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Start Here (For Couples Therapists and the Friend Frusrated)

The Better Relationship was made to be the education we stopped getting when school ended. Whether you're a couples therapist looking for additional support through resources or 1:1 coaching or a friend-frustrated adult on a journey to build their Secure Base of Friendship, you will find a home here.

Where Are You Right Now? 👇🏼

As clinicians or clients we can hem and haw all day about frustrations in our careers or relationships, but you hold in your hands the power to take action that makes you a more effective, more confident, more competent participant in your life starting today. Check out the resources below depending on where you land.

📍Friend Frustrated:

You're tired of the revolving door of friendship and are ready for more:

Try These Tools, and Stay Tuned for My New Book "Friendless: Why Adult Friendships Keep Failing" Coming to a bookstore near you in Spring 2027

  • $17

Repair Ready (For Friendship)

  • Download
  • 2 files

Repair Ready for Friendship is a PDF guide — with an audio companion featuring two personal stories — designed to help you repair friendships after something goes wrong. Through honest reflection and practical tools, it walks you through what can look like so we move away from the culture of single-serve friendships and move towards a revolution of secure bases of friendship that last.

  • Free email delivery

What is a Secure Base Friend? (PDF)

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  • 1 file

We all know that we want solid friendships but do we know what that takes? In my free guide "What is a Secure Base Friend?" I explain what a Secure Base Friendship is, how to be that kind of friend, and how to find that kind of Secure Base Friendship for any friendship frustrated adult.

📍Extreme Newbie: EFCT Curious

You're a therapist who works with couples, you dabble in gottman, and know about EFCT but not enough to take the leap of committing to it. You need a foundational education to make an educated decision for your career.

Try these tools:

  • $5

EFCT Starter Pack

  • Bundle
  • 7 Items

For the EFCT Curious! Included: My EFCT Explained PDF, Stage 1-3 Comprehension Guides, The Efficient Certification Pathway Workbook AND “See-Me-Work” transcript. An entire session transcript, with in-line explanations of the EFT moves I’m doing (called the Tango). Don’t waste your time reading a million different AI articles trying to figure out what EFCT is... Grab this pack - a $75 value, for only $5!

  • Free email delivery

What is EFCT (Explainer)?

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  • 1 file

What is EFCT anyway? In this explainer guide I give you the run-down on what Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy is, why it's considered the Gold Standard of Couples Therapy by the APA, what it can do for your practice, your career and your effectiveness as a couples therapist (and raises your rates)!

  • $37

Fast-Track EFCT: From Externship to Certification Roadmap

  • Course
  • 3 Lessons
  • Includes 1 additional product

Fast-Track EFCT is a 30–40 minute mini-workshop for EFCT/couples therapists who love the model but feel lost about certification. Learn an efficient path from Externship to certified, how to use supervision and taping intentionally, plus get a Supervision Skills & Session Tracker and bonus “See-Me-Work” transcript of an entire session with a Stage 1 couple early in their work.

Includes 1 additional product

  • Free email delivery

The Efficient EFCT Certification Pathway Guide

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  • 1 file

The Efficient EFCT Certification Pathway is a free guide for EFT therapists who love the model but feel lost. Get a clear, faster map from Externship to certification.

  • $37

Confident with Couples

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  • 15 files

I created Confident with Couples to provide you with what I use and teach for stuck moments with couples. Couples therapists across the internet shared with me their most common couples session frustrations are and in each episode I address these concerns and more. Listen on a walk, or between sessions - the episodes are brief enough to be easily digestible, but concentrated and tested to be effective.

📍Newish: EFCT Knowledgable

You know enough EFCT to be using some of the techniques in session. Maybe you've attended a training, or even completed Externship or Core Skills but you're still in the "learning curve" era of applying this rich model to the point where you can see consistent results with your couples.

Try these tools:

  • $15

"See-Me-Work" Full EFCT Session Transcript

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  • 1 file

When I was a EFT newbie, all I wanted was to watch someone who knew the model well, to show me how THEY do the model with their couples. Now I have that for you!! In this transcript you will get to read a full session with a Stage 1 Couple. I provide in-line text explanations of what I am doing and when (what tango move, etc.) so that you can see our conversation, see my responses and see the model in action.

  • $35

The Stages Bundle

  • Bundle
  • 4 Items

This is the perfect "starter pack" bundle for EFCT Curious therapists or those new to the model. You get my EFCT Explainer fast sheet, and then my Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 Complete Comprehension Guides. These tools will explain what EFCT is in a nutshell and then lead you right into what it looks like in practice and why it is so effective for couples in therapy.

  • Free email delivery

(For Therapists) EFCT De‑Escalation Quick Guide for Couples Work

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  • 1 file

Therapists: If Stage 1 keeps slipping into content, grab my EFCT De-Escalation Quick Guide. Inside: how to spot a spiral, “catch the bullet” when criticism hides longing, tell protection from real vulnerability, build trust with high-conflict couples, and know when you’re ready for Stage 2—plus 10 phrases and 2 anchor moves you can use Monday.

  • $15

Validation Pack: 20 Scripts and Phrases to Slow it Down

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  • 1 file

Validation is crucial in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. Especially in Stage 1, and especially when we are working with high-conflict couples. Yet, validation can be hard to do in session because truth be told it is at times so slow. Here are 20 scripts and phrases you can use if you struggle to slow down and validate in sessions with your couples.

  • $7

Before you Begin Primer for Your Couples (and 45 Assessment Questions)

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  • 1 file

Use this brief overview to prepare your clients for the type of work you are about to embark on. You can provide it in a handout or your intake documents - or verbally in the first session or consult. Use the included 45 Assessment Questions to gather crucial information about your clients dynamic, if they are right for the EFCT model, and what their pain points are so you can get started with confidence.

  • $150

Bundle: EFCT Couples Work Total Toolbox (Best Value)

  • Bundle
  • 7 Items

Bundle: EFCT Couples Work Total Toolbox (Best Value) - everything you need to run effective EFCT from first contact to consolidation. Includes a visual Stages & Steps map, De-Escalation Quick Guide, Before-You-Begin Primer + 45 assessment questions, Validation Pack (20 scripts), and Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 + Special Considerations guides. Save prep time, de-escalate faster, and create lasting bonding events.

📍Needing More: 1-to-1 Comprehensive Support

You just need 1:1 help and you're tired of piecemail support that's slowing you down. If you want help auditing your process, and getting certified start to finish, and everything in between, apply for my EFCT Certification Accelerator.

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Hi, I'm Stephanie and I'm just like you

A therapist who wants to see the world better tomorrow.

I'm Stephanie, a licensed mental health therapist, Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist, EFCT Supervisor, Host of the podcast Friendless: Friendship, Love and Loneliness in the Modern Age, and Author of Friendless: Why Adult Friendships Keep Failing, coming to a bookstore near you in Spring 2027.

I have had successful friendships, and train wreck friendships and in addition to helping couples therapists become the best they can be at their work, I am also on a mission to helping the friend frustrated create and sustain their Secure Bases of Friendship.

Follow along and let's be better friends for a better world.

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Need tools for your couples?

Want ready-made resources to give your couples?

The EFCT Model is strictly experiential and these guides and resources are not meant for certification purposes but sometimes the reality is that our couples do not come with the pre-requisite emotional readiness to do the heavy lifting of emotional vulnerability and understanding.

These resources are meant to supplement personal growth and education for your clients. The main agent of change, however, is the experiential work of the EFCT Model.