Volume 29, Issue 3 (5-2022)
RJMS 2022, 29(3): 203-211 |
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Esmailpour K, Tavakoli M, Roknianzadeh A. The Effectiveness of Emotional Couple Therapy on Marital Adjustment and Self-Differentiation of Married Athletes. RJMS 2022; 29 (3) :203-211
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8424-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8424-en.html
Lecturer, Faculty Member of Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran , tavakoli210204@gmail.com
Abstract: (85 Views)
Background & Aims: One of the important factors that has been paid attention to in recent years and has an effect on marital satisfaction is the person's early experiences with their parents or the type of emotional relationship a person has with his parents during childhood. Some researchers have tried to answer the question of how a person's early experiences in childhood can affect him in adulthood. One of the characteristics of a person that has an important effect on interpersonal relationships as a result of early child-parent experiences in adulthood is the level of self-differentiation. The concept of self-differentiation is the most basic concept of Boinset's theory. Families and other social groups have a great influence on how people think, feel, and behave. The environment and family determine the level of differentiation of a person in childhood. Bowen defined self-differentiation as the ability of individuals to be flexible and act wisely, especially in the face of anxiety. Self-differentiation is the ability of a person to separate his intellectual and emotional processes and his intimacy and autonomy from others. The concept of self-differentiation is the process of the emergence of an individual whose "self" boundaries are well and clearly defined. The level of differentiation of a person mutually affects the environment social life and the future of the person, including his marital relations. The four important predictors of self-differentiation are as follows: Emotional reactivity refers to excessive sensitivity in responding to environmental stimuli. My position refers to a clear feeling of standing up for one's beliefs when pressured to act in a different way. Emotional disconnection is fear of intimacy and feeling vulnerable in relationships with others. Blending in with others refers to triangulation and intense identification with others. Bowen believed that a person's level of self-differentiation is achieved in his family of origin and influences his future. According to Bowen, all mental and physical illnesses, social problems, and especially marital problems are related to self-differentiation. People who have a high level of self-differentiation are able to thoughtfully assess the situation behave independently and show less emotional reaction. They have a clear definition of themselves and their beliefs and maintain their peace in interpersonal relationships. Theoretically, low self-differentiation leads to problems such as marital dissatisfaction, triangulation, physical and mental helplessness, emotional reactivity, chronic anxiety, and choosing a spouse with a similar level of self-differentiation.In the field of couple therapy, there are various approaches to improve the marital satisfaction of couples, and much research has been conducted regarding the effectiveness of these methods. One of the approaches that focuses on both behavior control and emotion control and ultimately leads to couples' satisfaction with life is the emotion-oriented approach. This treatment, which is a combination of experiential and systemic treatment, is closely related to the reduction of psychological problems in couples applying for divorce. The emotional therapy process is determined by three stages of connection and awareness, recall and discovery, and emotional reconstruction in eight steps. These three stages overlap, and throughout the treatment, the client is viewed as an expert on his experience and the therapist as a guide and facilitator for the client's goals. In this therapy, it is believed that each couple organizes and processes emotional experiences and reinforces the interaction patterns they have created, which leads to marital helplessness. Emotion-oriented therapy, by creating constructive interactions between people and identifying safe attachment patterns, causes satisfaction reduces cognitive distortions in them, and focuses on changing attachment behaviors as a tool to improve disturbed relationships. Therefore, the goal of this therapy is to help couples access unexpressed feelings and process positive interaction, which increases the couple's communication and trust. The effectiveness of emotion-oriented couple therapy on marital variables has been confirmed in studies. The effectiveness of any intervention approach compared to other treatment approaches to provide awareness and effective help to conflicted couples is one of the concerns of therapists. The prevalence of marital incompatibility and its impact on the physical and mental health of couples and children has caused mental health professionals to pay special attention to the field of couple therapy. Therefore, this research was conducted to compare the effectiveness of emotional couple therapy on self-differentiation and marital adjustment of married athletes.
