The training of EFST clinicians is practically oriented and experience-based, which means that participants learn specific skills in how to counsel parents and give parent workshops.
𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝗙𝗦𝗧 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿?
Any health care workers who works clinically with children or who counsels parents with children who are struggling.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀?
In a two day work shop, parents get the tools they need to help their children in their recovery from mental health problems. EFST is delivered also as individual parent counselling and in a group therapy format.
This training gives a complete overview of the theory, practice, and research of an emotion-centered, humanistic approach to supporting the parents of individuals who struggle with any mental health challenge. Emotion Focused Skills Training for Parents (EFST) conveys an unyielding belief in parents’ motivation and ability to heal the parent-child relationship and help their child (young, adolescent, or adult child) through their struggles. Drawing on the most current understanding of emotions and human development, the model clearly outlines a central role for parents in treating and preventing mental health difficulties in their families. It is a cost-efficient approach with up to 40 parents in one workshop and it's also evidence based.
The training of EFST clinicians is practically oriented and experience-based, which means that participants learn specific skills in how to counsel parents and give parent workshops. You are invited to do exercises where you work on your personal emotional and relational experiences.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻?
1. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 2-𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙁𝙎𝙏 (𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚)
The first two days of this 4-day training is conducted as a standard parent workshop, where we encourage participants to work on their relationship with their own children. You don’t have to be a parent to attend this training. If you don't have children, you work with other important close relationships, such as a partner, sibling, close friend or colleague. The first part of the training is conducted as a standard parenting course, for the participants to gain experience of what it is like to work with their own close relationships, as we require of parents when we as therapists and clinicians do workshops and supervise in this method. In the first two days the participants learn about competitive motivation and feeling traps, what emotions are and how they work, as well as the three skills: validation, boundaries and relationship repair (apology).
𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼-𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟮 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴!
Because the first two days of training is basically a parent work shop, we invite you to bring your partner or co-parent to the first two days of training. In this way your family can benefit even more from EFST. You also get the opportunity to know what it’s like to join with your partner. If possible, we recommend the two of you are located in the same room – for best practice in the dyads. If you are not able to sit together, the dyads will be online.
2. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙀𝙁𝙎𝙏 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢.
On the last two days of the training participants learn the specific tasks of EFST chair-work. In this intervention the parent has a conversation with their imaginary child in an empty chair or a part of themselves. This fuels the emotion, increases the level of experience and gives words and meaning to difficult feelings in challenging situations. EFST has five different chair works. Three where the parent practices different skills: validation, boundaries and apology. Two additional on different self-self-processes: Feeling traps in parents and in the clinicians.
Participants practice being both the caregiver and the councellor in order to learn how to work with emotions in families, and to learn the chair work interventions. The participants also work with their own therapist material. It is painful to go into our own difficult emotions, especially around our parenting and our children. As parents we feel guilt, we are worried sick, or we just don’t know what to do – sometimes. All the same and actually because of it, this is essential in learning EFST. We can’t practice working with emotions without emotions present in the room. The exercises and experiential work are the uniqueness of EFST training. And the good thing is, if you have children or loved ones who struggle with mental health issues or is going through a difficult time – taking this training will have a fair chance of helping them and helping you. The research on EFST suggest that these interventions not only reduce children’s symptoms of mental health difficulties - it also happens in the parent. The trainer will facilitate an empathetic and caring group environment.
You will get all the material you need to do parent work shops and individual counseling with instructions.
𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
Dates:
1st session: 3rd March 2026 - 4th March 2026
2nd session: 21st April 2026 - 22nd April 2026
Time:
1st session: 09.00 - 17.00 Norwegian time (09.00AM – 05.00PM CEST)
2nd session: 09.00 - 16.00 Norwegian time (09.00AM – 04.00PM CEST)
Price: 10.000 NOK
Place: Online (Zoom)
Registration Level A:
https://ipr.pameldingssystem.no/efst-caregivers-online-4-day-workshop-level-a-2026
For participants who want to attend the first session only (parent workshop):
https://ipr.pameldingssystem.no/efst-caregivers-online-parent-workshop-2025#/form
More information:
https://www.ipr.no/kurs-og-utdanning/emotion-focused-skills-training-for-parents-efst-level-a-4-day-workshop-for-clinicians
𝗪𝗵𝗼’𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲?
For the first two days Bente and Hanna are your trainers:
Bente Austbø is a fabulous child psychologist trained in EFST and EFT, mother of one teenager and works at the Institute of Psychological Counseling/The Norwegian Institute of Emotion-Focused Therapy . She is also the co-author of the EFST textbook. And she is really funny, and empathic and she is the head of the EFST department at The Norwegian Institute of Emotion Focused Skills Training. A skilled and experienced trainer and supervisor.
