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Welcome
This fall has been a season of learning, connection, and growth for the STL EFT Community. Across trainings, consultation, scholarships, clinical resources, and new opportunities to deepen in the model, we continue working toward our shared mission of helping therapists learn and practice Emotionally Focused Therapy while building a connected professional community throughout St. Louis and the Midwest.
The theme of this edition is Growing Together: Learning, Access, and Connection in the STL EFT Community. Throughout these pages, you will see that theme taking shape in several ways. We are creating clearer pathways for therapists to discover EFT and continue developing their skills. We are investing in scholarship support that makes training more accessible. We are creating opportunities for clinicians to learn from experienced EFT trainers, practice alongside one another, and remain connected between formal trainings.
You will also find reflections from several learning opportunities offered this year, including Before the Externship, Dancing with Couples with Rebecca Jorgensen, and Teri Murphy’s advanced training on healing attachment injuries. We are looking ahead as well, with the 2026 EFCT Externship just around the corner and Core Skills with Rebecca Jorgensen beginning in 2027.
Whether you are encountering EFT for the first time, preparing for an Externship, deepening your clinical skills, or continuing many years of learning in the model, we hope STL EFT Community can offer a place to learn, connect, take risks, and grow alongside other therapists.
Thank you for being part of this community.
♥️, The STL EFT Community Board
The theme of this edition is Growing Together: Learning, Access, and Connection in the STL EFT Community. Throughout these pages, you will see that theme taking shape in several ways. We are creating clearer pathways for therapists to discover EFT and continue developing their skills. We are investing in scholarship support that makes training more accessible. We are creating opportunities for clinicians to learn from experienced EFT trainers, practice alongside one another, and remain connected between formal trainings.
You will also find reflections from several learning opportunities offered this year, including Before the Externship, Dancing with Couples with Rebecca Jorgensen, and Teri Murphy’s advanced training on healing attachment injuries. We are looking ahead as well, with the 2026 EFCT Externship just around the corner and Core Skills with Rebecca Jorgensen beginning in 2027.
Whether you are encountering EFT for the first time, preparing for an Externship, deepening your clinical skills, or continuing many years of learning in the model, we hope STL EFT Community can offer a place to learn, connect, take risks, and grow alongside other therapists.
Thank you for being part of this community.
♥️, The STL EFT Community Board
Newsletter Quick Glance
- Growing Together: Learning, Access, and Connection
- 2026 EFCT Externship with Rebecca Jorgensen
- Scholarships and Expanding Access to EFT Training
- Meet the 2026 Externship Learning Team • Learning Together: Dancing with Couples, Before the Externship, and Attachment Injury Training
- 2027 Core Skills with Rebecca Jorgensen
- EFT Resources, Consultation, and Community Connection
- Looking Ahead to 2027 and Supporting the Growth of EFT in St. Louis
Growing Together: Learning, Access, and Connection
STL EFT is increasingly creating a pathway for therapists to discover EFT, learn the model, deepen clinical skills, receive support, and become part of a local professional community. The goal is not simply to offer individual trainings. It is to help clinicians keep growing in relationship with one another.
A Learning Pathway
Learning Emotionally Focused Therapy is not a single training or a straight line. It is a process of discovering the model, building a strong foundation, practicing new skills, and continuing to grow in relationship with other clinicians.
STL EFT is increasingly creating a local pathway to support therapists at each stage of that journey. Introductory opportunities such as Before the Externship and Dancing with Couples invite clinicians to encounter the attachment lens and begin seeing relationships through an EFT frame. These experiences offer a meaningful first step: a chance to become curious about the model, recognize familiar patterns in couples’ relationships, and imagine how EFT might shape clinical practice.
The EFCT Externship provides foundational training in the model. It gives therapists an opportunity to understand the map of attachment, learn the language of EFT, and begin developing the skills needed to help couples move toward greater safety and connection. From there, Core Skills offers a place to deepen clinical understanding, strengthen therapeutic confidence, and continue integrating the model into the therapy room. Beyond Core Skills, therapists can continue deepening their work through advanced trainings, consultation, supervision, certification, and other specialized learning opportunities.
