Course Description

    Integrating EFT and Gottman Approaches in couples therapy is an clinical training designed to enhance effectiveness with distressed and high-conflict couples. Contemporary couples present with increasing clinical complexity, including attachment injuries, trauma histories, emotional dysregulation, comorbid psychopathology, and entrenched conflict cycles. Foundational couples counseling skills, while necessary, are often insufficient for addressing these challenges. The course explores attachment-based case conceptualization, systemic assessment, emotion regulation, and behavioral intervention. Emphasis is placed on managing high-conflict dynamics, repairing attachment injuries and betrayals, navigating ethical and safety considerations, and flexibly integrating emotion-focused and skills-based strategies across the course of treatment. 

    Grounded in current research and clinical best practices, this course emphasizes ethical decision-making, therapist self-regulation, cultural responsiveness, and evidence-based care. Through an integrative framework, clinicians will learn to tailor interventions to the emotional, relational, and contextual needs of contemporary couples, supporting durable change, relational resilience, and professional competence in advanced couples therapy practice. This is a NBCC and Florida Board Approved course for 3 CE hours

Please review the course materials prior to purchasing the course. Often, individuals will print a copy of the course worksheet to complete while they view the course material. Once you are ready to complete the course, please enroll in the course and complete the course requirements, including the course post-test and course survey. You will receive your certificate automatically for printing or downloading after achieving an 85% or higher on the post-test and completing the course survey. 

Integrating EFT and Gottman Approaches in Couples Therapy Course Text.pdf

Integrating EFT and Gottman Approaches in Couples Therapy Course Course Worksheet.pdf

Course Author:  Bryan Glazier, PhD, LMFT, LMHC,, FL Qualified MHC/MFT Supervisor 

Course Time/Location: 3 CE Hours, Location: www.directceu.com (web-based, asynchronous/home study) 

Course Text: Integrating EFT and Gottman Approaches in Couples Therapy

Course Board Approval Statement(s): NBCC, Florida Board Approved

Directceu, llc has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7411. directceu, llc maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

directceu, llc (BAP # 50-17578) is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling. directceu, llc maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

 Financial Disclosure Statement

directceu, llc is committed to providing our professional colleagues with unbiased information. directceu does not accept commercial support and our course authors have no significant financial interests or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.

Learning Objectives:

Through the completion of this course, participants will be able to:

  1. Differentiate foundational couples counseling skills from advanced couples therapy competencies.
  2. Apply attachment theory to conceptualize couple distress and high-conflict interactional cycles.
  3. Utilize advanced EFT interventions to de-escalate conflict and deepen emotional engagement.
  4. Implement Gottman Method strategies for conflict regulation, trust repair, and commitment building.
  5. Assess and manage high-conflict dynamics, including escalation patterns and chronic hostility.
  6. Identify ethical limits and contraindications for couples therapy, including screening for IPV.
  7. Integrate EFT and Gottman approaches flexibly based on case formulation and treatment phase.
  8. Demonstrate advanced therapist skills, including self-regulation, alliance-building, and rupture repair.


 Course Syllabus:

I. Foundations of Advanced Couples Therapy

  • Evolution of couples therapy as a specialized clinical discipline
  • Rationale for advanced-level training
  • Evidence base for EFT and the Gottman Method

II. Conceptualizing Couple Distress

  • Attachment theory and adult romantic relationships
  • Systemic and interactional models
  • Neurobiology of emotion regulation and conflict
  • Cultural, contextual, and identity factors

III. Emotionally Focused Therapy Interventions

  • EFT stages and tasks
  • Advanced de-escalation strategies
  • Deepening emotional engagement
  • Attachment injury repair

IV. Gottman Method Interventions

  • Sound Relationship House framework
  • Solvable vs. perpetual problems
  • Emotion coaching and conflict regulation
  • Trust, betrayal, and commitment interventions

V. Integrative Practice and Clinical Flexibility

  • Theoretical compatibility and differences
  • Case formulation using an integrative lens
  • Ethical and responsive intervention planning

VI. Managing High-Conflict Couples

  • Safety, boundaries, and contraindications
  • De-escalation and containment strategies
  • Working with comorbidities and personality traits

VII. Advanced Therapist Skills

  • Therapist self-regulation and use of self
  • Alliance-building and rupture repair

VIII. Professional Ethics and Future Directions

  • Ethical codes and standards of practice
  • Teletherapy considerations for couples
  • Ongoing professional development