paths of life alone."

12/16/2025

PCEFT's own Gretchen Mahoney is offering 4 sessions of reduced-fee ($50 for 50-55 minute sessions) supervision in Jan and/or Feb if you have completed the EFCT externship.

Gretchen serves on the PCEFT board and is an EFCT supervisor-in-training.

Supervision sessions are on Zoom, and include reviewing segments of video of your couples sessions, identifying particular area or question you want to find growth in, and most likely using some role-play to practice what has been discussed.

These sessions that we do together will be recorded, minus any video of your clients.

If you're interested in speaking with Gretchen please email pceft.training@gmail.com

09/25/2025

Join us on Zoom on Friday 10/17 from 12-1:30pm for a lunch and learn - “Adapting EFCT Interventions for Couples Entering Stage 2”

During this Lunch and Learn, Ruth Jampol, Ph.D., Certified EFCT Supervisor, and Jill Knerr, LMFT will explain how the therapist’s focus, pacing, and interventions change in Stage 2. Through teaching, video presentation, and group participation, participants will learn:

- how to identify markers of readiness for Stage 2;
- how therapist interventions change in Stage 2; and
- how Stage 2 interventions allow a deeper exploration of each partner’s vulnerabilities, attachment longings, and fears.

FREE for PCEFT members
$20 for non-members/guests

Register at the link below.

In this hour-long Lunch and Learn, Ruth Jampol, Ph.D., Certified EFCT Supervisor, and Jill Knerr, LMFT will explain how the therapist’s focus, pacing, and

09/04/2025

2 WEEKS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR EFIT ESSENTIALS! CLAIM YOUR SPOT NOW.

REGISTER: https://www.philadelphiacenterforeft.org/for-therapists/efit-essentials/

EFIT is transforming lives; helping individual clients move beyond insight into real, embodied change.

If you're already fluent in EFCT, EFIT is like stepping into a new room in a familiar home. The same attachment lens, emotion-as-agent-of-change focus, and powerful corrective experiences are all there, now directed inward, to reshape the client's internal world.

What that looks like in practice:

- Mapping the inner dance (self-criticism ↔ shame, protector parts ↔ vulnerable parts, freeze ↔ reach) with the same clarity we bring to couples’ pursue/withdraw cycles.

- - Slowing down and heightening emotion so clients can feel what’s underneath the content—and make new moves.

- Using enactments both inward (“Can you turn toward that overwhelmed part and say…”) and outward (“Imagine saying this to your sister/boss/self in the mirror”).

- Restructuring self-to-self and self-to-other positions so clients leave with a sturdier, more secure internal working model.
EFIT shines with:

- Anxiety, depression, grief, trauma echoes, perfectionism, burnout, loneliness

- Clients who “know their patterns” but still feel stuck

Therapists wanting more depth without advice-giving or content overload

What changes for clients:

- Less shame, more self-compassion

- Clearer needs and boundaries

- Greater nervous system flexibility and emotional regulation

- A felt sense of: “I’m not broken. I’m human—and I can reach.”

EFIT Essentials Training
September 18-21, 2025
Dr. Ting Liu, Certified EFT Trainer

REGISTER: https://www.philadelphiacenterforeft.org/for-therapists/efit-essentials/

08/22/2025

08/04/2025

EFIT is coming to PCEFT! September 18-21

Early bird pricing EXTENDED to 8/27!
Group rate pricing now available!

https://www.philadelphiacenterforeft.org/for-therapists/efit-essentials/

08/01/2025

EFIT Essentials is Coming to PCEFT!

**Group Rate Available for EFIT Essentials!**
We are offering a group discount of $950 per person for a group of 4 or more group practice members who register at the same time.

If you'd like to register members of your group practice, please write to TJ Walsh at pceft.training@gmail.com.

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If you’ve been wanting to bring more depth, safety, and transformation to your work with individual clients, this is for you.

Registration is now open for EFIT Essentials, a live online training with Dr. Ting Liu, hosted by the Philadelphia Center for EFT.


🧠 EFIT Essentials: Working with Individuals through an EFT Lens
📅 September 18-21, 2025
💻 Live, In Person
🎓 24 CE hours
💵 Early Bird Rate available through AUGUST 27!!

Register & learn more →
👉

Learn how to apply attachment theory and the EFT model to your work with individual clients

07/08/2025

The Early Bird rate for EFIT Essentials ends in 10 DAYS (7/18)!

If you’ve been wanting to bring more depth, safety, and transformation to your work with individual clients, this is for you.

Registration is now open for EFIT Essentials, a live training with Dr. Ting Liu, hosted by the Philadelphia Center for EFT.

📅 September 18-21, 2025
💻 Live, In Person
🎓 24 CE hours
💵 Early Bird Rate available through July 18

Register & learn more →
👉 philadelphiacenterforeft.org/for-therapists/efit-essentials

05/31/2025

✨ Therapy is relational—even when we’re working 1:1.

In EFIT (Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy), we know that real change happens not just through insight, but through felt emotional experiences—in the moment, with another human being.

Join us for a free training with Dr. Ting Liu as she shares how EFIT helps individuals access and transform deep emotional pain—shame, fear, sadness, ambivalence—within the safety of the therapeutic relationship.

📅 June 27
🕛 12–1pm ET
💻 Free + on Zoom

You’ll walk away with tools to help clients rewrite their stories in real time—and to be the secure base they need to do that.

👉 Register here: https://www.philadelphiacenterforeft.org/event/working-with-individuals-in-a-relational-context-an-efit-perspective/

05/21/2025

EFIT Essentials is a comprehensive 4-day training that integrates ICEEFT's former Level 1 & Level 2 courses into a seamless, intensive learning experience. Grounded in attachment science, this program combines theoretical instruction with experiential exercises, guiding therapists to apply EFT principles effectively with individual clients.

Register- https://www.philadelphiacenterforeft.org/for-therapists/efit-essentials/

05/21/2025

Learn to Hear Emotion Beneath the Story.
Join us for "Coding for Emotion in EFT," a 2-hour training

When clients talk, it's easy to get swept up in the story. But in EFT, we're not just listening for content. We're listening for emotion.

Join us for a dynamic, practice-based event:
"Coding for Emotion in EFT: How to Find Cues, Clues, and Clarity in Content," facilitated by PCEFT Board Member, Dr. Purvi Parikh-Shah.

📅 Friday, May 30 | 9:30-11:30 AM ET
💻 Live on Zoom
🎟 PCEFT Members: FREE | Non-Members: $30

In this 2-hour training, you'll learn how to:

- Stay grounded in the present moment using Move 1
- Identify & name elements of emotion with Move 2
- Tune your ear to pick up emotional signals hidden in content
- Practice with scripts & real examples to build your skills in real time

This event is ideal for:
- Newer EFT therapists who feel unsure where to focus
- Experienced clinicians needing a reset on Moves 1 & 2
- Anyone who's ever gotten lost in a client's "story"
- You'll leave with sharper attention, clearer emotional attunement, & a more confident sense of direction in session.

🔗 REGISTER HERE:

PCEFT Members: FREE Non-Members/Guests: $30 This training would benefit beginner therapists or those looking for a refresher if you find yourself getting lost