Growth does not end when a training ends. Consultation, supervision, facilitation, certification, and connection with other EFT clinicians all provide opportunities to keep learning, refining, and embodying the work. Each stage supports the next, while also offering a place to return when we need renewed perspective, practice, or encouragement.
Our hope is that therapists in St. Louis and throughout the Midwest do not have to navigate learning EFT alone. A professional community can become a secure base; a place where clinicians can ask questions, take risks, learn from one another, and keep growing over time.
Whether you are encountering EFT for the first time or have been practicing the model for years, there is a place for you in this pathway and a community to learn alongside.
A Learning Pathway
Learning Emotionally Focused Therapy is not a single training or a straight line. It is a process of discovering the model, building a strong foundation, practicing new skills, and continuing to grow in relationship with other clinicians.
STL EFT is increasingly creating a local pathway to support therapists at each stage of that journey. Introductory opportunities such as Before the Externship and Dancing with Couples invite clinicians to encounter the attachment lens and begin seeing relationships through an EFT frame. These experiences offer a meaningful first step: a chance to become curious about the model, recognize familiar patterns in couples’ relationships, and imagine how EFT might shape clinical practice.
The EFCT Externship provides foundational training in the model. It gives therapists an opportunity to understand the map of attachment, learn the language of EFT, and begin developing the skills needed to help couples move toward greater safety and connection. From there, Core Skills offers a place to deepen clinical understanding, strengthen therapeutic confidence, and continue integrating the model into the therapy room. Beyond Core Skills, therapists can continue deepening their work through advanced trainings, consultation, supervision, certification, and other specialized learning opportunities.
Growth does not end when a training ends. Consultation, supervision, facilitation, certification, and connection with other EFT clinicians all provide opportunities to keep learning, refining, and embodying the work. Each stage supports the next, while also offering a place to return when we need renewed perspective, practice, or encouragement.
Our hope is that therapists in St. Louis and throughout the Midwest do not have to navigate learning EFT alone. A professional community can become a secure base; a place where clinicians can ask questions, take risks, learn from one another, and keep growing over time.
Whether you are encountering EFT for the first time or have been practicing the model for years, there is a place for you in this pathway and a community to learn alongside.
2026 EFCT Externship with Rebecca Jorgensen
October 20 through 23, 2026 | 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM daily | Pathfinder Church | Ellisville, Missouri
STL EFT Community is honored to welcome Rebecca Jorgensen, LCMHC, ICEEFT Certified Trainer and Supervisor, to St. Louis for four days of immersive learning in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Rebecca has spent more than two decades helping distressed couples and training therapists in EFT. Her teaching is known for bringing the model to life through clinical examples, experiential learning, and a strong focus on helping therapists translate attachment theory into what actually happens in the therapy room.
Why the Externship Matters
The EFCT Externship is the foundational training in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and the first formal step in the ICEEFT training pathway toward certification. It introduces therapists to a clear attachment-based map for understanding relationship distress and helping partners move from cycles of disconnection toward greater emotional safety, responsiveness, and secure connection. More than an introduction to techniques, the Externship offers a way of seeing what happens between partners when connection feels threatened. Therapists begin learning how to track the negative cycle, understand the emotional logic underneath conflict, and work with vulnerable emotion in ways that create new relational experiences.
What Therapists Will Learn
Across four days, participants are introduced to the core theory, clinical framework, and interventions of EFCT. Learning integrates teaching, clinical video, demonstrations, and structured experiential exercises so that therapists can begin connecting the conceptual map of EFT with moment to moment clinical work. Participants will explore how to understand relationship distress through an attachment lens, recognize and track recurring negative interactional cycles, help partners access and reprocess the emotions that organize those cycles, and shape new interactions that foster greater safety, accessibility, responsiveness, and connection. The training also addresses common stuck places therapists encounter when working with distressed couples.
Who Should Attend
The Externship is designed for mental health clinicians who want a strong foundation in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. It is appropriate for therapists who are new to EFT as well as clinicians who have had previous exposure to the model and want a structured opportunity to refresh, organize, and deepen their understanding. It can be especially valuable for therapists who find themselves working with couples caught in repetitive conflict, distance, pursuit and withdrawal, or other patterns that feel difficult to shift. No advanced EFT training is required before attending.
