2025 San Diego Bilingual Externship
with Dr. Sam Jinich & Dr. Lisa J. Palmer-Olsen

English core instruction with both English and Spanish role-play and breakout groups to allow participants to practice in the language they practice in.

Dates:

9:00 - 6:00 PST

September 14, 2025

September 15, 2025

September 16, 2025

Location:

San Diego: Alliant University

Green Hall 10455 Pomerado Rd

San Diego, CA 92131

Continuing Education Units: Click Here

CEUs have been approved for all disciplines. If you purchase CEUs, your CEU certificate will be mailed to you approximately 6-8 weeks after the completion of the training series. CEUs are purchased directly.

After-The-Live Registration
Join us for a FREE exclusive After-The-Live Debrief event Monday, September 15, 2025 from 3pm-6pm.

Advanced Clinicians/Non-Externship Participants are able to secure a ticket to this live debrief with Dr. Feion Villodas and Jennine Estes, LMFT. Register Now

General Objectives of the EFT Externship

  • Understanding EFT Concepts:
    Gain a clear understanding of the systemic concepts and basic experiential moves of the Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) approach.

  • Attachment View for Client Conceptualization:
    Hold an attachment view when clients cope with their interpersonal dilemmas, enabling you to conceptualize relationship distress and repair based on theories of attachment and emotion.

  • Training Focus:
    This training focuses on the general model of EFT as presented in the 2019 book Attachment Theory in Practice and its application in both couple and individual therapy sessions.

  • Developing Collaborative Alliance:
    Opportunity to develop skills in sharing, maintaining, and engaging in an open and collaborative alliance with your clients.

  • Mastering the EFT Tango:
    Develop skillful use of the 5 moves in the basic macro-intervention model known as the "EFT tango" to improve clients' affect regulation and interactional patterns.

  • Utilizing EFT Micro-Interventions:
    Learn to utilize systemic and experiential models of interventions applied as EFT micro-interventions.

  • Overcoming Blocks in EFT Therapy:
    Participate in skills development to overcome common blocks and impasses across EFT therapy modalities, enabling you to shape core corrective emotional experiences that lead to constructive dependency and what we conceptualize as "secure attachment."

  • Comprehensive EFT Overview:
    This training includes an overview of the entire model of Emotionally Focused Therapy, including steps and stages, interventions, adult attachment theory, and the application of EFT with couples and individuals. The externship is recommended for all types of mental health clinicians who counsel or wish to counsel couples.

  • Bilingual Format & Spanish-Language Role Plays:

    All core instruction will be delivered in English. However, Spanish-speaking and bilingual clinicians will have the option to participate in Spanish-language role play groups and Spanish-speaking consultation groups led by experienced bilingual facilitators. This allows clinicians to practice EFT in the language they most often use in session — a key benefit for those serving Spanish-speaking communities.

Cancellation Policy

  • Cancellation within 30 Days:
    You may cancel your registration up to 30 days prior to the start date. A non-refundable fee of $75 will be withheld from your refund for processing and administrative fees.

  • Cancellation within 30 Days of Event:
    Any cancellations without 30 days’ notice will incur a $150 non-refundable fee.

  • How to Cancel:
    To cancel and request a refund, please email us at [email protected]

2025 San Diego Externship

Sam Jinich & Lisa J. Palmer-Olsen

Sam Jinich, PhD

Sam Jinich, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, internationally recognized trainer in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and author whose work has contributed significantly to the fields of couple therapy and therapist development. He has been in private practice since 1995. He earned his PhD through the University of California, San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, where he began specializing in couple and family therapy. He completed his predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine’s Behavioral Medicine Unit and the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. From 2013 to 2025, Dr. Jinich served as Director and Trainer of the San Francisco Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy. As a bilingual and bicultural EFT trainer, he has played a pioneering role in introducing and establishing EFT throughout the Spanish-speaking world, including Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Chile, and Spain, as well as Brazil. He has mentored and supervised therapists pursuing certification as EFT therapists, supervisors, and trainers through the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT). Working under the mentorship of Dr. Sue Johnson, the developer of EFT, he has helped build and strengthen an international community of Spanish-speaking EFT professionals. Dr. Jinich has also contributed to research on couple therapy, including the planning and supervision of therapists involved in the first multinational randomized clinical trial conducted in Spanish to evaluate the effectiveness of couple therapy, including EFT. He has presented at national and international conferences and continues to teach and train therapists internationally. In 2025, Dr. Jinich co-authored Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), alongside Hanna Levenson, Alexandre Vaz, and Tony Rousmaniere. The book provides structured, experiential exercises to help therapists develop clinical competence in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT), refine essential therapeutic skills, and cultivate their own authentic therapeutic style. Along with Natalia Gilabert, he is co-founder and co-director of EFT Academia, an international training center offering specialized courses in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, including work with infidelity, highly conflictual couples, and erotic intimacy and attachment. He is also co-founder, co-director, and professor at CEAP, the International Center for Specialization in Adult Attachment, the only Spanish-language postgraduate training program dedicated to adult attachment.

Dr. Lisa J Palmer-Olsen

Dr. Lisa J. Palmer-Olsen, PsyD, LMFT, is an internationally recognized leader in attachment-based psychotherapy, supervision, and clinician training. She has been a Certified Trainer with the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT) since 2003 and has trained thousands of therapists throughout North America and internationally. She is the Executive Director and Founder of Renova San Diego, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to life-saving family mental health treatment and therapist training. An AAMFT Approved Supervisor and internationally certified EFT Supervisor, Dr. Palmer-Olsen specializes in couples, families, trauma, and betrayal recovery. She is a co-author of *Emotionally Focused Family Therapy: Restoring Connection and Promoting Resilience* and has contributed extensively to the development of Emotionally Focused Family Therapy. Her scholarly work includes publications on EFT supervision and the training of experiential therapists, helping shape the field's understanding of effective clinical supervision. She is also the developer of the Four Chambers of the Heart of Supervision model, an attachment-based framework for cultivating therapist growth, reflective practice, and clinical excellence. Throughout her career, Dr. Palmer-Olsen has been committed to integrating research, neuroscience, and experiential practice to strengthen relationships and promote healing. As a speaker, trainer, and consultant, she is known for her engaging teaching style and her ability to translate complex clinical concepts into practical interventions. She continues to advance the fields of Emotionally Focused Therapy, supervision, and trauma treatment through her clinical work, writing, leadership, and international training programs.