Comparison of Effect of Schema mode therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy on Communication Patterns in New Married Couples Involved in Conflict.

Document Type : Original

Authors

1 Ph.D. in counseling, Department of counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Mohghegh Ardebili, Ardebil, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohghegh Ardebili, Ardebili, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohghegh Ardebili, Ardebil, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Marital conflicts increase in the first five years of life and effective interventions are essential to reduce these conflicts. Objective: This study aimed to compare the effect of schema mode therapy  and emotion-focused therapy on communication patterns in new married couples involved in conflict. Method: The design of this applied research was experimental with a pretest-posttest with a control group. The statistical population included all couples with marital conflicts who were married for less than 6 years and referred to the private centers of counseling and psychological services (Peivand-e-Zendegi & Andishe) in the city of Astara in 2019. 30 couples (n=60) were divided into two experimental groups and a control group by available sampling and random assignment. The Communication patterns questionnaire (Christensen & Sullaway, 1984) and clinical interview were the instruments in this study. schema mode therapy  (12 sessions of 90 minutes) and emotion-focused therapy (10 sessions of 120 minutes) were implemented. After three months of follow-up, repeated measurement variance analyses were used for the analysis of the hypotheses. Findings: The findings indicated, schema mode therapy increases mutual constructive communication patterns (P>0/01) and reduces the demand-withdraw patterns (P>0/01) in couples. The emotion-focused therapy increases mutual constructive patterns in couples (P<0.01) and reduces mutual avoidance (P<0.05) and demand-withdraw patterns (P<0.01) in them. In addition, schema mode therapy increases more effectively the mutual constructive pattern (P<0.01) and decreases the demand - withdraw pattern (P<0.01) than emotion-focused therapy is more successful than schema mode therapy in reducing mutual avoidance patterns (P<0.01). Conclusion: Schema mode therapy  and emotion-focused therapy interventions can be used to improve communication patterns in couples involved in conflict.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 24 March 2021
  • Revise Date: 22 May 2021
  • Accept Date: 06 September 2021

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