Changing emotion with emotion
Welcome to the Hellenic Institute of Emotion Focused Therapy (HiEFT)!
The purpose of the Institute is to promote Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and to create a community of EFT therapists in Greece. To this end, the Institute organizes training seminars and specialized masterclasses for psychologists, mental health counselors and psychotherapists who want to learn how to work with emotions or are interested in becoming EFT therapists.
Working with Trauma and Emotional Pain using the Expanded Focusing Task
With Lou Cooper
Athens, 13 & 14 June 2026
The Expanded Focusing Task offers a way of processing trauma and emotional pain that allows clients to feel sufficiently safe to do this potentially life changing work. In this workshop you will learn how to gently guide clients to revisit disturbing past events and work with them so that they no longer generate such heightened distress.
Upcoming workshops
Inner Relationship Focusing
With Agathi Lakioti
Mondays
17:30 to 20:30 (online)
Inner Relationship Focusing is a powerful process of self-awareness and emotional healing that helps us develop a compassionate relationship with ourselves. Within the context of a safe group, you will learn the basic steps to practice it on your own or with a companion. Ideal for therapists and mental health professionals, it offers practical tools that enhance therapeutic presence and deeper connection with clients.
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
With Agathi Lakioti
Levels 1 & 2
In person, Athens
Level 1 is an intensive 4-day (30-hour) introductory workshop. Participants learn the basics of Emotion-Focused Therapy and the role of emotions in mental health and therapeutic change. Level 2 is a continuation of level 1 and consists of four modules that deepen participants' skills in EFT and introduce advanced material. Both levels offer opportunities for experiential work.
New books
Emotion Focused Counselling in Action
Robert Elliott & Leslie Greenberg (2024), Topos books
Translation and scientific editing: Agathi Lakioti & Christina Michael
This book is the definitive introduction to the theory and practice of emotion-focused counselling. Starting with an introduction to the main theory and concepts, it then guides you through the counselling phases from beginning to end. The final chapter extends your learning by examining different client populations, process research, and ways of monitoring your practice. Finally, the book lists the three main scales for monitoring and evaluating EFC practice.
Chapters include features such as case studies and session transcripts, sections for further reading, and reflection exercises to help enhance understanding of the approach.
The Greek edition includes the most recent (revised and enriched) version of the Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapy Scale and a glossary of English and Greek-English terms.
THE POWER OF FOCUSING. A practical guide to emotional healing.
Ann Weiser Cornell
Translation: Agathi Lakioti, ΤΟΠΟΣ
Focusing is a bodily oriented method of self-awareness, change and growth. It involves feeling into our bodies and receiving the messages they have to give us about the situations we are experiencing. It is a process that helps us to understand ourselves and our emotions more deeply, to creatively solve the problems we face, and to make positive changes in our lives.
This book, in a simple and straightforward way, is for anyone interested in starting or continuing a journey of self-awareness and emotional healing. It can be of substantial help to anyone involved in the healing process - either in the role of the therapist or the role of the client. As the author describes, for therapists Focusing can be a very useful tool that significantly enhances their work. While for clients it can make the therapeutic process deeper and more effective.
Videos
What is Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)?
Leslie Greenberg
Why are emotions important?
Robert Elliott
The Institute is recognized by the International Society for Emotion Focused Therapy
(ISEFT)
