Tampa, FL · Florida Telehealth

Attachment-Focused Therapy

I help adults understand and change the patterns that keep them stuck. Sessions are virtual, for clients located anywhere in Florida, and my approach is Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy, an attachment-based model that helps people build a healthier relationship with themselves and with others.

Book a Consultation About Emotionally Focused Therapy

About Amber

Amber Cullen, RMHCI

I am a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern practicing under licensed supervision, and I am trained in Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy. I completed my graduate training in counseling at Northwestern University and my undergraduate degree at the University of Florida, and my work focuses on helping adults create meaningful, lasting change.

M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northwestern University
B.A., University of Florida
Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern, FL

Read My Full Background

Who This Is For

You may be someone who

Many of the adults I work with are capable, thoughtful, and have a good deal of insight into their patterns, and still find that understanding them has not been enough to change how they feel or respond.

Struggles with self-criticism and self-doubt regardless of what you accomplish

Experiences anxiety and overthinking in relationships and in everyday decisions

Has emotions that feel overwhelming and reacts in ways you later wish you hadn't

Notices recurring patterns with partners, friends, or family

Finds boundaries difficult with the people closest to you

Wants lasting change, beyond insight alone

Approach

Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy

Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) is an individual adaptation of Emotionally Focused Therapy, a model developed by Sue Johnson and Leslie Greenberg that uses attachment theory as a way of understanding adult emotion and relationships. EFIT views many of the struggles people bring to therapy as connected to difficulty with emotion regulation and to the ways we try to feel safe and connected, both with ourselves and with the people in our lives, and it helps clients slowly experience their emotions in a new and more secure way.

I am trained in EFIT and I use it as the foundation of my work with adults who want to build a healthier relationship with themselves and with others.

How Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy Unfolds

Stage 1

Stabilization

We build a secure base together and begin mapping the patterns that show up when you feel disconnected, criticized, or alone, which helps your emotional experiences feel more organized and easier to understand.

Stage 2

Restructuring

We move gradually toward the more vulnerable emotions beneath a reaction, such as sadness, hurt, or fear, and toward the attachment needs inside them, which creates new emotional experiences of safety and self-compassion.

Stage 3

Consolidation

We notice and strengthen the changes you have made in how you see yourself and relate to other people, so that they carry forward into everyday life.

Research

What Research Reports About EFIT

Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy has a growing research base, and the findings below come from published studies and clinical literature. Individual experiences vary.

Less distress, depression, and anxiety

In a 2025 randomized controlled trial, adults who received approximately 15 sessions of EFIT showed significant reductions in psychological distress, depression, and anxiety compared with an untreated control group (Wiebe et al., 2025).

Greater emotional regulation

EFIT can help people attend to their more vulnerable emotions and understand the needs within them, so that emotions feel less overwhelming and less likely to be avoided (Brubacher, 2017).

More flexibility in relationships

Clients who have repeated corrective emotional experiences can develop more flexibility in their relationships and become more able to connect with other people (Brubacher, 2017).

What To Expect

Getting started, step by step

Consultation call

A free 15-minute call to talk through what is bringing you to therapy, if you would like one.

First session

We talk through your history and begin building a shared picture of the patterns you would like to understand and change.

Ongoing sessions

Most clients begin weekly so that sessions can build on one another, and we adjust the frequency as things progress.

Let's Talk

You can book a first session directly, or start with a free 15-minute consultation call if you would like to talk it through first. All sessions are held virtually, for clients located anywhere in Florida. If you would rather write first, you can email to ask about a free consultation.

Book a Consultation