The EFCT Externship is the foundational training in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and the first formal step in the ICEEFT training pathway toward certification. It introduces therapists to a clear attachment-based map for understanding relationship distress and helping partners move from cycles of disconnection toward greater emotional safety, responsiveness, and secure connection. More than an introduction to techniques, the Externship offers a way of seeing what happens between partners when connection feels threatened. Therapists begin learning how to track the negative cycle, understand the emotional logic underneath conflict, and work with vulnerable emotion in ways that create new relational experiences.
What Therapists Will Learn
Across four days, participants are introduced to the core theory, clinical framework, and interventions of EFCT. Learning integrates teaching, clinical video, demonstrations, and structured experiential exercises so that therapists can begin connecting the conceptual map of EFT with moment to moment clinical work. Participants will explore how to understand relationship distress through an attachment lens, recognize and track recurring negative interactional cycles, help partners access and reprocess the emotions that organize those cycles, and shape new interactions that foster greater safety, accessibility, responsiveness, and connection. The training also addresses common stuck places therapists encounter when working with distressed couples.
Who Should Attend
The Externship is designed for mental health clinicians who want a strong foundation in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. It is appropriate for therapists who are new to EFT as well as clinicians who have had previous exposure to the model and want a structured opportunity to refresh, organize, and deepen their understanding. It can be especially valuable for therapists who find themselves working with couples caught in repetitive conflict, distance, pursuit and withdrawal, or other patterns that feel difficult to shift. No advanced EFT training is required before attending.
Meet the Externship Learning Team
Experiential learning is an important part of EFT training, and it asks participants to take risks, try unfamiliar interventions, and practice in front of others. Our facilitators and helpers play an important role in making that possible. During structured exercises and role plays, they come alongside participants to help create a safe, encouraging learning environment. Their role is not to evaluate or formally teach, but to support practice, offer brief guidance when helpful, highlight strengths, and help participants stay engaged in the experiential process. STL EFT is grateful to the clinicians who are giving their time and experience to support this year’s Externship.
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2026 Externship Facilitators and Helpers
Courtney Baker, LPC STL EFT President Sarah Howell, MSW, LCSW STL EFT President Elect Kathi Miller, LPC STL EFT Treasurer Haddon Kellahan, LPC STL EFT Secretary Sue Verble, LPC STL EFT Fundraising & Hospitality Sherri Moore, LPC STL EFT Marketing & Communications |
Cindy Badamo, MSW, LCSW EFCT Supervisor Maren Whipple, MS Ed, LCPC, CCMHC EFCT Supervisor Julia Stevens, MSW, LCSW EFCT Supervisor in Training Katie Killeen, LPC EFCT Supervisor in Training Katheryn Barton, LPC EFCT Supervisee Heath Salzman, LPC EFCT Supervisee Riley Bird EFCT Supervisee |
From Trivia Night to Training Scholarships
In our Spring newsletter, we shared one of the reasons STL EFT Community fundraises: to help make high-quality EFT training more accessible. This fall’s externship scholarships demonstrate that the various forms of support for STL EFT have become tangible
For the 2026 EFCT Externship, 17 clinicians received scholarship support. Awards were offered at different levels based on individual need, including seven full scholarships, six scholarships covering 75 percent of tuition, two covering 50 percent, and two covering 25 percent.
These scholarships are made possible through the generosity and participation of our community, including funds raised at Trivia Night and other financial support available to STL EFT Community. Rather than creating a single level of assistance, our scholarship process allows us to meet clinicians at different levels of financial need and extend training access to more therapists.
Every scholarship represents more than a seat in a training. It represents another clinician gaining greater access to EFT education, another therapist developing skills for working with attachment and relationship distress, and ultimately another opportunity for individuals, couples, and families throughout our region to experience emotionally focused care.
We are grateful to everyone who has donated, attended a fundraiser, volunteered, or otherwise helped make this investment in our professional community possible.
These scholarships are made possible through the generosity and participation of our community, including funds raised at Trivia Night and other financial support available to STL EFT Community. Rather than creating a single level of assistance, our scholarship process allows us to meet clinicians at different levels of financial need and extend training access to more therapists.
Every scholarship represents more than a seat in a training. It represents another clinician gaining greater access to EFT education, another therapist developing skills for working with attachment and relationship distress, and ultimately another opportunity for individuals, couples, and families throughout our region to experience emotionally focused care.
