When I first read about this technique I though Great, this is exactly what I am looking for. A clear step-by-step plan for getting better.

This technique seems logical provided the underlying etiology can be found and adequately resolved. In the Q and A page that Rap shared they give an example of a man's drinking and how it results in a contradiction of the wife's "existential identity". That's nice but the wife going through ETM or TRT or some other treatment approach is not going to necessarily correct the problem. Unless it eventually leads her to change her existential identity, she leaves him, or he decides to change.

I think sometimes the underlying etiology is not always easy to uncover and sometimes it may not be resolvable. In which case the patient needs to be taught how to minimize the symptoms and learn some couping mechanisms that improve the quality of his or her life somewhat.

I am certainly a person who entered therapy thinking OK lets make this quick and direct--tell me what my problem is and then tell me a) how to fix it or b) how to better deal with it. So far despite gaining some awareness of my underlying issues and trying my best to address the ones I can personally address, I have not yet been successful in regaining my happiness.

Sometimes simply cleaning the wound is not enough to deal with complications of infection.

I really wish there was a simple step-by-step process, but at this point I am skeptical.