Holding the Frame: Ethical Practice in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. Ethical Decision-Making Through an Attachment-Based Lens

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) offers a powerful, attachment-based framework for helping couples create safety, deepen emotional engagement, and repair relational bonds. At the same time, working with two partners in a shared therapeutic space introduces complex ethical considerations that require thoughtful discernment and systemic awareness. This training explores ethical practice in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy through a systemic and attachment-based lens. Participants will learn how to apply a systemic ethical decision-making model while examining important considerations related to informed consent, assessment, and the structuring of therapy sessions within the couple system. Special attention will be given to navigating the complexities of shifting between conjoint and individual sessions, maintaining clear boundaries, and thoughtfully managing confidentiality and secrets policies. Clinicians will also explore the “self of the therapist” and how countertransference, bias, and power dynamics can influence ethical decision-making in the therapy room. The training will include didactic instruction, case vignettes, experiential exercises, and reflective discussion designed to help clinicians embody ethical awareness and apply ethical decision-making in real-world clinical situations with couples.