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EFCT Externship
May 6, 2026-May 9, 2026 With Dr. James Hawkins
Southern Maine Community College, South Portland, Maine
An Externship in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy® is an immersive four-day (24+ hour) training experience, foundational for therapists aiming to specialize in EFCT. Led by certified trainers, it offers a comprehensive introduction to the EFCT model, focusing on the science of attachment and the systematic approach to couple therapy. This training is crucial for therapists because it equips them with the necessary skills to foster secure, resilient relationships in therapy. It’s the first step in formal EFCT training, opening the door to advanced practice and certification, enhancing therapists’ efficacy and confidence in their clinical work with couples.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to view clients in the web of their interpersonal attachments and conceptualize relationship distress and repair based on theories of attachment and emotion.
EFT is a relational therapy. The Externship will focus on the model of EFCT laid out in the 2019 book, Attachment Theory in Practice, and teach the model as implemented in couple therapy sessions.
Participants will develop skills in sharing and maintaining an engaged, open and collaborative alliance with clients.
Participants will obtain a clear understanding of the basic experiential and systemic concepts of an “Emotionally Focused” approach to therapy.
Participants will develop skills in the 5 moves of the basic macro-intervention – the EFT Tango – in order to change patterns of affect regulation, models of self and other, strategies for engaging others and interactional patterns.
Participants will develop skills in EFT micro interventions taken from experiential and attachment systemic models of intervention.
Participants will develop skills in overcoming common blocks and impasses in couple therapy and so shape core corrective emotional experiences that lead to constructive dependency and what Rogers termed ‘existential living.’
About Dr. James Hawkins
Dr. James Hawkins, ‘Doc Hawk’, is a Licensed Counsellor with 11 years of experience and an ICEEFT certified trainer, supervisor, and therapist. Doc Hawk comes to trainings with energy, enthusiasm and his full humanity. He is well known for his clinical mastery and deep theoretical understanding of Emotionally Focused Therapy. He obtained a Master’s in Marriage and Family Counselling and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Counseling. Currently, he serves as a Clinical Coordinator at a non-profit counseling practice in Northwest Arkansas. James is the founder of Healing Conversations, a training program developed to equip organizations and communities to have productive conversations about race. He is the co-host of two podcasts, The Leading Edge in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and The Leading Edge: Transforming Leadership Through Attachment Science. James is a part of the online training program, successinvulnerability.com developed to help EFT therapists and supervisors gain more focus in their clinical work. Doc Hawk brings a passion for helping individuals, couples, families, and communities in relational distress. James is married to his wife, Nicola and together they have five daughters.
Prerequisites & Sequence
ICEEFT recommends taking Fundamentals of EFT prior to this course. There are no prerequisites for an EFCT Externship.
EFCT Core Skills follows an Externship.
Required Reading: The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection, 3rd edition, by Susan M. Johnson, 2020. Routledge.
Recommended Readings:
Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families by Dr. Susan M. Johnson, 2019.Guildford Press.
Becoming an Emotionally Focused Therapist: The Workbook, 2nd edition, by James L. Furrow, Susan M. Johnson, Brent Bradley, Lorrie L. Brubacher, T. Leanne Campbell, VeronicaKallos-Lilly, Gail Palmer, Kathryn Rheem, Scott R. Woolley, 2022. Routledge.
This workshop is eligible for 26 APA-approved CEs which can be purchased separately after the event through National Marriage Seminars.
EFT trainings are designed for mental health professionals, therapists, counsellors and trainees. Prospective attendees are required to declare their professional designation upon registration.
**Early Registration Ends February 6, 2026**
Refunds and Cancellations
To cancel your registration, you must submit your request in writing to externship@eft-maine.com. Please note the following terms regarding refunds and credits:
Cancellation request received more than 30 days prior to the event, you will receive a refund of your registration fee, minus a $50 administration fee.
Cancellation requests received 30 days or less prior to the event, refunds will not be guaranteed.