We are grateful to everyone who has donated, attended a fundraiser, volunteered, or otherwise helped make this investment in our professional community possible.
Training Recaps and Clinical Learning
SEPTEMBER 11, 2026 | 107 Therapists Registered
More than 100 therapists registered to learn with Rebecca, reflecting the growing interest in attachment-based couples therapy within our community and beyond.
In September, STL EFT Community welcomed Dr. Rebecca Jorgensen for Dancing with Couples: Learning the EFT Dance, a free 75-minute introductory webinar designed to help clinicians see how EFT approaches common patterns of couple distress through an attachment lens. Participants joined from St. Louis and communities across the country, reflecting broad interest in learning how EFT helps therapists move beyond managing conflict toward understanding the emotional and attachment processes that organize the couple’s dance.
Rebecca used clinical teaching and video to demonstrate how EFT slows down a familiar pursue and withdraw pattern, helps partners access the fears and longings beneath protective responses, and brings attachment meaning into the room. One especially useful takeaway was the difference between simply naming a cycle and helping partners experience what is happening underneath it in real time. The webinar also highlighted the importance of working with shame, trauma, and the emotional question of safety that can organize a partner’s reactivity.
Participant feedback was very positive. Respondents especially valued Rebecca’s clarity, warmth, clinical video, and the amount of substantive material she was able to offer in a short format. We are grateful to Rebecca for generously sharing her time, clinical work, and teaching with our community, and to everyone who joined us for this opportunity to learn together.
A Learning Resource from the Webinar
Following the training, STL EFT created a one-page takeaway highlighting several of Rebecca’s core teaching points, including attachment needs, emotion processing, the negative cycle, and the five step EFT Tango. The resource is designed as a quick clinical reference for therapists who want to revisit the webinar’s key concepts and carry them back into the therapy room.
More than 100 therapists registered to learn with Rebecca, reflecting the growing interest in attachment-based couples therapy within our community and beyond.
In September, STL EFT Community welcomed Dr. Rebecca Jorgensen for Dancing with Couples: Learning the EFT Dance, a free 75-minute introductory webinar designed to help clinicians see how EFT approaches common patterns of couple distress through an attachment lens. Participants joined from St. Louis and communities across the country, reflecting broad interest in learning how EFT helps therapists move beyond managing conflict toward understanding the emotional and attachment processes that organize the couple’s dance.
Rebecca used clinical teaching and video to demonstrate how EFT slows down a familiar pursue and withdraw pattern, helps partners access the fears and longings beneath protective responses, and brings attachment meaning into the room. One especially useful takeaway was the difference between simply naming a cycle and helping partners experience what is happening underneath it in real time. The webinar also highlighted the importance of working with shame, trauma, and the emotional question of safety that can organize a partner’s reactivity.
Participant feedback was very positive. Respondents especially valued Rebecca’s clarity, warmth, clinical video, and the amount of substantive material she was able to offer in a short format. We are grateful to Rebecca for generously sharing her time, clinical work, and teaching with our community, and to everyone who joined us for this opportunity to learn together.
A Learning Resource from the Webinar
Following the training, STL EFT created a one-page takeaway highlighting several of Rebecca’s core teaching points, including attachment needs, emotion processing, the negative cycle, and the five step EFT Tango. The resource is designed as a quick clinical reference for therapists who want to revisit the webinar’s key concepts and carry them back into the therapy room.
JULY 10, 2026
This summer, STL EFT Community welcomed therapists to Before the Externship, a three-hour introduction to Emotionally Focused Therapy led by Lauren Eisleben, LPC, ICEEFT Certified Therapist and Supervisor.
Designed for clinicians who were curious about EFT but not yet ready to commit to a full Externship, the training offered an opportunity to experience what makes EFT learning different. Participants explored the connection between attachment theory and clinical practice, practiced foundational EFT interventions, watched therapy examples, and experienced the relational and experiential style of EFT training.
The morning also gave participants a chance to learn alongside other local clinicians and become more familiar with the STL EFT Community. Rather than simply hearing about EFT, therapists had an opportunity to experience some of the ways the model asks us to slow down, work directly with emotion, and use connection as part of the change process.
