Books / Systemic & family
The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection
In this 2019 third edition, Susan M. Johnson describes emotionally focused couple therapy, an approach that attends to attachment, emotion and patterns of interaction between partners.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Susan M. Johnson
Edition: 3rd edition (2019; 1st ed. 1996)
Publisher: Routledge
Edition year: 2019
First published: 1996
Language and origin: English (Canada / United Kingdom)
Form and genre: Treatment Manual & Clinical Guide
Level: Intermediate
Historical era: 1980–2009 · Evidence-Based, Trauma & Integrative Era
Covers: An attachment-informed account of couple distress; Emotion and patterns of interaction between partners; The stages and techniques of emotionally focused couple therapy
APA 7th reference: Johnson, S. M. (2019). The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection (3rd ed.). Routledge.
What it is & historical context
The third edition of this clinical guide describes emotionally focused couple therapy and its use of attachment theory. The publisher identifies it as an update of the original 1996 work.
Core clinical themes & arguments
The approach attends to partners’ emotions, attachment needs and patterns of interaction. These are features of a clinical model, not an established explanation for every couple’s difficulties.
Clinical practice, reception & legacy
The guide describes a staged approach to couple therapy. A 2013 study examined threat-related brain responses before and after therapy, comparing partner hand-holding, stranger hand-holding and no hand-holding. Its design did not include a separate control group, so the findings cannot by themselves establish that therapy caused the changes.
Reader level & educational scope
This intermediate entry offers educational orientation. The publisher’s description and the 2013 study were consulted; the full book was not reviewed. Joint work may be inappropriate where there is abuse or coercive control.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Soothing the Threatened Brain: Leveraging Contact Comfort with Emotionally Focused Therapy (Susan M. Johnson, Melissa Burgess Moser, Lane Beckes and colleagues, 2013)
Reference: Johnson, S. M., Moser, M. B., Beckes, L., Smith, A., Dalgleish, T., Halchuk, R., Hasselmo, K., Greenman, P. S., Merali, Z., & Coan, J. A. (2013). Soothing the threatened brain: Leveraging contact comfort with emotionally focused therapy. PLOS ONE, 8(11), e79314.
A 2013 study compared brain responses to threat cues before and after couple therapy in 23 couples who completed all measurements. It had comparison conditions within participants but no separate control group.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: The author presents an attachment-informed approach to understanding couple distress and therapy. (The publisher’s description was consulted; the full book was not reviewed.) [Source 1: Johnson, S. M. (2019). The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection (3rd ed.). Routledge.]
Claim 2: A 2013 study observed changes in threat-related brain responses during partner hand-holding after emotionally focused couple therapy. (The study had 23 couples completing measurements and no separate control group; it cannot establish that therapy caused these changes or predict an individual outcome.) [Source 2: Johnson, S. M., Moser, M. B., Beckes, L., Smith, A., Dalgleish, T., Halchuk, R., Hasselmo, K., Greenman, P. S., Merali, Z., & Coan, J. A. (2013). Soothing the threatened brain: Leveraging contact comfort with emotionally focused therapy. PLOS ONE, 8(11), e79314.]
Sources and inspection notes
Supports: Publisher description and third-edition publication details; the full book was not reviewed. The prior ISBN did not identify this edition.
Supports: Study of brain responses in 23 couples completing assessments after couple therapy, without a separate control group. The journal issued a later correction to funding and competing-interest disclosures.
Supports: Correction disclosing the first author’s role in developing the therapy and a participating centre’s funding and involvement.
National Domestic Violence Hotline. Should I go to couples therapy with my abusive partner?
Supports: US organisation advises against joint counselling with an abusive partner because it can expose a partner to further harm.