Welcome to the website of the Trinity College Dublin Emotion-Focused Therapy Research Group.

The emotion-focused therapy research group is interested in all aspects of emotion and psychotherapy, but primarily conducts research in the area of Emotion-Focused Therapy.

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is an empirically supported experiential and humanistic psychotherapy, which facilitates psychotherapeutic change by helping clients activate adaptive emotional responses to underlying vulnerability and unmet emotional needs. EFT has been most researched as a treatment for depression, complex trauma, and (in its couples format) relational distress. However it has also been investigated as a treatment for eating disorders and there is emerging empirical evidence of its efficacy as a treatment for anxiety.

The Emotion-Focused Therapy Research Group, in collaboration with national and international partners, aims to promote the research of EFT as an empirically supported treatment for various mental health presentations. The formal recognition of the research group by Trinity College in 2019 follows on from ten years of EFT research at TCD, including international collaborations with the principal developer of EFT, Prof. Leslie Greenberg (Prof Emeritus, York University), as well as national collaborations with various state health services (HSE Primary Care Psychology, HSE Counselling in Primary Care), hospitals (St. Luke’s) and university counselling services (TCD SCS). Lab projects have received funding from the Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council and are supported by the School of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin.

The team is led by Ladislav Timulak, PhD.