A Pilot Implementation of the Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Group Psychoeducation Program in a South African Setting

ABSTRACT

Although emotionally focused couple therapy (EFT) is one of the few relationship models with a substantial evidence base, these effectiveness studies have mostly been conducted with White middle-class participants living in North American and European contexts. There is, therefore, a need to investigate if couples from different contexts are able to relate to this model that foregrounds the verbal expression of emotion and responsiveness to a partner's expression of emotion. The objective of this qualitative pilot study was to explore how a group of 10 Black South African couples related to and experienced the Hold Me Tight (HMT) relationship psychoeducation program intervention that is based on the principles of EFT. The data consisted of couple interviews with each couple before and after implementation of the program. Thematic analysis of the data indicated that all the couples related very well to the program and reported that it deepened their relationships. We conclude by highlighting a number of factors that program facilitators need to be mindful of when they implement the HMT in similar settings to ours: (i) the need to have a team of cofacilitators to assist couple conversations, (ii) power differentials between facilitators and participants in cases where there are many demographic differences between facilitators and participants, and (iii) implicit constructions of emotions that prevail in a specific social context.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotionally focused therapy (EFT)
• gender and ethnic issues in couples therapy
• low-income couples
• relationship enhancement

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge our Cape Town and American EFT colleagues who gave of their time to assist in this intervention study. Thank you for your enthusiasm and support – we would not have been able to do this without you. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their contributions towards the strengthening of the manuscript.

Supplementary Material

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