Supervision Essentials for Emotion-focused Therapy

The authors introduce a model of supervision that is founded on the fundamental principles of emotion-focused therapy (EFT): a safe supervisory alliance and relationship, an agreed-upon focus for each supervision session, and the identification of appropriate task markers (moments of uncertainty that present opportunities for supervisory intervention).

Together, EFT supervisors and supervisees carefully deconstruct recorded therapy sessions, with moment-by-moment processing of the supervisee’s responses and emotional understanding. Through close observation, supervisors enable trainees to develop seeing, listening, and empathic skills, as they become more attuned to both verbal and non-verbal cues that indicate clients’ emotional responses.

Leslie S. Greenberg, PhD, is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Psychology at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has authored the major texts on emotion-focused approaches to treatment of individuals and couples.
 
These include the original texts Emotion in Psychotherapy (1986), Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (1988), and Facilitating Emotional Change (1993), and more recently, Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy: The Dynamics of Emotion, Love, and Power (2008); Emotion-Focused Therapy: Theory and Practice (2010); Working With Narrative in Emotion-Focused Therapy: Changing Stories, Healing Lives (2011); and Therapeutic Presence: A Mindful Approach to Effective Therapy (2012).
 
He has published extensively on the process of change.
 
Dr. Greenberg has received the Distinguished Research Career Award of the International Society for Psychotherapy Research, as well as the Carl Rogers Award and the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research from APA. He has also received the Canadian Psychological Association Professional Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology as a Profession.
 
He conducts a private practice for individuals and couples and trains people internationally in emotion-focused approaches.
 
Liliana Ramona Tomescu, PhD, is a registered clinical psychologist (supervised practice) with the College of Psychologists of Ontario.
 
Originally from Romania, Dr. Tomescu earned her PhD in clinical psychology at York University under the supervision of Dr. Greenberg. She has been trained in psychodynamic, humanistic, and emotion-focused therapies.
 
Dr. Tomescu has a special interest in psychotherapy process research and is the recipient of numerous scholarly awards, including the Scholars Award offered by APA Division 39 (Psychoanalysis). She studied intensively the role of adaptively and appropriately expressing emotions, particularly anger, in resolving depression due to interpersonal injuries.
 
Currently, Dr. Tomescu works in private practice, where she provides psychotherapy and comprehensive psychological assessments to adult clients with mood, anxiety, adjustment and stress difficulties, emotional dysregulation, and personality disorders.