Questions? Email externship@eft-maine.com
May 6, 2026-May 9, 2026 With Dr. James Hawkins
Southern Maine Community College, South Portland, Maine
An Externship in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy® is an immersive four-day (24+ hour) training experience, foundational for therapists aiming to specialize in EFCT. Led by certified trainers, it offers a comprehensive introduction to the EFCT model, focusing on the science of attachment and the systematic approach to couple therapy. This training is crucial for therapists because it equips them with the necessary skills to foster secure, resilient relationships in therapy. It’s the first step in formal EFCT training, opening the door to advanced practice and certification, enhancing therapists’ efficacy and confidence in their clinical work with couples.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to view clients in the web of their interpersonal attachments and conceptualize relationship distress and repair based on theories of attachment and emotion.
EFT is a relational therapy. The Externship will focus on the model of EFCT laid out in the 2019 book, Attachment Theory in Practice, and teach the model as implemented in couple therapy sessions.
Participants will develop skills in sharing and maintaining an engaged, open and collaborative alliance with clients.
Participants will obtain a clear understanding of the basic experiential and systemic concepts of an “Emotionally Focused” approach to therapy.
Participants will develop skills in the 5 moves of the basic macro-intervention – the EFT Tango – in order to change patterns of affect regulation, models of self and other, strategies for engaging others and interactional patterns.
Participants will develop skills in EFT micro interventions taken from experiential and attachment systemic models of intervention.
Participants will develop skills in overcoming common blocks and impasses in couple therapy and so shape core corrective emotional experiences that lead to constructive dependency and what Rogers termed ‘existential living.’
About Dr. James Hawkins
Dr. James Hawkins, ‘Doc Hawk’, is a Licensed Counsellor with 11 years of experience and an ICEEFT certified trainer, supervisor, and therapist. Doc Hawk comes to trainings with energy, enthusiasm and his full humanity. He is well known for his clinical mastery and deep theoretical understanding of Emotionally Focused Therapy. He obtained a Master’s in Marriage and Family Counselling and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Counseling. Currently, he serves as a Clinical Coordinator at a non-profit counseling practice in Northwest Arkansas. James is the founder of Healing Conversations, a training program developed to equip organizations and communities to have productive conversations about race. He is the co-host of two podcasts, The Leading Edge in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and The Leading Edge: Transforming Leadership Through Attachment Science. James is a part of the online training program, successinvulnerability.com developed to help EFT therapists and supervisors gain more focus in their clinical work. Doc Hawk brings a passion for helping individuals, couples, families, and communities in relational distress. James is married to his wife, Nicola and together they have five daughters.
Prerequisites & Sequence
ICEEFT recommends taking Fundamentals of EFT prior to this course. There are no prerequisites for an EFCT Externship.
EFCT Core Skills follows an Externship.
Required Reading: The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection, 3rd edition, by Susan M. Johnson, 2020. Routledge.
Recommended Readings:
Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families by Dr. Susan M. Johnson, 2019.Guildford Press.
Becoming an Emotionally Focused Therapist: The Workbook, 2nd edition, by James L. Furrow, Susan M. Johnson, Brent Bradley, Lorrie L. Brubacher, T. Leanne Campbell, VeronicaKallos-Lilly, Gail Palmer, Kathryn Rheem, Scott R. Woolley, 2022. Routledge.
This workshop is eligible for 26 APA-approved CEs which can be purchased separately after the event through National Marriage Seminars.
EFT trainings are designed for mental health professionals, therapists, counsellors and trainees. Prospective attendees are required to declare their professional designation upon registration.
**Early Registration Ends February 6, 2026**
Refunds and Cancellations
To cancel your registration, you must submit your request in writing to externship@eft-maine.com. Please note the following terms regarding refunds and credits:
Cancellation request received more than 30 days prior to the event, you will receive a refund of your registration fee, minus a $50 administration fee.
Cancellation requests received 30 days or less prior to the event, refunds will not be guaranteed.