TwoStory Therapy

09/02/2026

09/02/2026

As Dr. Sue Johnson’s work reminds us, emotional responsiveness is at the heart of secure, lasting connection.

08/12/2026

We are grateful to have been interviewed by SIV, asking us as facilitators why it’s important for us to be a part of the Focus Lab.

So excited to be a part of learning EFT as well as getting to be a part of the Arkansas community. Helping individuals, couples, and families with this model has changed not only us but our profession.

08/10/2026

Final Externship Diary — Afterward
It has been a couple of days since the Arkansas EFT Externship ended.
And I’m realizing that an experience like this doesn’t really end when the room empties.
There is so much to take in. So much that was learned, witnessed, felt, and experienced. Our nervous systems need time to catch up—to assimilate what happened before we rush back into our lives, our work, and our therapy rooms.
I’m learning to give myself that time.
And as things begin to settle, I keep thinking about what an EFT Externship actually asks of us.
Yes, we are learning a model. We are learning attachment theory, the negative cycle, emotion, interventions, enactments, and a roadmap for helping people find their way back to one another.
But underneath all of that, EFT asks something much more personal of the therapist.
It asks us to be affected.
To be able to move toward emotion rather than away from it. To sit close to fear, grief, longing, shame, helplessness, and vulnerability—and allow ourselves to feel what is happening without becoming lost in it.
And that means we have to know something about those places in ourselves, too.
We have to be willing to notice what happens inside of us when someone else’s pain enters the room. What we reach toward. What we pull away from. What frightens us. What touches something tender. What makes us want to rescue, fix, retreat, protect, or disappear.
That is Self of Therapist work.
And it isn’t something we finish.
It becomes an ongoing practice of knowing ourselves well enough that we can bring our whole selves into the room without making the room about us.
That may be one of the things that moved me most about watching this externship unfold.
Over four days, something happened.
People didn’t simply learn EFT.
Many of them allowed EFT to reach them.
At the end, when participants were invited to share what the experience had meant to them, the room became very quiet.
Some people couldn’t speak.
You could see them holding back tears.
And others chose to speak anyway—with tears streaming down their faces—as they shared what these four days had opened up in them, personally and professionally.
Sitting there listening, I thought:
This is why.
This is why this work matters.
Because before we can ask our clients to risk vulnerability, we have to understand something about the courage vulnerability requires.
Before we can accompany people into the places they have spent years protecting, we have to develop the capacity to stay present when those places appear.
We don’t get to stand outside of this work.
We are in it, too.
And perhaps that is part of what makes EFT so extraordinary.
It gives us a sophisticated clinical model, yes.
But it also continually invites the person who is practicing it to grow.
The externship ended a few days ago.
The learning didn’t.
Maybe that’s the final lesson I’m taking home from Arkansas:
The work we hope to facilitate in others asks something of us first.
And I think I will be reflecting on that for a very long time.
P.S. The Arkansas EFT Externship may have ended (for now… until next year!), but The Diaries are just getting started. We have some pretty exciting things ahead—Success in Vulnerability, more workshops, Core Skills, and wherever this EFT journey takes us next.
Stay tuned. There’s so much more to come.

08/06/2026

The EFT Externship Diaries

The Moment It Became Real

It’s the morning of the final day of the Arkansas EFT Externship, and I keep thinking about yesterday.

For the first two days, we’ve been immersed in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). We’ve listened, practiced, reflected, and slowly begun weaving together a way of working that is both deeply human and remarkably nuanced.

There has been so much to take in.

Then came one of the moments I look forward to every year. One of the internationally recognized EFT trainers guides us through a live therapy session with a real couple. This year, it was George Faller.

As I watched, I found myself looking away from the stage and around the room.

Something was happening.

Pens stopped moving.

People leaned forward.

The room became remarkably still.

For the first time, we weren’t just learning about healing.

We were witnessing it.

There is something extraordinary about watching someone with decades of experience gently guide two people toward one another. What appears effortless on the surface is supported by years of wisdom, presence, restraint, and trust in the process.

It isn’t flashy.

It isn’t dramatic.

In many ways, it’s surprisingly simple.

And yet…

It changes the room.

You could almost feel it.

The energy shifted.

What had been concepts became connection.

What had been theory became hope.

As therapists, we spend so much time learning theory, practicing new skills, and trying to make sense of a beautifully complex way of helping people reconnect.

Moments like this remind me why we do the work.

Healing isn’t simply something we study.

It’s something we witness.

And when we witness it, something changes in us, too.

That’s the moment it became real.

Until tomorrow…

— Robyn

08/05/2026

The EFT Externship Diaries
You don't just learn EFT here... you live inside it.
It's the end of Day Two, and I'm finally sitting down.
I'm tired in the best kind of way.
Over the last two days, I've been trying to put my finger on what makes this training feel so different.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the EFT Externship is that you don't just learn EFT here—you live inside it.
Of course, we're learning Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)—a model grounded in attachment science that helps people create deeper, more secure emotional bonds. But that isn't what has stayed with me the most.
What has stayed with me is the atmosphere.
For two days, I've watched trainers, facilitators, organizers, and participants embody the very principles we're learning.
People slow down.
They listen.
They make room for emotion.
They show up with honesty, humility, and genuine curiosity.
The principles aren't just being taught.
They're being lived.
One of my favorite parts of facilitating has been sitting with therapists from all over the country—hearing their questions, learning from their experiences, and being reminded that none of us ever stop growing.
Again and again, I heard participants describe what stood out to them most.
"The trainers were so genuine."
"I felt understood."
"I didn't feel alone."
"I felt seen."
Those words stayed with me.
Because they reminded me that the heart of this training isn't simply what is being taught.
It's how people are with one another while they're learning.
Even during lunch today, the facilitators gathered to share ideas from their own practices—new ways of thinking, new ways of helping couples, and new ways of understanding this work.
There was no competition.
Just generosity.
EFT is a remarkably sophisticated model. The more I learn, the more I realize how much there is still to learn.
And somehow, that realization doesn't feel discouraging.
It feels hopeful.
Because this community reminds me that none of us are expected to do this work alone.
Every year I leave the Externship with more knowledge.
But more importantly...
I leave remembering what it feels like to belong to a community that practices what it teaches.
Until tomorrow...
— Robyn

07/29/2026

07/24/2026

The EFT Externship Diaries: Going Back to Where We Began

I was out walking this morning after my yoga practice when I started thinking about the EFT Externship coming up in just a couple of weeks—and about how much this community has come to mean to Josh and me.

I still remember attending our first Externship as participants and sitting in our home groups with facilitators who brought such openness, understanding, and responsiveness to the learning process.

There was room to learn. Room to not know. Room to explore.

I remember having such a strong felt sense of the heart of EFT and thinking, *This is what I believe in. These are my people. I've found my professional home.*

I've attended many professional trainings over the years, and the Arkansas EFT Externship remains one of the most thoughtfully organized and well-held trainings I've experienced. There is so much intention behind the scenes—not only around what is being taught, but around caring for the people who are learning it.

We also have the privilege of learning from extraordinary EFT trainers, including Ryan Rana and George Faller, right here in our region.

This year feels especially meaningful. Josh and I will return once again as facilitators, while also completing the final documentation process toward our own EFT certification after our supervisors let us know that our clinical work is certification-ready.

It's beautiful to think about the evolution—from attending our first Externship as participants to now having the privilege of helping welcome other therapists into this community.

If you've ever thought about learning EFT, I cannot recommend the Externship enough.

And this year, I thought I might take you along with us. ❤️

**The EFT Externship Diaries**

More soon.