EFT therapists’ own focusing. How Inner-Relationship Focusing partnerships can support EFT therapists’ self-care, growth work, personal therapy, person-centered relational attitude and practice, and experiential learning of focusing

In this qualitative, discovery-oriented and practice-based type of research, it is investigated how Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) training and practice can benefit from Inner Relationship Focusing partnerships between EFT therapists. I examine five possible areas of benefit: a) therapist self-care, b) therapists’ personal growth work, c) therapists’ personal therapy, d) developing a person-centred relational attitude and practice and e) experiential learning of focusing. First, EFT, focusing and Inner Relationship Focusing partnerships are presented. This is followed by an examination of each area for their importance to EFT training and practice, for their presence in EFT literature, training standards and guidelines, and for their benefits to EFT training and practice. It is argued that each area can be beneficial and fill a gap in EFT training and practice of a basic person-centred training, personal growth work and therapist self-care, which are not yet systematically present in EFT training and practice. An additional benefit is that all of this is achived through a single practice. Further hypothesis-testing research is recommended.