Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) in Burnaby
In person | Virtual across BC · Updated October 2026
Updated: October 2026
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based therapy that helps you understand your emotions, work through painful feelings, and build a steadier sense of yourself and your relationships. At Pham Therapy, we offer emotion-focused individual therapy in Burnaby, BC, and virtually to clients across British Columbia.
Many of us learned early on to push emotions aside, keep them private, or move through them as quickly as possible. EFT offers space to slow down, understand what you feel, and explore the needs beneath your emotions.
In EFT, your emotions are approached with curiosity and care. As painful feelings become easier to understand and work through, there can be more room for self-compassion, connection, and new ways of responding.
What is Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)?
Emotion-focused therapy offers space to slow down, make sense of your feelings, and explore what they may be telling you about your needs. Many of us learned to push emotions aside or keep them private, especially when they felt overwhelming or were met with little understanding.
At Pham Therapy, we approach emotions with curiosity and care, exploring how they shape your relationship with yourself and others. This process can help you work through painful experiences, develop self-compassion, and feel more connected in your relationships.
The EFT framework
EFT helps you explore your emotions at a pace that feels manageable. Together, we slow down and notice what comes up in session, making space for feelings that may be difficult to understand or share.
This may involve:
Noticing and naming emotions, including how they show up in your body
Exploring how past experiences shape your sense of yourself and your relationships
Understanding how you protect yourself when you feel hurt, overwhelmed, or disconnected
Connecting with needs for safety, comfort, and closeness
Finding new ways to respond to yourself and reach for support from others
Key ideas in EFT
Emotions carry information. Feelings point us toward what matters, what hurts, and what we need. Learning to listen to them can make decisions and relationships feel clearer.
Surface feelings and deeper feelings. The emotion you notice first, like irritation or numbness, is often covering something more vulnerable underneath, such as hurt, fear, or sadness. EFT helps you reach the deeper feeling.
Core painful emotions. Some emotions, like shame, loneliness, or a sense of being unworthy, can become stuck from earlier experiences. These are often at the heart of long-standing patterns.
Unmet needs. Painful emotions usually connect to needs that were not met, such as comfort, protection, acceptance, or being seen.
Changing emotion with emotion. EFT holds that painful emotions shift most when they are met by new, more nourishing ones. For example, shame can soften when it is met with self-compassion or healthy anger at how you were treated.
Attachment and connection. Our early relationships shape how we seek closeness, handle conflict, and care for ourselves. EFT helps you understand these patterns and build a greater sense of security.
What EFT can help with
EFT is used to support a range of concerns, including:
Perfectionism and harsh self-criticism
Shame and low self-worth
Grief and loss
Attachment and relationship patterns
Emotional numbness or difficulty identifying feelings
Who EFT tends to fit
EFT often fits people who understand their patterns but still feel stuck in the same emotional places. It suits people who carry a lot of self-criticism, unresolved hurt, or a sense of disconnection from their own feelings.
It can also be a meaningful fit for people who grew up in families where emotions were rarely talked about. For many first- and second-generation clients, EFT offers space to explore feelings that were never given room, at a pace that feels respectful.
Depending on what you bring in, we may weave EFT together with IFS, ACT, CBT, or somatic practices.
What Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) sessions look like.
Emotion-focused therapy is collaborative and experiential, helping you explore your emotions with curiosity and care. Sessions focus on making sense of your feelings, understanding the needs and relationship patterns connected to them, and creating new emotional experiences that support greater self-compassion, safety, and connection.
Your First EFT Session
The first session is an opportunity for us to begin getting to know you. We may talk about what brought you to therapy, what has been feeling difficult, and what you would like support with.
We may also explore:
Feelings that tend to come up often or feel overwhelming
Emotions that feel hard to access or express
Relationships that feel important or painful
How you have been coping so far
What you would like to be different
You do not need to be comfortable talking about emotions to start. We can go at your pace, and I will explain how EFT might relate to what you are bringing forward.
What ongoing EFT sessions may include
EFT sessions offer space to slow down and explore what feels important to you. We often begin with a recent experience or concern, paying attention to the emotions and relationship patterns that emerge.
Slowing down to notice
We may pause when a feeling comes up, noticing how it shows up in your body and making room to explore it at your own pace.
Understanding your emotional responses
Together, we explore what your feelings are connected to, how you have learned to respond, and what you may need in those moments.
Working with emotions in session
When helpful, we may use guided reflection, imagery, or chair work to explore different feelings, express something left unsaid, or practise a new response. These exercises are optional and adapted to your comfort.
Exploring relationship patterns
We may notice how you seek closeness or protect yourself when connection feels uncertain. Understanding these patterns can create space to express your needs and reach for support in new ways.
Developing a kinder relationship with yourself
As we work through difficult feelings, we also make room for compassion, comfort, and a greater sense of trust in yourself.
Throughout the process, we check in about your experience and adjust the work to support your needs.
The Overall Goal of EFT
EFT supports you in understanding your emotions and building a greater sense of security within yourself and your relationships. Over time, this can help soften self-criticism, ease fears around closeness or rejection, and make it easier to express your needs and trust that you can turn to others for comfort and support.
Work with us
Pham Therapy | Rachel Pham, RCC #23089
3292 Production Way, Suite 501, Burnaby, BC V5A 4R4 (Production Way - University Skytrain Station)
Contact us
Sessions 50 minutes, $155 · 75 minutes, $230
Format In person in Burnaby, or online across British Columbia
Direct billing Available [· ICBC counselling accepted, no referral needed]
Availability No waitlist
Hours Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 8am to 6pm ·
Commonly Asked Questions
Is EFT the same as tapping?
No. Emotion-Focused Therapy is a type of talk therapy. Emotional Freedom Technique, also called tapping, is a different practice that shares the same abbreviation.
Do you offer couples EFT?
We offer individual therapy only. Our EFT work can still explore relationship and attachment patterns, which many people find helpful for their relationships.
How is EFT different from CBT?
CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. EFT focuses on understanding and transforming the emotions underneath them. Many people benefit from elements of both.
Is EFT evidence-based?
Yes. Emotion-Focused Therapy has strong research support for depression, and growing support for trauma, anxiety, and eating disorders. Emotionally focused approaches also have a substantial research base, particularly for relationships.
What if I have a hard time feeling or naming my emotions?
That is a very common starting point. Many people were taught to keep feelings private or move past them quickly. EFT works gently with whatever is there, including numbness or uncertainty.
Can EFT be done online?
Yes. EFT works well in virtual sessions, and many people find it easier to explore emotions from the comfort of their own space.
How long does EFT therapy take?
There is no fixed timeline. Some people come for a focused set of sessions, and others stay longer to work through deeper patterns. We check in regularly about what is working and adjust from there.