This summer, STL EFT Community welcomed therapists to Before the Externship, a three-hour introduction to Emotionally Focused Therapy led by Lauren Eisleben, LPC, ICEEFT Certified Therapist and Supervisor.
Designed for clinicians who were curious about EFT but not yet ready to commit to a full Externship, the training offered an opportunity to experience what makes EFT learning different. Participants explored the connection between attachment theory and clinical practice, practiced foundational EFT interventions, watched therapy examples, and experienced the relational and experiential style of EFT training.
The morning also gave participants a chance to learn alongside other local clinicians and become more familiar with the STL EFT Community. Rather than simply hearing about EFT, therapists had an opportunity to experience some of the ways the model asks us to slow down, work directly with emotion, and use connection as part of the change process.
A First Step Into EFT Training
Before the Externship was created as a lower commitment way for clinicians to explore the model before deciding whether a full EFCT Externship might be the right next step. For some therapists, the experience offered a starting point for bringing attachment informed ideas into current clinical work. For others, it became a bridge toward deeper formal training.
We are grateful to Lauren for sharing her teaching and experience with our community and to everyone who joined us for a morning of learning, practice, and connection.
Before the Externship was created as a lower commitment way for clinicians to explore the model before deciding whether a full EFCT Externship might be the right next step. For some therapists, the experience offered a starting point for bringing attachment informed ideas into current clinical work. For others, it became a bridge toward deeper formal training.
We are grateful to Lauren for sharing her teaching and experience with our community and to everyone who joined us for a morning of learning, practice, and connection.
Glows from Teri Murphy’s Attachment Injury Training
AUGUST 27 AND 28, 2026
Healing Attachment Injuries: Deepening the Work
This August, STL EFT Community welcomed Teri Murphy, PhD, LMFT, back to St. Louis for two days of advanced learning focused on attachment injury repair in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy.
Rather than treating an attachment injury as simply an event from the past, the training invited therapists to understand how an injury can remain alive in the present relationship. Participants explored how a painful moment can shape beliefs about self, partner, and the bond, create expectations about what will happen if vulnerability is risked again, and become woven into the couple’s ongoing negative cycle. The training emphasized that repair involves more than an apology. Healing develops through new emotional and relational experiences in which injury can be reached, understood, responded to, and gradually revised.
Healing Attachment Injuries: Deepening the Work
This August, STL EFT Community welcomed Teri Murphy, PhD, LMFT, back to St. Louis for two days of advanced learning focused on attachment injury repair in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy.
Rather than treating an attachment injury as simply an event from the past, the training invited therapists to understand how an injury can remain alive in the present relationship. Participants explored how a painful moment can shape beliefs about self, partner, and the bond, create expectations about what will happen if vulnerability is risked again, and become woven into the couple’s ongoing negative cycle. The training emphasized that repair involves more than an apology. Healing develops through new emotional and relational experiences in which injury can be reached, understood, responded to, and gradually revised.
What Stayed with Us
One image that stayed with many of us was Teri’s invitation to “drop a pin.” Before moving quickly toward explanation, intervention, or resolution, the therapist can first notice where the client, the couple, and the therapist are in the present moment. That simple practice became a reminder to slow down and orient to what is happening now.
What We Are Taking into the Therapy Room
One important clinical distinction was the difference between the event itself and the attachment meaning of the event. An injury becomes organizing when a moment of need is experienced as abandonment, betrayal, lack of protection, or absence of comfort. The therapist’s task is therefore not simply to establish what happened, but to understand what the experience came to mean about the self, the partner, and the relationship.
The training also offered a useful way to think about repair as a living process. Therapists can track what continues to reactivate the injury, the protective responses that follow, how those responses shape the partner’s reaction, and what new relational experience would need to occur for the old expectation to become revisable.
Learning Together
Advanced training is also an opportunity to step outside the therapy room and learn alongside colleagues. Across the two days, clinicians had space to reflect, practice, ask questions, and reconnect with others who are continuing to deepen their work in EFT. We are grateful to Teri for returning to St. Louis, for the depth and thoughtfulness she brought to the training, and for her continued investment in the growth of our local EFT community.
