Predicting Follow-up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: The Role of Change in Trust, Relationship-Specific Attachment, and Emotional Engagement

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT), an evidence-based couple therapy (Johnson, Hunsley, Greenberg, & Schindler, 1999), strives to foster lasting change through the creation of secure attachment bonds in distressed couples. Although studies have demonstrated lasting change in follow-up (Wiebe et al., in press), research is needed to investigate predictors of long-term outcomes. Our goal was to investigate predictors of long-term outcomes in relationship satisfaction. Relationship satisfaction was assessed across 24months in a sample of 32 couples who received an average of 21 EFT sessions. Decreases in attachment avoidance were most predictive of higher relationship satisfaction across follow-up. These findings support the theoretical assumption that EFT helps couples foster lasting change in relationship satisfaction through the facilitation of secure attachment bonds.