Nebraska
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
Externship:
April 8-11, 2026
9 AM- 5:30 PM Wed.-Fri.
9 AM – 12:30 PM Sat.
In person at Mahoney State Park
Cosponsored by the Nebraska Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (NAMFT)
with support from Victor Mallin
We are pleased to bring you
Attachment Theory in Practice
4-Day Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Externship®
This is an official Externship, endorsed by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT) and brought to you by TRI EFT Alliant and the Nebraska Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (NAMFT) with support from Victor Mallin.
Attending this Externship is the first step to being listed at the EFT website, where couples are going to find trained couple therapists. Attending this externship is also a step towards becoming a certified EFT therapist. For further details about the certification process please refer to Susan Johnson’s International Centre for Excellence in EFT (ICEEFT). In this Externship, you will learn to:
• See marital distress from an attachment perspective.
• Help partners reprocess the emotional responses that maintain couple distress.
• Shape key new interactional and bonding events.
• Overcome therapeutic impasses.
You will see a live demonstration session, a profound learning experience.
Endorsed by Therapy Originator: Dr. Sue Johnson
Dr. Sue Johnson is an author, clinical psychologist, researcher, professor, popular presenter and speaker and a leading innovator in the field of couple therapy and adult attachment. Sue is the primary developer of Emotionally Focused Couples and Family Therapy (EFT), which has demonstrated its effectiveness in over 30 years of peer-reviewed clinical research.
Sue Johnson is founding Director of the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy and Distinguished Research Professor at Alliant University in San Diego, California, as well as Professor Emeritus, Clinical Psychology, at the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Dr. Johnson has received a variety of awards acknowledging her development of EFT and her significant contribution to the field of couple and family therapy and adult attachment. Sue has been appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor recognizing outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to Canada. In 2016, she was named Psychologist of the Year by APA, and has been honored by AAMFT for her Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Couple and Family Therapy.
Facilitated by these Certified EFT Trainers:
Dr. Scott R. Woolley
Scott R. Woolley, PhD, is a Professor in the MFT Masters and Doctoral Programs in the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University.
He is the Executive Director of the Training and Research Institute for Emotionally Focused Therapy and a founder and director of the San Diego Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy.
Dr. Woolley maintains a private practice focused on EFT couples therapy.
He has trained therapists in EFT in many areas of the world, including Canada, Chili, Finland, Guam, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, London, and throughout the U.S. He has co-published, co-presented, and co-trained with Dr. Susan Johnson, founder of EFT.
Dr. Teri Murphy
Teri Murphy, PhD is a licensed marriage and family therapist and an ICEEFT Certified Trainer, Supervisor, and Therapist in Emotionally Focused Therapy. A former bona fide rocket scientist, Teri transferred her systems engineering skills and strong scientific foundation to therapy, and has owned a private practice in Franklin TN since 2012. Building on her previous career experience as well as her time as a graduate level counseling professor, Teri has curated a fresh, systemic perspective on creating connection, deep healing, and smoothly functioning relationships.
In addition to her clinical work, Teri is a sought-after speaker and loves sharing her knowledge on attachment, compassion, self-of-the-therapist, and relationships. Teri has written articles on love, self, relationships, and the science of connection for multiple national and local publications [Simple Practice, the Tennessean, Bedlam Magazine, and Venn Magazine], and enjoys facilitating workshops on relationships, authenticity, and personal development.
Above all else, Teri is a spitfire academic who believes in developing compassion for human beings through therapy, continuous self-assessment, listening to and learning from leaders in multiple disciplines across fields of work, and challenging herself constantly to be radically honest, question everything, and ultimately, when in doubt, to follow where love leads. She loves spending time with her husband and two teenage children, and has a special love for coffee. Lots of coffee.
Transform the way you work with Couples
Earn 26 CE’s
General Objectives of the EFT Externship
* To gain a clear understanding of the systemic concepts and basic experiential moves of an “Emotionally Focused Therapy” approach.
* To hold an attachment view clients coping with their interpersonal dilemmas so you can conceptualize relationship distress and repair based on theories of attachment and emotion.
* The focus of this training is on the general model of EFT as presented in the 2019 book, Attachment Theory In Practice, and how you can implement the model in couple and individual therapy sessions.
* To provide the opportunity to develop skills in sharing, maintaining and engaging in an open and collaborative alliance with your clients.
