Directors

Dr. Marielle Sutter, lic. rer. soc., is a federally licensed psychotherapist (FSP) and has directed the Institute for Emotion-Focused Therapy (IEFT) Switzerland since 2014. She studied psychology and sociology at the University of Bern and completed her PhD in 2006 under the supervision of Prof. Klaus Grawe and Prof. Franz Caspar.
Since 2008, she has specialized in Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for individuals, couples, and families and continues to engage in ongoing training and supervision in this approach. In 2021, she co-authored the professional book “Practice of Emotion-Focused Therapy” with Leslie Greenberg and translated the book into French.
She teaches and provides supervision at IEFT Switzerland and at various institutes and universities in German- and French-speaking regions. In her group practice in Bern, she works clinically with individuals, couples, and families.
Marielle Sutter is a founding member and president of the Swiss Society for Emotion-Focused Therapy. She is also recognized by the International Society for Emotion-Focused Therapy (isEFT) as a supervisor and trainer in Emotion-Focused Therapy for individuals (EFT-I), couples (EFT-C), and families (EFT-F / EFST).
She lives in Bern with her husband and their three children.

Leslie Samuel Greenberg, (born 1945 in South Africa) is a distinguished research professor emeritus of psychology at York University in Toronto, Canada and director emeritus of the Emotion-Focused Therapy Clinic in Toronto. He is the founder and principal developer of Emotion-Focused Therapy for individuals and for couples. His research addresses issues of empathy, psychotherapeutic processes, the therapeutic alliance, and emotions in human life.
Leslie Greenberg has published over 100 articles and is co-author of major books on emotion-focused approaches to psychotherapy, such as Emotion in Psychotherapy (1986) and Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (1988). His more recent books include "Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy: The Dynamics of Emotion, Love, and Power" (2008), "Therapeutic Presence: A Mindful Approach to Effective Therapy" (2012), "Emotion-Focused Therapy: Theory and Practice" (2015), "Case Formulation in Emotion-Focused Therapy" (2015), "Emotion-Focused Therapy of Generalized Anxiety" (2017), "Emotion-Focused Therapy of Forgiveness" (2019), and "Changing Emotion With Emotion" (2021).
He is a founding member of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and past president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR), from which he received the Distinguished Research Career Award in 2004. The Canadian Psychological Association honored him with the Professional Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Profession, and the American Psychological Association presented him with the "APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research" and the "Carl Rogers Award". He has served on the editorial boards of numerous psychotherapy journals, including the "Journal of Clinical Psychology," the "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology," the "Journal of Family Psychology," the "Journal of Marital & Family Therapy," the "Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, and Psychotherapy Research."
Currently, Les trains people in emotion-focused approaches in countries around the world.