Developing PE-EFT Training in the Netherlands and Elsewhere

Entry for 16 May 2009:

When I was in the Netherlands last weekend, I had several discussions about the possibility of setting up PE-EFT training there. These have implications for how we think about PE-EFT training elsewhere. Part of the current impetus is that EFT for couples (EFT-C) is taking off and training is being set up for this form of our wider therapeutic approach. What would need to happen to make Dutch-based PE-EFT training possible? Some possibilities include:

EFT Level 1 could be managed by either or both of the following: (1) Run EFT Level 1 training in two 2-day blocks, in a kind of part 1 – part 2; this structure would require some organization and coordination but seems possible. The immediate implication would be that I should reframe the October 2-day EFT workshop as the first half of a EFT Level 1 training. (2) Another promising possibility would be to encourage folks to come over to Glasgow for the EFT Level 1 that Jeanne Watson and I run each summer. These aren’t mutually exclusive.

EFT Level 2 is more of a problem, since I think it’s best delivered over time, to allow participants to integrate the different tasks and emotion theory into their practice. Right now I do this via 14 X 3-hour sessions, each focused on a specific topic or task (amounting to about 40 hrs of training vs. 4 X 7-hr sessions = 28 hrs for Level 1). However, this format is not feasible for folks coming from a distance, which is why Les Greenberg does it as another 4-day intensive short course. I do think that some sort of more extended format is required for Level 2, such as consolidating the current 14-session series into something like 6 X 1-day (7 hr) sessions or 3 X 2-day (14 hr) sessions. (Days would probably be split into morning and afternoon sessions, each corresponding to what is now a separate evening session.)

EFT Level 3 is primarily supervision-focused (we also study and discuss videos) and currently runs in about 12 sessions of about 3 hrs each (=36 hrs); this, too, would have to be consolidated into a smaller number of one-day sessions (two-day supervision sessions don’t make sense to me) spread out over time: probably 6 1-day sessions of 6 hrs each.

In any case, we will want to build up a cadre of folks who have been through levels 2 & 3 and could begin assisting with the training in order to eventually take it over with relatively little input from Les, Jeanne or I. In order to develop further, the approach needs to have a wider base of trainers.