One image that stayed with many of us was Teri’s invitation to “drop a pin.” Before moving quickly toward explanation, intervention, or resolution, the therapist can first notice where the client, the couple, and the therapist are in the present moment. That simple practice became a reminder to slow down and orient to what is happening now.
- What emotion is here?
- What has just shifted?
- What is happening in the therapist?
- What does this moment tell us about where we are in the work?
What We Are Taking into the Therapy Room
One important clinical distinction was the difference between the event itself and the attachment meaning of the event. An injury becomes organizing when a moment of need is experienced as abandonment, betrayal, lack of protection, or absence of comfort. The therapist’s task is therefore not simply to establish what happened, but to understand what the experience came to mean about the self, the partner, and the relationship.
The training also offered a useful way to think about repair as a living process. Therapists can track what continues to reactivate the injury, the protective responses that follow, how those responses shape the partner’s reaction, and what new relational experience would need to occur for the old expectation to become revisable.
Learning Together
Advanced training is also an opportunity to step outside the therapy room and learn alongside colleagues. Across the two days, clinicians had space to reflect, practice, ask questions, and reconnect with others who are continuing to deepen their work in EFT. We are grateful to Teri for returning to St. Louis, for the depth and thoughtfulness she brought to the training, and for her continued investment in the growth of our local EFT community.
Attachment Injury: Deepening the Work Training Attendees
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Teri Murphy, ICEEFT Trainer
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The STL EFT Community Board with Teri Murphy
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Core Skills with Rebecca Jorgensen in 2027
Completed an Externship and Wondering What Comes Next?
Core Skills is the next step in the EFCT learning pathway for therapists who have completed an Externship and want to deepen their understanding of the model through continued teaching, practice, clinical discussion, and experiential learning. Led by Rebecca Jorgensen, LCMHC, ICEEFT Certified Trainer and Supervisor, the 2027 STL EFT Core Skills series will meet across four two-day sessions throughout the year. The smaller cohort format creates space for therapists to move beyond understanding EFT conceptually and begin using the model with greater confidence, precision, and depth.
Core Skills is the next step in the EFCT learning pathway for therapists who have completed an Externship and want to deepen their understanding of the model through continued teaching, practice, clinical discussion, and experiential learning. Led by Rebecca Jorgensen, LCMHC, ICEEFT Certified Trainer and Supervisor, the 2027 STL EFT Core Skills series will meet across four two-day sessions throughout the year. The smaller cohort format creates space for therapists to move beyond understanding EFT conceptually and begin using the model with greater confidence, precision, and depth.
From Learning the Map to Living the Model
The Externship introduces the attachment framework, the negative cycle, the EFT Tango, and the overall map of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Core Skills creates more room to slow down and practice applying that map to the complexity of real clinical work.
Across the series, therapists deepen their ability to track process, work with emotion, shape enactments, recognize where they are in the model, and respond when therapy becomes stuck. The emphasis is increasingly on developing the therapist’s moment to moment clinical judgment and confidence rather than simply learning the concepts.
Learning in a Small Cohort
Core Skills is designed as an experiential learning process rather than a large lecture-based training. Board planning for the 2027 series has centered on a small cohort, allowing participants more opportunity for practice, feedback, clinical discussion, and connection with one another. Participants should plan to attend the complete four-part series. The Externship is the foundational training that precedes Core Skills.
The Externship introduces the attachment framework, the negative cycle, the EFT Tango, and the overall map of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Core Skills creates more room to slow down and practice applying that map to the complexity of real clinical work.
Across the series, therapists deepen their ability to track process, work with emotion, shape enactments, recognize where they are in the model, and respond when therapy becomes stuck. The emphasis is increasingly on developing the therapist’s moment to moment clinical judgment and confidence rather than simply learning the concepts.
Learning in a Small Cohort
Core Skills is designed as an experiential learning process rather than a large lecture-based training. Board planning for the 2027 series has centered on a small cohort, allowing participants more opportunity for practice, feedback, clinical discussion, and connection with one another. Participants should plan to attend the complete four-part series. The Externship is the foundational training that precedes Core Skills.
Registration, pricing, location, continuing education information, and final enrollment details will be shared as they are confirmed.
