In Person Quarterly Event
Finding the Sun Again
Opening the Attachment Channel Through EFT Micro-Interventions
Presented by:
Sam Jinich, PhD
When: October 17, 2026
Time: 10am to 4pm
Where: First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley, CA 94704
SUBJECT:
This 4-hour clinical workshop uses excerpts from a live EFT couple session to study the moment-to-moment interventions that help partners move through reactivity and protective defenses into the attachment channel. Conducted in Spanish in Argentina and presented with English subtitles, the session offers participants a chance to observe both the universality of attachment distress and the ways language, metaphor, and culture can shape its expression.
A central metaphor that emerged organically in the session is that of “space trash”: the painful accumulation of disappointments, irritations, and negative meanings that one partner has come to focus on so fully that she can no longer see the “sun” — the other partner’s core self, the self she once recognized and loved more easily. By slowing the session down and pausing at key moments, we will examine how the therapist helps the couple move beyond this painful narrowing of perception and reconnect with the emotional bond itself.
The workshop will focus on the EFT micro-interventions that open the attachment channel, including validation, active empathy, attachment reframes, reflections that seed attachment, lateral reflections, empathic conjectures, and interventions that deepen and heighten primary emotion. Special attention will be given to how one partner moves from protest into sadness and longing, while the other moves from distress and self-protection into shame, fear, and the longing to be seen and accepted. Participants will observe key moments in the session, discuss the interventions being used, and practice selected moves through structured exercises and role play.
Because the session is conducted in Spanish, this workshop also invites reflection on the relationship between attachment process and cultural context. While the couple’s cycle is immediately recognizable across cultures, participants will have the chance to consider how emotional language, metaphor, cultural context, and the influence of gender may shape the way vulnerability is expressed and received.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify key moments in a couple session when partners shift from secondary reactivity into primary attachment emotion.
- Recognize and describe EFT interventions that help open the attachment channel, including validation, active empathy, attachment reframes, empathic conjectures, and reflections that seed attachment.
- Use lateral reflections to expand cognitively presented material into more evocative, emotionally resonant, and attachment-focused language.
- Apply EFT interventions that deepen and heighten primary emotion while helping partners stay engaged with vulnerable experience.
- Describe how language, metaphor, cultural context, and the influence of gender may shape the expression and reception of attachment emotion in couple therapy.
PRESENTER
Sam Jinich, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, ICEEFT Certified EFT Trainer, Supervisor, and Therapist, and former Director of the San Francisco Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy. He is known for his experiential, attachment-based teaching style and for bringing Emotionally Focused Therapy to Spanish-speaking communities in Latin America and Spain. His work integrates EFT with a strong focus on clinical precision, emotional process, and the moment-to-moment interventions that help couples access deeper vulnerability and connection.
AGENDA
10:00 am - Registration/check-in/mingling with refreshments
10:30 am - Training begins
1:00-2:00 pm - Lunch - provided
2:00 pm - Training resumes
4:00 pm - Training adjourns
Two 15-minute breaks will be offered with refreshments mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
Choose lunch option: Meat, Vegetarian, or Gluten free. For other dietary restrictions, please contact us at least two weeks before the event at ncceftinfo@gmail.com
TARGET AUDIENCE
Appropriate for any and all levels of training past Externship.
FORMAT
Lecture, video analysis, discussion, experiential exercises, and role play
CLINICAL FOCUS / CE RELEVANCE
Couples therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, attachment-based intervention, therapist micro-skills, enactments, emotional processing
TRAINING METHODS
The workshop will include:
- Brief didactic teaching
- Selected video excerpts from a live couple session
- Paused clinical analysis of key intervention moments
- Structured dyad or triad exercises
- Role play and group discussion
COST
This training is free to members, while non-members pay $10. Four Continuing Education (CE) credits are available to both members and non-members for a charge of $40. A link to register and pay $40 for CE's will be emailed to all registrants at a later date prior to the training.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Details regarding the availability of Continuing Education credits will be provided following formal endorsement from Alliant International University.
There are no known conflicts of interest, and no commercial support, associated with this program.
AI-assisted tools were used to help gather academic references and support the organization of presentation materials. All content was critically reviewed, revised, and clinically integrated by the presenter to ensure alignment with EFT principles and professional standards.
We are not authorized to speak on behalf of any licensing boards. If you have questions, check your licensing board’s website for their approved CE providers (for example, to see if they accept APA- or NBCC-approved CE providers). If you are still not sure, feel free to send what you have found on your licensing board’s website to help@trieft.org and they can help further clarify.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Those who attend this workshop in full, and complete the course evaluation will receive a certificate of completion via email within one week following the workshop. Please note that credit will only be granted to those who attend the entire workshop. Those arriving more than 15 minutes after the start time or leaving before the workshop is completed will not receive CE credit.
ACCOMMODATIONS
NCCEFT meets all applicable local, state and federal standards, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42, U.S.C. 12101-12213 (2008)). We hold events only at professional venues that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42, U.S.C. 12101-12213 (2008)
ADA NEEDS: We will be happy to accommodate your ADA needs; please contact us at NCCEFTinfo@gmail.com at least two weeks prior to the seminar date.
PARKING
For those with limited mobility, the underground church parking garage has disabled person parking spaces and an elevator up to the main floor. The entrance to the underground church parking garage is located on the south side of Channing Way between Telegraph Ave and Dana St. The cost is $1 per 20 minutes with a $10 maximum. A second option is across the street from the church on the north side of Channing Way at the Telegraph-Channing Garage. The cost is free for the first hour and $2 per hour after that.
NCCEFT PROGRAM GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICY
The Northern California Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy (NCCEFT) is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists. NCCEFT will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content and in the treatment of program participants. The monitoring and assessment of compliance with these standards will be the responsibility of the CPA PAS CE Program Director in consultation with the Board of Directors (Steering Committee).
While NCCEFT works to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues which will require intervention and/or action on the part of NCCEFT. This procedural description serves as a guideline for handling such complaints.
When a participant, either orally or in written format, files a grievance and expects action on the complaint, the following actions will be taken:
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If the complaint concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, the individual filing the complaint will be asked to put his/her comments in written format. The CE Program Director will then pass on the comments to the speaker, assuring the confidentiality of the aggrieved individual.
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If the complaint concerns a workshop offering, its content, level of presentation, or the facilities in which the workshop was offered, the CE Program Director will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action during a workshop or conference, the CE Program Director or his/her representative will:
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attempt to rectify the situation, and/or
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provide a credit for a subsequent presentation, in the event of a program having an attendance fee or
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provide a partial or full refund of the registration fee, in the event of a program having an attendance fee.
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Actions 2b and 2c will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by the aggrieved individual.
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If the grievance concerns the business practices of the NCCEFT CE program in a specific regard, the CE Program Director or Administrator will attempt to arbitrate.
CODE OF CONDUCT
By registering for this training, participants agree to abide by the NCCEFT Code of Conduct, which ensures a respectful, inclusive, and supportive environment for all attendees. Failure to adhere to this Code may result in removal from the event without refund. Additionally, you give NCCEFT permission to take and use photos from the event for our website and community materials.
REFUND AND ATTENDANCE POLICY
In the event that a program presentation has an attendance fee, CANCELLATIONS should be made 48 hours prior to the event.