Hanna Aardal is a psychologist, specialist in clinical psychology with a focus on children and adolescents, and recently completed her PhD on treatment of depression using emotion focused and cognitive therapy. She is also a mother of an adult child. She has advanced training in emotion focused individual, family, and couple therapy, and extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and parents. Hanna is an approved EFT supervisor, EFST trainer and supervisor, and author. She is warm, dedicated, and brings both knowledge and humor into her teaching. You will feel well taken care of when she is your trainer and supervisor.
For the last two days Anne Hilde and Vanja are your trainers:
Anne Hilde Vassbø Hagen is a psychologist, author, mother of three, and filmmaker who produced the popular educational film series Alfred & Shadow. She is head of the Institute of Psychological Counseling, Inc., in Norway, and the director of The Norwegian Institute of Emotion-Focused Therapy. She has written several books in Norwegian about emotions. She is co-author of two English books; Emotion-Focused Skills Training for Parents: A Guide for Clinicians and Angry kids, Angry Parents – Understanding and Working with Anger in Your Family. She is an experienced trainer, speaker, and therapist in emotion focused therapy and emotion focused skills training for parents and is also trained in emotion focused couple’s therapy. She’s funny, warm and knows the model to the fingertips. She will take good care of you – AND she’s awesome at making sure you get enough brakes through the day. Both an EFST and EFT trainer.
Vanja Hjelmseth is a psychologist, author, and mother of two teens. She is a fabulous person, an EFST and EFT trainer. She is also one of the co-authors of the EFST textbook. She is an experienced speaker, and therapist in emotion focused therapy and emotion focused skills training for parents and is also trained in emotion focused couple’s therapy. Vanja is a great mix of nerd and a social master, who can connect to anyone in a split second and who never gets tired of speaking to you. She will make you feel like you are the center of attention and will applaud any ideas you might have for implementing EFST in your country.
When you read this text about the EFST workshop it’s obvious that English is not the mother tongue of either our trainers or staff. All trainers are from Norway and speak norwenglish. Fortunately, they know the model like the back of their hands and together with you they will hopefully be able to figure out what is lost in translation.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽?
First part (two days)
Day 1 & 2: The first two days are conducted as a standard parent workshop, where participants learn about competitive motivation, what emotions are and how they work, as well as receive training in the three skills of validation, boundaries, and apology. The days include exercises in dyads and individual exercises. The exception is that the first hour of day 1 is dedicated to an overview of EFST, and the last hour of day 2 is dedicated to Q&A around the practical considerations of starting to use EFST and even do a parent work shop.
You will get a ready-to-go Power Point presentation for the parent 2-day work shop in English, with tips of what to say on each slide – you can translate this to your own language.
Second part (two days)
Day 3 & 4: Participants learn the five chair works for enhance compassion, validation, feeling traps, boundaries, and relationship repair (apology), and how to apply these as interventions in parental counseling. Therapy films of parental counseling are shown illustrating the interventions. We practice the chair work, and the course participants work on their own personal material, as well as their own therapist material. Everyone is encouraged to try out both the client chair, the therapist's chair, and the role as co-therapist and observer. Working on your personal material is essential for learning EFST, and the exercises are the unique ingredients of the EFST education. An empathetic and caring group environment will be facilitated.
𝗡𝗕! 𝗧𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗙𝗦𝗧 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗘𝗙𝗧 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗕 (𝟮 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟭𝟱 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.
Is it a good workshop? Well, let’s hear what other participants say!
"𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 36 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 - 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦".
"𝘈 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦-𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘈 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴/𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯".
"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺".
"𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦! 𝘚𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘊𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬".
"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵 - 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.”
"𝘌𝘍𝘚𝘛 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥!"
"𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺."
"𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵."
You may also like the following events from Norsk Institutt for Emosjonsfokusert Terapi NIEFT:
- Next month, 1st December, 12:00 pm, Emosjonsfokus i behandling av spiseforstyrrelser -en introduksjon in Bergen, Hordaland
- Happening on, 12th March, 08:00 am, Emosjonsfokusert ferdighetstrening for helsepersonell in Bergen, Hordaland
- Happening on, 19th March, 10:00 am, EFT fordypningsseminar - Et faglig og sosialt treff in Bergen
Also check out other
Workshops in Smyrna,
Arts events in Smyrna,
Health & Wellness events in Smyrna.