Free Virtual Peer Consultation Groups
You do not have to attend a paid training to learn and connect with the STL EFT community. STL EFT hosts FREE virtual peer consultation groups each month via Zoom for therapists who want to stay connected, bring questions, think together about cases, and deepen their understanding of the EFT model in community. These groups are informal, supportive, and peer led. They are a consistent place to return to the model, stay connected with other EFT clinicians, and keep learning between trainings. Join either group (or both)!
Current Monthly Groups
Who May Attend
Therapists, counselors, social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, interns, associates, and other mental health professionals interested in Emotionally Focused Therapy are welcome. You may be new to EFT, currently in training, working toward certification, returning to the model, or simply looking for regular connection with other EFT clinicians.
Current Monthly Groups
- Second Tuesday of each month; 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM Central Time
- Fourth Monday of each month; 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Central Time
Who May Attend
Therapists, counselors, social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, interns, associates, and other mental health professionals interested in Emotionally Focused Therapy are welcome. You may be new to EFT, currently in training, working toward certification, returning to the model, or simply looking for regular connection with other EFT clinicians.
Learning and Resources
From Our Community: Explore the STL EFT Library
Did you know STL EFT maintains a lending library for local clinicians?
Licensed mental health professionals and clinicians in training in the St. Louis area can borrow books and training videos from our collection to support continued learning in Emotionally Focused Therapy. The library includes resources on couples therapy, trauma, attachment injuries, Stage 2 work, EFIT, infidelity, and more, including several classic training demonstrations featuring Dr. Sue Johnson. The collection was generously donated by longtime STL EFT community supporter Tim Galvin, MSW, LCSW, as a way to help clinicians continue learning and growing in the EFT model. Materials may be borrowed for two weeks with a refundable deposit.
Did you know STL EFT maintains a lending library for local clinicians?
Licensed mental health professionals and clinicians in training in the St. Louis area can borrow books and training videos from our collection to support continued learning in Emotionally Focused Therapy. The library includes resources on couples therapy, trauma, attachment injuries, Stage 2 work, EFIT, infidelity, and more, including several classic training demonstrations featuring Dr. Sue Johnson. The collection was generously donated by longtime STL EFT community supporter Tim Galvin, MSW, LCSW, as a way to help clinicians continue learning and growing in the EFT model. Materials may be borrowed for two weeks with a refundable deposit.
Free EFT Resources from Psychwire
Psychwire offers a collection of free Emotionally Focused Therapy resources featuring Sue Johnson and other leaders in the model. Clinicians can explore brief expert insights on attachment, emotion, connection, and the application of EFT across couples, individuals, and families, along with clinical demonstrations that show EFT interventions in action.
The collection also includes resources on attachment injuries and trauma, making it a useful place to revisit core EFT concepts or supplement ongoing training and supervision.
Psychwire offers a collection of free Emotionally Focused Therapy resources featuring Sue Johnson and other leaders in the model. Clinicians can explore brief expert insights on attachment, emotion, connection, and the application of EFT across couples, individuals, and families, along with clinical demonstrations that show EFT interventions in action.
The collection also includes resources on attachment injuries and trauma, making it a useful place to revisit core EFT concepts or supplement ongoing training and supervision.
Local Workshops
The following upcoming workshops have been submitted by community members. These workshops support couples in strengthening emotional connection and understanding their negative cycles. Links to more information about each of these workshops are on our website under Local Workshops.
The following upcoming workshops have been submitted by community members. These workshops support couples in strengthening emotional connection and understanding their negative cycles. Links to more information about each of these workshops are on our website under Local Workshops.
- Created for Connection Workshop – November 13+14, 2026 (Kirkwood, MO) hosted by Sarah Howell and Sue Verble
- Hold Me Tight Workshop – February 5+6, 2027 (Chicagoland Area) hosted by Tina Sprague and Shera Wiscons
- Hold Me Tight Workshop – February 5+6, 2027 (St. Louis, MO) hosted by Courtney Baker and Haddon Kellahan
EFT World Summit 2027
Theme: Growing through connection
Dates: May 9–11, 2027
If you are considering attending and would like to coordinate with other St. Louis therapists, please post in our STL EFT Facebook Group or email us!
Theme: Growing through connection
Dates: May 9–11, 2027
If you are considering attending and would like to coordinate with other St. Louis therapists, please post in our STL EFT Facebook Group or email us!
