Comparison of the effectiveness of emotion-oriented couple therapy and self-compassion-based therapy on anger rumination in women affected by infidelity

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of emotion-oriented couple therapy and self-compassion-based therapy on anger rumination in women affected by infidelity. The method of this quasi-experimental study was with a pretest-posttest design with follow-up. The study population included all couples involved in marital infidelity who referred to Iranmehr Counseling and Psychological Services Center in Rasht in 2020, from which 20 couples (40 people) were selected as the sample by available sampling method. For data collection, Sukhodolsky et al. (2001) anger rumination questionnaire was used and emotion-focused couple therapy and self-compassion therapy sessions were performed for 16 sessions of 4 hours (one treatment every two hours) every week. After three months of treatment sessions to measure the duration of treatment, couples also participated in a follow-up session. Data were analyzed using combined analysis of variance. The results showed that the difference between emotion-focused couple therapy and self-compassion-based therapy on anger rumination was statistically significant (F = 13.05 and P = 0.001) and the effectiveness of emotion-focused couple therapy on reducing anger rumination from treatment. It is based on more compassion.