"The patient needs an experience, not an education."
Frieda Fromm-Reichmann
Welcome to the Corrective Experience Focused Therapy (CEFT) website. Here you will find an approach to psychotherapy that can be effectively employed to help those that suffer from depression, the effects of child abuse, anxiety, problematic relationships, etc. The CEFT approach to psychotherapy stresses the need to go beyond merely talking, and to guide patients towards new experiences that challenge maladaptive yet entrenched ways of thinking and feeling.
This is really not much different from the way people learn about most aspects of life. For example, one does not become a skilled pianist, gifted craftsman, talented surgeon or brilliant athlete without having had innumerable experiences that build these abilities and the mentality that accompanies these skills. If one has learned to do things the wrong way in any of these enterprises then the solution is to get that person to practice doing the task the right way. None of us want a surgeon who, having learned the wrong way to ply his craft, has only recently begun to study medical books describing the correct way. Let him go beyond merely reading and engage in that which sharpens a skill for real life - let him practice. Once he has practiced, and then practiced some more, and more after that, only then would we expect him to have acquired the new skills needed to perform his task well.
Our patients require no less. The key to bringing about meaningful change in their lives almost always lies within the realm of repeated experiences that correct lessons from the past. The individual who has been traumatized needs to experience being calm and competent in otherwise frightening situations; the chronically rejected person needs to experience being understood and accepted when expecting rejection; the youngster who approaches new situations certain of failure needs to meet up with success in similar circumstances. Providing patients with experiences that act to refute their maladaptive expectations/attributions, and building skills that likewise facilitate this process, is at the heart of the CEFT approach. Common sense, yes, but common sense that is too often overlooked.
If you agree with this premise, the question that will next come to mind is how to accomplish this same task with the patients seen in your practice? Are there, for example, some novel interventions that must be employed when using the CEFT approach to therapy? The answer to that question, reassuringly, is that there are no new techniques to learn. In fact, if you are an experienced therapist you almost certainly have already developed all of the intervention skills needed in order to achieve good results using this approach. What the CEFT model does is to provide a conceptual framework for understanding how psychological problems develop, and how they are maintained. After becoming familiar with this framework, most therapists will find that any number of techniques, or therapeutic approaches, can be employed to affect change. Without a clear understanding of patient dynamics, however, it is very difficult to effectively utilize one's therapeutic skills. This is somewhat similar to having an expensive automobile that has been disassembled into its major parts: within your garage lay an engine, electrical system, transmission, cooling system, brakes/drums, doors and fenders, etc. If one knows how these parts work together then they will be assembled into a fine automobile. If one does not have the conceptual framework for understanding how the parts fit together, then they will end up being pieced together in a fashion that results in a car that looks odd and fails to run.
The CEFT approach to helping patients change begins by examining what experiences the patient most needs to have, and what obstacles stand in the way of the patient receiving the full benefit of those experiences. For example, the woman who comes to see me because of chronic depression, social isolation and a sense worthlessness needs to establish relationships with one or two individuals who will affirm her worth, enjoy her company, and not easily respond to her evocative behavior that so often elicits rejection by others. A number of interventions come to mind, but is there also a lack of social skills that helps prevent these sorts of corrective experiences from forming? If my clinical assessment suggests the answer is yes, then social skills training is begun prior to introducing interventions that directly introduce new relationships. None of this work requires unusual interventions or techniques, but it does require a clear minded understanding of the person who has come seeking your help. How to begin to achieve this insight is discussed in the following pages.
CEFT is grounded within the empirically supported domains of interpersonal theory and cognitive science, and is applicable to a wide range of common problems experienced by children and adults. If you would like to learn more about this approach, set aside a little time and turn to the following web pages (beginning with What Is CEFT?).
Forrest Talley, Ph.D.
University of California, Davis
Children's Hospital
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