Methods: This paper is practical in terms of its purpose, and in terms of method, it is a semi-experimental type with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all married athletes in sports clubs in Tehran in 1401, 45 people were selected by available sampling one group waiting for treatment and two experimental groups (each group 15 people) replaced an experimental group that received 12 sessions of 90 minutes with cognitive-behavioral couple therapy and an experimental group received 10 sessions of 90 minutes with emotion-oriented couple therapy, and the waiting group did not receive educational treatment. The groups completed the Spanier marital adjustment questionnaire and the Skorn and Friedlander self-differentiation questionnaire as pre-test and post-test. Analysis of variance with repeated measurements was used to analyze the data.
Results: The results showed that the average score of self-differentiation in the experimental group of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy and the experimental group of emotional-oriented couple therapy was significantly different (p<0.01). This amount was not significantly different in the control group. Also, the results indicated that emotion-oriented couple therapy has been more effective and durable than cognitive-behavioral couple therapy in improving and increasing the marital adjustment of married athletes.
Conclusion: In explaining the results of the present article regarding the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, it can be said that the cognitive-behavioral approach emphasizes cognition, emotions, interactions, and interpersonal behaviors that cause marital problems and how the couple's cognition and behavior interact in creating these problems. Therefore, in cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, the emphasis is on how couples interpret each other's behavior, how a person's cognitive processes, such as a filter, evaluate the spouse's behavior by finding causes and giving meaning, and how it predicts the spouse's future behavior. By focusing on these issues, the treatment makes the couple more realistic about the issues, and correcting irrational and unrealistic beliefs, thoughts, and attitudes towards themselves and their spouse provides them with an opportunity to increase life satisfaction and marital compatibility. The results of this article acknowledge the importance of cognitive behavioral couple therapy and emotional couple therapy in increasing the self-differentiation and marital adjustment of married athletes. These two approaches can be used to reduce the damage in marital relationships.
Methods: This paper is practical in terms of its purpose, and in terms of method, it is a semi-experimental type with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all married athletes in sports clubs in Tehran in 1401, 45 people were selected by available sampling one group waiting for treatment and two experimental groups (each group 15 people) replaced an experimental group that received 12 sessions of 90 minutes with cognitive-behavioral couple therapy and an experimental group received 10 sessions of 90 minutes with emotion-oriented couple therapy, and the waiting group did not receive educational treatment. The groups completed the Spanier marital adjustment questionnaire and the Skorn and Friedlander self-differentiation questionnaire as pre-test and post-test. Analysis of variance with repeated measurements was used to analyze the data.
Results: The results showed that the average score of self-differentiation in the experimental group of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy and the experimental group of emotional-oriented couple therapy was significantly different (p<0.01). This amount was not significantly different in the control group. Also, the results indicated that emotion-oriented couple therapy has been more effective and durable than cognitive-behavioral couple therapy in improving and increasing the marital adjustment of married athletes.
Conclusion: In explaining the results of the present article regarding the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, it can be said that the cognitive-behavioral approach emphasizes cognition, emotions, interactions, and interpersonal behaviors that cause marital problems and how the couple's cognition and behavior interact in creating these problems. Therefore, in cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, the emphasis is on how couples interpret each other's behavior, how a person's cognitive processes, such as a filter, evaluate the spouse's behavior by finding causes and giving meaning, and how it predicts the spouse's future behavior. By focusing on these issues, the treatment makes the couple more realistic about the issues, and correcting irrational and unrealistic beliefs, thoughts, and attitudes towards themselves and their spouse provides them with an opportunity to increase life satisfaction and marital compatibility. The results of this article acknowledge the importance of cognitive behavioral couple therapy and emotional couple therapy in increasing the self-differentiation and marital adjustment of married athletes. These two approaches can be used to reduce the damage in marital relationships.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Clinical Psychiatry
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