Four-Day Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Externship®
Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy with ICEEFT-Certified Trainer James Parrin, MIAHIP
Live Online from County Wicklow, Ireland
Dates: Saturday–Sunday, 23-24 January and 6-7 February 2027
Time: 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. each day, Irish time (GMT)
Continuing Professional Development: 28 CPD hours
Take the First Step in Formal EFCT Training
Are you a therapist interested in developing your work with couples? Perhaps you are experienced in relationship therapy but are seeking a clear, attachment-based approach that can deepen and strengthen your clinical work.
Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) offers a systematic, evidence-based approach to understanding and transforming relationship distress.
Developed by Dr Sue Johnson, the four-day Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Externship® is an immersive introduction to the science and practice of attachment, emotion and human connection. It can transform how therapists understand couples in distress and inform their work with couples, individuals and families.
Through experiential and didactic learning, participants will explore the EFCT model and develop practical skills applicable to clinical practice.
This is an official Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Externship® recognised by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT).
About Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy
Pioneered by Dr Sue Johnson, Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy is grounded in the science of adult attachment. It gives therapists a clear framework for understanding the often-confusing patterns of conflict and distress that arise in close relationships.
The EFCT change process maps relationship distress and recovery through a systematic sequence of stages, interventions and change events. It helps therapists identify and transform the interactional patterns that maintain distress, supporting partners in creating safer, more secure and more responsive relationships.
Emotionally Focused Therapy is practised internationally and is supported by an extensive body of outcome and process research.
Who Is This Training For?
This training is suitable for psychotherapists, counsellors and other qualified mental health professionals who:
are new to working with couples;
already have experience in couples therapy;
want to understand relationship distress through an attachment lens;
are interested in beginning formal training in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy; or
want to bring EFT principles into their work with couples, individuals or families.
The Externship is a foundational first step for therapists who wish to continue to EFCT Core Skills training and pursue certification through ICEEFT.
The EFT Ireland Community
The EFT Ireland Community is a gathering and network of therapists who value mutual support in the challenging and rewarding work of couples therapy.
Participants are invited to become part of a growing community of therapists committed to developing their relational awareness and strengthening their therapeutic skills through Emotionally Focused Therapy.
Your Trainer: James Parrin, MIAHIP
James Parrin (MIAHIP)
James Parrin founded the EFT Ireland Community in 2012. He is an ICEEFT-certified EFT trainer, supervisor and therapist, as well as an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor with the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP).
James has a private practice in Wicklow, Ireland, where he works with individuals and couples and provides training, supervision and learning-support groups for EFT practitioners.
James is deeply and compassionately motivated by the transformative nature of relationships. He considers the development of fluid relational awareness to be a profound psychological and spiritual path. This perspective underlies both his love of EFT and his commitment to developing a supportive community of therapists dedicated to strengthening their relational and therapeutic skills.
Event Format
This four-day live-online workshop is delivered over two weekends:
Saturday and Sunday, 23-24 January 2027
Saturday and Sunday, 6-7 February 2027
Each day runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Irish time (GMT).
Participants will learn through a combination of teaching, recorded clinical material, case consultation, trainer demonstrations and experiential role-play exercises.
Overall Learning Outcomes
By the end of the four-day Externship, participants will be able to:
understand emotional and relationship distress from an attachment perspective;
describe the central experiential and systemic principles of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy;
identify the stages and central interventions of the EFCT model;
recognise and track the interactional patterns that maintain couples’ distress;
help partners explore and reprocess the emotional responses underlying relationship distress;
support partners in creating new patterns of interaction and bonding;
describe approaches for working through common therapeutic impasses; and
apply foundational EFCT skills in their clinical practice.
Continuing Professional Development and Certificate of Attendance
Participants who attend all four days will receive an ICEEFT-recognised certificate of attendance from the EFT Ireland Community, which will record 28 hours of continuing professional development. Attendance on all four days is required to receive the full 28 CPD hours and certificate of attendance, you must attend all four days.
The EFT Ireland Community issues certificates with the number of CPD hours completed rather than a set number of CPD points or credits. We do not issue North American continuing education credits or Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Participants who require CE credits or CEUs should consult their professional or licensing body to determine whether they can independently submit this EFT Ireland training for recognition.
The Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Externship® is a foundational first step for therapists who wish to continue to EFCT Core Skills training and pursue certification through ICEEFT.
