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. 2017 Oct;5(4):329–334.

Table 1.

The titles, objectives, and activities of nine sessions of Emotional Focused Psycho-educational Intervention

Sessions Objectives Activities
Preparation To describe the goal of intervention, and discuss about the emotional abusive behaviors. To explain the ground rules, rights and responsibilities of group members, issues of confidentiality Welcoming, greeting, and introducing basic rules for group.
Title: Basic information, the goals and the rule of group Describing the significant role of emotion experience in their marital relationship.
Session 1, To create a therapeutic alliance with clients to feel be supported, safe, accepted and understood by their counselor. Makes a shared experience with the clients and acts as echoes and mirrors for the client by verbal and non-verbal response
Title: Creating a therapeutic alliance and assessment: (step 1) To take a relationship history from the couples, by explaining about their intimate relationship, and marital status, Asking the couples to explain a brief of their marriage history and relationship.
To discuss the relational conflict issue of each partner. To talk about their main attachment needs. To give a scenario of a conflict relationship situation and ask the partner to put themselves in this situation and talk about their reaction to this situation
Session 2 To identify the negative interactive cycle in couples. The participants have been asked to discus and answer to this question” when you and your partner are not getting along what’s your feeling, thoughts, and doing”
Title: Assessing partner’s interaction, and identify the negative interactive cycle: (step 2) To identify the couple’s doing, feeling, and thoughts when they are not getting along together. The participants have been asked to discus and answer to the second question ‘how do you interact during conflicts’
To identify the common negative interactive cycle in groups
To Assess the Partners’ Interactions
To identify the type of attachment style in each partner.
Session 3 To access the primary unappreciated emotions in interactional positions A scenario about the relationship conflict was presented to couples and explained about the primary and secondary emotions of the cases and then the participants were be asked to talk about their experience in the daily relationship with their partner about their primary, and secondary emotions .A list of positions, primary emotion, and secondary emotion of each couples in group were be detected by counselor
Title: Access unappreciated feelings causal interactional positions, and redefines the problem(s): (step3&4) To reframe the primary emotions and attachment needs
To help the couples develop their perceptive of the problem as a cycle or recurring pattern that is affected by both partner’s attachment needs and emotional response in their bond
Session 4 To reengage the withdrawn partners in relationship. Helping the withdrawn partners to raise their understanding of engagement with, and ownership of the attachment impotent, hurts, and fears
Title: Enhancing recognition the reject needs and aspects of self, and facilitate in acceptance: (Step 5) To have more blaming partners “soften”, and ask for their attachment needs Assist to blaming partners to hear and accept these hurts and fears.
Helping the partners shift into deeper relationship with their own emotional experience.
Session 5 To have a new form of emotional engagement. Helping the observing partner or the witness to hear, understand, accept, and respond the fears and hurts of the other.
Title: Promote receiving partner’s experience by each partner: (step 6) To make new information and, more significantly create a “new way of being” to the other. Acceptance engages a shift in insight-“seeing” the other in a new light. For example a partner who is perceived by her husband as “distant and cold’ starts to disclose deep shame and fear of emotion exposed.
To form a new level of engagement or reengagement of key emotions with the partner
Session 6 To help the partners to clarify their wishes and desires Ask the partner to talk about their unappreciated wishes and desires
Title: Facilitate the expression of needs to reorganize the interaction: (step 7) Softening the blamer to become more mutually accessible and responsive. To help the partners to share their attachment needs.
To able the partners to share their attachment needs. Ask the couples to talk their experience about their attachment needs that be met
Session 7 Helping the partners to maintain the new patterns of linking that they have developed To ask the withdrawn partner to explain their problems that has been avoided.
Title: Establish the emergence of innovative solutions: (step 8) To be able to talk about their problem in their relationship and show greater security among them. Couples be able to explain behaviors that they are engaging in new patterns in their linking,
Integrating of secure patterns among the couples in their everyday interactions, and promoting healthy patterns of interaction by partner accessibility and responsiveness To observe and talking about the changes occur in their relationship through the counseling sessions
Session 8 Helping the couples to review what changes have been occurred in their relationship in a form of narrative. In termination step security of the couple’s relationship are assessed in a narrative story.
Title: Consolidate the new positions: (step 9) Promoting and support their emotional experiences related with their behaviors in the past and present. The couples review and talk about what changes have been occurred in their relationship
Focusing on methods that they have found to leave the cycle. The couples talk about the ways that they have found to leave the cycle.
Highlighting the potential that help to protect and supporting these changes The couples demonstrate a lot of bravery in their living for each other especially when the life gets difficult.
The couples talk how to protect and supporting these changes