More EFT Resources for Therapists
Looking for more? Visit our curated EFT Resources for Therapists page for recommended books, podcasts, research, videos, and additional learning tools.
Looking for more? Visit our curated EFT Resources for Therapists page for recommended books, podcasts, research, videos, and additional learning tools.
Looking Ahead to 2027
There is more learning, connection, and community ahead. Here are a few events already on the horizon.
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2027 EFCT Core Skills with Rebecca Jorgensen
The learning continues in 2027 with a four-part Core Skills series for therapists who have completed an EFCT Externship and want to deepen their understanding and application of the model. • January 8 and 9 • February 12 and 13 • April 9 and 10 • June 4 and |
EFT World Summit 2027
The international EFT community will gather in Vancouver, British Columbia, May 9 through 11, 2027, for the EFT World Summit. The event will include plenary presentations, workshops, learning across EFCT, EFIT, and EFFT, and opportunities to connect with clinicians from around the world. |
Keep Learning and Connecting Locally
STL EFT Community will continue offering opportunities to learn and connect throughout 2027 through free consultation groups, community gatherings, clinical resources, and additional learning opportunities as they are confirmed. Watch the STL EFT website and community emails for new dates and announcements. |
Engagement and Leadership
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STL EFT Leadership
This summer brought several board transitions as STL EFT Community continues to grow and strengthen its leadership. Courtney Baker stepped into the role of President, with Sarah Howell moving into President Elect / Vice President. Kathi Miller continues as Treasurer, Haddon Kellahan now serves as Secretary, Sherri Moore has taken on Marketing and Communications, and Sue Verble continues her service to the community through Fundraising and Hospitality. We are deeply grateful for the time, care, and energy each board member contributes. Their volunteer work supports trainings, scholarships, community events, clinical resources, communication, and the many behind the scenes tasks that help keep STL EFT connected and growing. University Ambassadors
STL EFT is developing a network of University Ambassadors to help introduce the next generation of therapists to Emotionally Focused Therapy. If you are connected with a local counseling, marriage and family therapy, social work, or psychology program, we would love your help building relationships with students, faculty, and training programs. Ambassadors may help share information about EFT trainings, Externships, presentations, scholarships, and other learning opportunities. Interested in helping us connect with a local university or graduate program? Please email STL EFT Community. |
Find an EFT Therapist
To be included in our Find an EFT Therapist website therapist directory, you must be an active ICEEFT member and have completed EFCT Externship, EFIT Essentials or EFFT Essentials. This directory is often located by potential clients when looking for a St. Louis therapist. E-mail us with your 1) ICEEFT profile link, 2) contact information, 3) highest level of EFT training completed 4) licensure state(s) and 5) EFT specialties you practice in. Additionally, keep your heads up for future updates to this directory at our website. We will be encouraging clinicians currently listed to verify and update their information – stay tuned! Get Involved with STL EFT
STL EFT Community grows through the participation of therapists who learn, share, volunteer, and stay connected with one another. There are many ways to become involved, including joining a free consultation group, attending community gatherings, supporting university outreach, sharing clinical resources or research, or serving as a facilitator or helper at a future training. Whether you are new to EFT or have been part of the community for years, we would love to help you find a way to connect. Reach out to a board member or email STL EFT Community to let us know how you would like to be involved. Share With Our Community
We welcome contributions from our community, including certifications, milestones, clinical resources, blog posts (we will link to your page which will improve your SEO), articles, research, photographs, workshops, opportunities for connection, and supervision opportunities. Email us submissions! |
With Gratitude
Thank you for continuing to learn, share, teach, consult, volunteer, and build relationships with one another. A professional community becomes meaningful not simply because events are offered, but because people continue showing up for one another.
💙 With Appreciation,
The St. Louis EFT Community Board
💙 With Appreciation,
The St. Louis EFT Community Board
Support the Growth of EFT in St. Louis
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STL EFT Community is committed to creating accessible opportunities for therapists to learn, connect, and deepen their practice of Emotionally Focused Therapy.
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Donations help support scholarships, community learning opportunities, professional resources, and the continued growth of EFT throughout our region.
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Newsletter prepared and designed by Sarah Howell on behalf of the STL EFT Community Board.