Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy: A Systematic Review of Its Effectiveness over the past 19 Years

ABSTRACT

Purpose: A meta-analysis is the review of several qualifying studies where the findings of each study is analyzed and is then pooled as to determine if an intervention is effective or not. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate if the intervention of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT), also referred to as Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), continues to be an effective intervention, since its last meta-analysis in 1999, and to determine whether the improvements noted in EFCT continue to be effective, over a period of time, following the initial intervention.

Method: For the meta-analysis, nine studies which identify as randomized control trials (RCTs), were extracted and utilized from the original systematic search. These nine studies were used to evaluate EFCT’s initial pre to post-treatment effectiveness. The portion of the meta-analysis, which evaluates whether EFCT sustained improvement at follow-up, consisted of four studies that identify as RCTs.

Results: The results strongly suggest that the intervention of EFCT not only improved marital satisfaction (Hedge’s g coefficient = 2.09) but also, the improvement in marital satisfaction was sustained at follow up. This sustained improvement was evident through the results of both the Friedman’s repeated-measures and the post hoc Wilcox (χ² = 6.500, p = 0.039).

Conclusion: The findings provide preliminary support that, as it relates to marital satisfaction, EFCT is an effective treatment, both in facilitating change during treatment, and in maintaining those improvements following treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotionally focused therapy
• couples therapy
• meta-analysis
• randomized controlled trials
• outcome study
• emotionally focused couples therapy

Conflict of interest

Authors Candice C. Beasley and Richard Ager declare that there are no conflicts of interest as it relates to this manuscript.

Compliance with ethical standards

This submission is a manuscript entitled: Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy: A Meta-Analysis of Its Effectiveness Over the Past 19 Years. There was no funding provided for neither the research obtained in this manuscript, nor for the composition of this manuscript.

Data availability

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethical approval

Because this study is categorized as a meta-analysis, the manuscript does not contain any studies with human participants or animals. Therefore, the treatment of subjects being in accordance with the ethical standards of the NASW and APA is not applicable.

Publication statement

Authors Candice C. Beasley and Richard Ager declare that the manuscript entitled: Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy: A Meta-Analysis of Its Effectiveness Over the Past 19 Years, has not been published elsewhere and has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.