CORE SKILLS IN EMOTIONALLY FOCUSED COUPLE THERAPY (EFCT)
Extended Core Skills Programme | 48 Hours
Online from County Wicklow, Ireland
A deeper stage of training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, supporting therapists to develop confidence and skill in working experientially with couples.
This programme builds on the EFT Externship and focuses on integrating the EFT model into clinical practice through teaching, demonstration, experiential practice and feedback.
Dates (Saturdays/Sundays)
Module 1: Assessment, Alliance & Cycle Identification: 22–23 May 2027
Module 2: Cycle De-escalation: 24–25 July 2027
Module 3: Withdrawer Re-engagement: 2–3 October 2027
Module 4: 5th Pursuer Softening & Consolidation: 4–5 December 2027
Time: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm each day
Format: Live Online
Location: Live Online from County Wicklow, Ireland
About the Training
Core Skills is a progressive, experiential training programme designed to help therapists move from understanding the EFT model to greater confidence and competence in using it in clinical practice.
Across the programme, we will focus on:
deepening understanding of the EFT model
developing confidence in identifying and working with the negative cycle
refining attunement to emotional experience
working with Stage 1 and Stage 2 processes
supporting new interactions and emotional encounters between partners
developing skills in withdrawer re-engagement and pursuer softening
integrating EFT interventions into your own clinical practice
The training combines teaching, demonstration, experiential exercises, role play, clinical discussion and opportunities to reflect on your own developing practice.
Who This Training Is For
This programme is for therapists who have completed an ICEEFT-approved EFT Externship.
Participants typically include:
psychotherapists
psychologists
counsellors
Core Skills suits both therapists preparing to begin working with couples and experienced couple therapists who want to strengthen their confidence and deepen their EFT skills.
About the Core Skills Learning Process
Core Skills is advanced training not because it gives you more information or techniques, but because it helps you learn to slow down, attune, and work more deeply with emotion.
Developing skill in EFT requires us to acclimatise to emotional experience, stay with the emotional process longer, become more aware of what underlies familiar responses, resistance and reactivity, and deepen our capacity for presence, attunement and emotional engagement. Many of us are trained by busy professional lives to understand, interpret, solve and move on. Core Skills teaches us to slow down enough to notice what speed can obscure. It asks us to move from what we intellectually know to what we actually experience, and to learn to work from there.
Core Skills is not a passive learning experience. Participants are expected to take an active role in their learning by bringing questions, reflections, uncertainties and learning needs into the room. The training team will actively foster a safe, responsive and supportive learning environment, and participants are also asked to help us understand what they need to learn well. This includes recognising when support is needed and being willing to seek it. Collaboration is a shared responsibility.
Optional Core Skills Integration Evenings
To support continuity and integration between modules, participants will also be invited to three optional 90-minute online Integration Evenings.
These evenings are recommended as an opportunity to stay connected with the learning group, bring questions from clinical practice, reflect on how you are applying EFT, and seek support where aspects of your learning may have become confusing or difficult.
The Integration Evenings are included in the programme fee. They are additional to the 48 hours of Core Skills training and do not form part of the formal Core Skills training hours.
Integration Evening 1: Wednesday 23 June 2027
Integration Evening 2: Wednesday 25 August 2027
Integration Evening 3: Wednesday 3 November 2027
Time: 7:00–8:30 pm
Participation and Learning Requirements
Participants are expected to:
attend all four Core Skills modules
participate in experiential exercises and learning activities
engage with their EFT learning and practice between modules
contribute to a respectful, confidential and supportive learning environment
meet the full fee commitment for the programme
This is a live experiential training and will not be recorded.
Recording, transcription, AI meeting assistants, automated meeting-summary tools, photography, and screenshots are not permitted.
Training materials are provided for participants’ personal professional use only.
CPD and Certification
The complete programme provides 48 hours of Core Skills training across eight training days.
Participants who meet the attendance requirements will receive an ICEEFT-recognised Core Skills Certificate of Completion, confirming 48 CPD hours.
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.
Trainer
James Parrin (MIAHIP)
ICEEFT Certified EFT Trainer, Supervisor and Therapist
James Parrin is an ICEEFT-certified EFT Trainer, Supervisor and Therapist, and the founder of the EFT Ireland Community, established in 2012. He is also an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor with the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP).
He has trained and supported therapists in Emotionally Focused Therapy for many years, both in Ireland and internationally. His practice, based in Wicklow and available online, includes work with individuals, couples and therapists through supervision and professional learning groups.
His training focuses on creating a supportive, collaborative learning environment where therapists can deepen their skills, build confidence in experiential work, and join a wider EFT learning community.
Fees & Payment
The total fee for the 48-hour Extended Core Skills Programme is €1,600.
Places are limited to 12 participants and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Because of the small group size, there is no Early Bird fee for Core Skills.
Option 1: Pay in Full
€1,600
Pay the full programme fee at registration to secure your place. No further payment is required.
Option 2: Booking Deposit and Balance
Pay a €250 booking deposit at registration.
The remaining €1,350 must be paid by 24 April 2027 unless an alternative payment arrangement has been agreed in advance.
After any applicable statutory cancellation period, the booking deposit is non-refundable.
Payment Support
If paying the full fee at once would make participation difficult, please contact us to discuss whether an alternative payment arrangement may be possible.
Any alternative arrangement must be agreed directly with the trainer and may require a signed Letter of Commitment.
Email: info@eftireland.community
Registration
Step 1: Complete the Enrolment Form
Please complete the Core Skills enrolment form so that we have the professional and EFT training information required for your participation.
Step 2: Choose Your Payment Option
Choose either:
Pay in Full: €1,600
or
Booking Deposit: €250
Your place is confirmed once we receive your enrolment form and payment, subject only to meeting the professional and previous EFT training requirements for Core Skills.
We review enrolments to ensure that the programme is appropriate for your professional background and previous EFT training. You do not need to wait for a separate approval email. If we need any further information, or if there is an issue with eligibility, we will contact you directly.
If you choose the booking deposit option, the remaining balance of €1,350 is due by 24 April 2027.
Cancellation and Transfer Policy
Where statutory consumer cancellation rights apply to an online booking, including any applicable 14-day cancellation period, those rights are unaffected by this policy.
After any applicable statutory cancellation period, the €250 booking deposit is non-refundable.
If you need to withdraw after this period, please contact us as soon as possible. If we can accept a suitable replacement participant, we may refund fees already paid, less the booking deposit.
If a replacement is not possible, we may offer a credit towards a future Core Skills programme at the trainer’s discretion. Any credit is subject to availability, will take into account modules already attended, and must normally be used within 24 months.
Once the programme has begun, missed or remaining modules cannot automatically be carried over to a future Core Skills cycle. We will consider any request to defer the remainder of the programme individually and, where a transfer or credit is agreed, take into account modules already attended.
Full programme fees are due by the stated deadline unless you have agreed an alternative arrangement directly with the trainer.
Questions?
If you are unsure whether Core Skills is the right next step in your EFT learning, or have questions about the programme or payment arrangements, please contact:
Email: info@eftireland.community
WhatsApp: +353 87 2029755
48hr Extended Core Skills Advanced Training
Final Balance Payment Deadline is 24th April 2027