Love and Attachment in Latino Culture: Bringing Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy to Latinx Communities and Spanish Speaking Countries

In this episode, I speak with Sam about his career and what lead him to become an Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy trainer, teaching EFT in The United States and throughout Latin America, S​pain and the Caribbean. Sam discussed how his clients lead him to EFT when, although he had trained in multiple models of couples therapy, his clients were saying they felt like the therapy wasn’t going deep enough for them. He shared that he had been reading about attachment theory and John Bowlby’s work, and then took a workshop in EFT from Sue Johnson, Ph.D. He said he fell in love with the model and explained how it helped him see the struggles of couples he was working within a different light, and through the lens of attachment, he could see beyond their conflicts and struggles and see their protests at disconnection as longing for connection. We discussed how Sue asked him to become a trainer in EFT, and asked him to bring EFT to Spanish-speaking countries, as he was originally from Mexico City and spoke Spanish fluently. Sam shares about the countries he has provided trainings in and we discussed cultural nuances that he has found in Latin American cultures and with other cultures. He discussed how the expression of love and the expectations of closeness are influenced by culture, and also how all human beings, regardless of culture, have the fundamental need for connection and safety. We discussed dynamics in Latin American culture that relate to gender, socioeconomic status, relation to family, collectivism and individualism, and how these may appear in couples therapy. In addition to Sam’s cross cultural work, we also discussed his work on Forgiveness, and a training he had first done with Dr. Michelle Gannon on apologies and how important they are to healing Attachment Injuries. Sam now teaches Master Classes on Attachment Injuries and Forgiveness with fellow Argentinean Trainer Natalia Gilabert. We left off commenting on the book Sam coauthored for the APA called Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, and trainings he is offering in-person this September in San Diego with Dr. Lisa Palmer Olsen, and online in 2026. Sam Jinich, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice, licensed in California since 1995, and currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is an internationally recognized Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Trainer, Supervisor, and Certified Couple Therapist, endorsed by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT). Sam teaches EFT to therapists across the globe in English and Spanish. In North America, his trainings feature English-language didactic presentations with the option of bilingual experiential role plays—reflecting his belief that Latinx bilingual therapists should learn in the language they are most comfortable with, while deliberately practicing in the language they use clinically. A respected leader in the EFT community, Sam co-founded the Northern California Community for EFT (NCCEFT) and served as its EFT Trainer until 2025. He is also a past president of the San Francisco Psychological Association. Over nearly three decades, he has trained thousands of therapists, taught at multiple universities, published scientific research on trauma and family dynamics, and coauthored the APA book Deliberate Practice in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Sam is the Clinical Director of the San Francisco Consultancy in Emotionally Focused Therapy (SFCEFT). Sam will be co-leading an EFT Externship in San Diego in September 2025, and an online EFT Externship in May 2026. Learn more at www.drsamjinich.com or on the ICEEFT website.