Comparison of the effectiveness of treatment based on the acceptance and commitment approach (ACT) with reality therapy on irrational beliefs in conflicted couples in the post-corona era

Subject Areas : Psychology of couples

Tahereh Kashani Khatib ^{1 *} , Abdollah Shafiabadi ^{2 *} , Emad Yousefi ³

1 - Ph.D. student, Department of Psychology, Qeshm Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qeshm, Iran
2 - Professor, Counseling Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding author). Email: [e-mail]
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Counseling, Qeshm Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qeshm, Iran. Email: [e-mail]

Received: 2024-09-02 Accepted : 2024-10-02 Published : 2025-06-22

Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment, Conflict, Irrational Beliefs, Post-Corona Era, Reality Therapy,

Abstract :

© 2020 The Author(s). This work is published by family and health as an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Introduction: Given that approaches based on acceptance and commitment and Glasser's reality therapy increase the likelihood of meaning in life, happiness, having positive beliefs about oneself and others, and increasing the level of internal control, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of treatment based on the acceptance and commitment approach (ACT) with reality therapy on irrational beliefs in conflicting couples in the post-corona era.

Method: The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group with a two-month follow-up era. The statistical population of the present study was all conflicted couples who referred to clinics and counseling centers in the 20^th district of Tehran in 2022. 45 people were selected in a purposeful way and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The research tool was Jones' (1968) irrational beliefs. The treatment intervention based on acceptance and commitment approach (ACT) and reality therapy was implemented in 8 sessions of 90 minutes, twice a week as a group for the first and second experimental groups. The data were analyzed using mixed analysis of variance.

Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between the post-test and the follow-up of the test and control groups of irrational beliefs (P<0.05) and the treatment of acceptance and commitment to reality therapy was significantly more effective on the irrational beliefs of conflicting couples in the post-corona era and there is a significant difference between the two treatments observed (P<0.05).

Conclusion: It can be said that the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was more effective than reality therapy in reducing irrational beliefs in conflicted couples.

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