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Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy With Couples Facing Terminal Illness, Sarah Tie, Shruti Poulsen

Shruti Poulsen

Research on effective therapeutic interventions for couples dealing with terminal illness is scant. Changes in daily routine, added responsibilities, role changes, and the grief process are all contributors to the enormous stress and emotional strain felt by these couples. Couples where one partner is terminally ill may experience anger, depression, guilt, and anxiety. The authors propose that emotionally focused couple therapy (EFT), originally developed by Greenberg and Johnson (Emotionally focused therapy for couples, Guilford Press, New York, NY, 1988) may be effective in addressing this distress and in facilitating the grieving and support process in couples dealing with terminal …