Training Fees
Early Bird: €820
Standard Fee: €895
Payment Options
Please select the payment option that applies to you:
The €270 deposit reserves your place and is counted towards the total training fee. Our standard cancellation policy applies to deposits and full payments.
To secure the Early Bird fee of €820, the €270 booking deposit must be received by 11 December 2026. The remaining Early Bird balance of €550 must be paid by 8 January 2027.
Bookings received after 11 December 2026 will be charged the standard fee of €895. The standard fee must be paid in full by 8 January 2027.
Balance to be paid by Friday, 23 October 2026
To be paid by 7th March 2026
This option is only for participants who have already paid the €270 deposit.
Standard Registration
Bookings received after Friday, 11 December 2026 will be charged the standard fee of €895.
The standard fee must be paid in full by Friday, 8 January 2027, approximately two weeks before the training begins.
Places are limited, and all bookings are subject to availability. We confirm your place once we receive the applicable deposit or full payment.
Cancellations and Transfers
We understand that plans and personal circumstances can change.
If you need to cancel your place, please email us at info@eftireland.community by Friday, 8 January 2027. We will refund the amount you have paid, less a €50 administration fee.
As we are unlikely to fill places cancelled close to the training, payments are non-refundable after 8 January 2027. However, if unexpected or compassionate circumstances arise, please contact us. Where possible, we will consider transferring your payment to a future EFT Ireland Community Externship.
If we need to cancel the training, you will receive a full refund of your course fees.
This policy does not affect your statutory rights.
Support With Payment
We understand that paying the full fee at once may be challenging. If you would like to attend but are experiencing difficulty paying the fees according to the schedule above, please contact us at info@eftireland.community.
Where possible, we will work with you to find a suitable arrangement.
Registration
To apply for a place, please complete all required fields in the registration form and select the payment option that applies to you.
Please email info@eftireland.community if you have any questions, would like assistance with registration or would like to arrange a telephone conversation. We are always happy to discuss EFT and the training.
ICEEFT Position Statement on Diversity and Racism:
Read ICEEFT’s Stance on Diversity and Position Statement on Diversity and Racism.
Detailed Educational Objectives
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By the end of Day 1, participants will be able to:
Describe the nature and causes of relationship distress from an attachment perspective.
Describe the basic principles of Attachment Theory and explain how they inform couples therapy.
Describe the systemic and experiential foundations of EFCT.
Identify key factors involved in a couple’s movement from distress towards recovery.
Describe the stages of the EFCT model and the overall map of therapy.
Practise the foundational empathic skills central to the EFCT therapeutic process.
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By the end of Day 2, participants will be able to:
Describe and practise foundational EFCT assessment skills.
Describe and practise the creation of a therapeutic alliance using empathic attunement, validation, acceptance and genuineness.
Explore each partner’s experience and how each partner constructs their experience of the relationship.
Track and frame the recurring interactional sequences that maintain relationship distress.
Distinguish between primary and secondary emotional responses.
Frame the couple’s negative interactional cycle—for example, pursue–withdraw—in terms of underlying attachment needs and fears.
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By the end of Day 3, participants will be able to:
Describe the systemic and experiential principles underlying EFCT interventions.
Describe and practise essential interventions for working with emotion, including reflection, validation, evocative responding, empathic conjecture and heightening.
Describe and practise the use of RISSSC to access, deepen and heighten emotional experience.
Facilitate new interactions between partners through the use of enactments.
Explain how EFCT interventions are combined to facilitate corrective emotional experiences and relationship change.
Describe the principal EFCT change events: cycle de-escalation, withdrawer re-engagement and pursuer softening.
Practise skills to access, explore, and deepen emotional experience.
Practise skills that facilitate acceptance and responsiveness between partners.
Describe how enactments are used to choreograph new moments of emotional engagement.
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By the end of Day 4, participants will be able to:
Describe attachment injuries from an Attachment Theory perspective.
Describe the process used in EFCT to address and resolve attachment injuries.
Explain how the attachment-injury resolution process can support forgiveness and renewed trust.
Identify opportunities for continuing EFCT training, deliberate practice, supervision and professional development.
About EFT Ireland and ICEEFT
The EFT Ireland Community is affiliated with the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT).
ICEEFT supports research, high-quality training and certification across the modalities of Emotionally Focused Therapy, including Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. It also provides information and resources for therapists, couples and the wider community.
Further information about Emotionally Focused Therapy, its research base, international training and certification is available at www.iceeft.com.