* To develop skillful use of the 5 moves of the basic macro-intervention “the EFT tango” in order to improve clients’ affect regulation, models of self and other, strategies for engaging with others and changing interactional patterns.
* To develop ability to utilize systemic and experiential models of interventions applied as EFT micro interventions.
* To participate in skills development to overcome common blocks and impasses across EFT therapy modalities so you can shape core corrective emotional experience that leads to constructive dependency and what we conceptualize as ‘secure attachment’.
This training includes an overview of the entire model of Emotionally Focused Therapy including steps and stages, interventions, adult attachment theory, and application of EFT with couples and individuals. The externship is recommended for all types of mental health clinicians to learn to work experientially using attachment science with an emphasis on successful couple therapy.
This training is the prerequisite for all other EFT trainings.
Reference Materials for Study
Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families
The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection” by Susan M. Johnson, 3nd Edition, 2019.
Becoming an Emotionally Focused Couple Therapist: The Workbook” by Susan M. Johnson, et al, 2005.
Daily Schedule
IN PERSON
April 8-11, 2026
9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time Wed.-Fri. (Lunch from 12:30-1:30 PM)
9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time Sat.
• Day 1: What makes EFT work: The theoretical underpinnings, the research and the map from insecure attachment to secure attachment.
• Day 2: Demonstration Session, EFT Interventions and Stage 1.
• Day 3: EFIT, Demonstration Session and Stage 2
• Day 4: Becoming an EFT Therapist, Stage 3 and Attachment Injuries.
Location
This event will be held in the Nebraska and Red Cedar Conference Rooms at Peter Kiewit Lodge in Eugene T. Mahoney State Park.
28500 W. Park Highway | Ashland, NE 68003
A Nebraska State Park Permit will be required for Externship Parking. A Nebraska Licensed Vehicle Park Entry Permit is $35 for an Annual Permit or a Daily Permit which is $7 per day you are staying. A Non-Nebraska Licensed Vehicle Park Entry Annual Permit is $70 or $14 per day for a Daily Permit. You may purchase your Park Permit prior to your stay here.
(Members of NAMFT will receive a free NE State Parks Permit, which will cover Externship parking as well as entrance/parking for all state parks for a year! If you haven’t already joined and would like to take advantage of this offer, along with all the other NAMFT membership benefits, you can join here: https://nebraskamft.org/member/.)
There is a restaurant at the lodge, and several other restaurants a short drive away.
Participation Requirements
Participants must be familiar with and abide by professional and legal confidentiality requirements regarding all client information shared in the training. Certification in EFT is offered by ICEEFT based on completion of all requirements and demonstrated competence in the model. Completion of training does not guarantee competence or certification. Enrollment in this training constitutes an agreement to hold harmless The San Diego Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy, the Training and Research Institute for Emotionally Focused Therapy (TRI-EFT), and all presenters and trainers from any and all claims, actions, and judgements, including all costs of defense and attorney’s fees incurred in defending against the same. I have read and agree to follow the terms for participation.
Pricing Information
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Regular: $1,095
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Early Bird (ends March 2, 2026): $895
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Intern/Provisional/Military (ends March 20, 2026): $695
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Student (ends March 20, 2026): $595
Here’s what people are saying about it!
“This is by far the best educational training I have ever been to. I feel much more competent & confident in using the EFT approach.”
“First day back in my office and I am feeling great about the training and YES able to put skills into practice immediately.”
“The externship was a deep learning experience, and I have new angles on many of the things (and people) I have been working with over many years.”
Questions?
Click Here to send us an email or call us at 619-832-2297.
Volunteers, Click Here to Register
*Alliant International University is approved by the American Psychological Association to Sponsor Continuing Education for psychologists.
Alliant International University Maintains Sole Responsibility For This Program And Its Content.
Provider Approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to provide continuing education for LPCCs, MFTs and LCSWs (provider #PCE234)
Approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 4469
TRI EFT Alliant is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors (provider #MHC-0331) and licensed marriage and family therapists (provider #MFT-0133).
TRI EFT Alliant is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (provider #SW-0844).
TRI EFT Alliant is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists (PSY 0286).
There are no known conflicts of interest, and no commercial support, associated with this program.
AI was not used in the creation of this course.