Experiential Family Therapy: A Case Study

Experiential Family Therapy (EFT) emerged from humanistic psychology and focused on the “here-and-now” experience. Techniques from expressive therapies were incorporated into systems thinking, linking the emotional impact of the individual with family interactions (Anderson, Berry, & Roger, 2013). Like most forms of therapy, EFT goal is to strength the family unity by using active experiences. Additionally, emphasis is placed on the self-esteem development or increase of each members involved.
Developed by Carl Whitaker in the 1960’s, Whitaker worked in the mental heath field and noticed that when his clients returned home that their symptoms would increase or worsen. Therefore, those symptoms lead to his interest in treating the whole family