The effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral couple therapy on enriching marital relationships

Psychiatry master's thesis

Abstract

The union of couples is an official social initiation, the continuation of which strengthens the family foundation. Nowadays, spouses benefit from specialized interventions and trainings in order to increase intimacy and improve marital relations.

The general goal of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral couple therapy on enriching couples' marital relations. The current research is a test and post-test experimental design. The statistical population of the research includes parents of kindergarten children located in Tehran in 2013. The statistical sample includes 80 parents (40 couples) who were selected by random sampling and were replaced by lottery in two experimental groups (20 couples) and control group (20 couples). The couples of the experimental group underwent 10 90-minute sessions of group couples therapy training based on the cognitive-behavioral approach. The research tool was the Enrich Satisfaction Questionnaire, which the subjects completed before and after the couples therapy training. The results showed that group couple therapy training based on the cognitive-behavioral approach had a significant positive effect on the marital satisfaction of the couples and increased the marital satisfaction of the couples. Keywords: group couple therapy, cognitive-behavioral approach, marital satisfaction. A marital relationship can be a support and otherwise a source of suffering.

Problems related to intimacy are often the main reason for failed relationships. In many cases, the client's main problem may be mental preoccupation with intimacy, which the person expresses as a problem in close relationships or commitment in relationships.

Although some couples may not specifically mention intimacy as the goal of therapy, when these same couples complete the measurement tools related to marital quality, satisfaction, or compatibility, they often identify one or more components of the need for intimacy as problematic for themselves. give (Bagarouzi[1], 2001).

Intimacy in marriage is valuable, because the couple's commitment to the stability of the relationship strengthens and is positively associated with compatibility and marital satisfaction (Heller[2] and Wood[3], 1998).

Studies and clinical experiences show that in contemporary society, couples have severe problems when establishing and maintaining intimate relationships and They experience the satisfaction of each other's expectations and needs (Bagazuri, 2001).

On the other hand, today, cognitive factors are considered to be one of the most important factors in understanding the dynamics of marital life and interpreting marital relationships (Baukem[4] and Epstein[5], 1996).

Bernstein (1986), emphasizes, many evidences point to the fact that cognitive mechanisms affect marital compatibility and satisfaction. affect and for this reason he believes that married life is not safe from the sting of illogical thoughts.

Cognitive distortions are one of the most prominent factors that influence the processing of cognitive processes such as expectations, impressions, mental models and patterns that each person has from his spouse. This cognitive distortion causes people to be particularly sensitive to changing their old mental patterns and consider any incident as equal to another incident. Also, Ellis (1997) believes that irrational thoughts and flexibility of thinking are the main cause of differences in social relationships, especially in spouses' relationships. Creating and maintaining intimate relationships and satisfying emotional and psychological needs during marriage is a skill and art that, in addition to having mental health and basic healthy experiences, requires having logical attitudes and acquiring skills and performing certain tasks (Bagazuri, 2001, theoretical translation, 1384).

Increasing divorce and marital dissatisfaction on the one hand and spouses' demand for improving marital relations and increasing intimacy on the other hand indicate the spouses' need for interventions and Specialized training is in the field of marital intimacy. There are several approaches for therapeutic interventions in spouses' relationships, such as communication therapy, reality therapy, emotion-oriented, psychoanalytical, psychoeducational, cognitive-behavioral, and so on. exist, each of which has provided specific treatment methods and patterns based on their theoretical foundations. Among these, cognitive-behavioral couple therapy[6] (CBCT) combines cognitive and behavioral therapy approaches..  CBCT in Manger combines behavioral change strategies such as communication skills training with cognitive restructuring, and the goal is to improve the behavioral interactions of spouses and their cognitive evaluation (Halford, 2001, translated by Mustafa Tabrizi et al. 2014).

Given the importance of marital satisfaction among spouses and enriching marital relationships and the effect of cognitive-behavioral interventions on these variables, in this research, it is attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of group couple therapy In a cognitive-behavioral way, the fruitfulness of marital relationships is investigated. 2-1-Statement of the problem Glasser considers maintaining a successful marital relationship to be the most difficult type of maintaining a relationship and believes that almost more than half of married people can maintain their life together for a lifetime, but among these very few people are found who manage their life together well and happily. (Glasser, 2001, translated by Barazandeh and Khosh Niko 2014).

Conflict in marriage and other long-term relationships is inevitable. Marital relationship is especially prone to conflict, because couples develop a lot of intimacy and mutual dependence, and this issue makes couples more vulnerable to each other (Halford, 2004, theoretical translation, 2017).

In a study, Case [7] and Valerie [8] asked 160 therapists to rate the most difficult areas of conflict between couples. They respectively introduced communication, unrealistic expectations from marriage and spouse, lack of intimacy and not showing interest as the most important aspects of marital problems (Nazari, 1383).

Also, Ziman (1999) stated that intimacy and conversation are considered to be the most important pillars for all types of relationships, and the depth of intimacy that two people create in their relationship depends on their ability to clearly, correctly and effectively convey their thoughts and feelings, needs and desires. has  Learning to communicate efficiently is an important step in the process of creating and increasing intimacy, followed by the creation of satisfaction in couples' relationships (Nazari, 2013).

In several studies that have been conducted to relate the components of Sternberg's triangle of love and marital satisfaction, it has been determined that among the three components of this triangle, i.e. intimacy[9], passion[10] and commitment[11], the intimacy component has the highest correlation with satisfaction. Marriage has couples (Torqaba, 2015).

In this way, one of the important indicators of turmoil in a relationship is the lack of intimacy, and this factor causes interaction between couples and leads to a feeling of closeness, love and attention between them, which ultimately provides satisfaction in the marital relationship.

For a group of people, an intimate relationship reaches its limit when they reveal their hidden feelings towards each other. and for another group, the existence of common positive experiences represents this problem, and for some others, this relationship means having warm and satisfying sex (Halford, 2004, theoretical translation, 2017).

Intimate relationships require the exchange of deep feelings and personal private thoughts. In this situation, couples feel safe with each other (Henderkiss and Hallett, 2014). On the other hand, troubled couples show very little closeness and love to each other on a daily basis (Halford, 2001, translated by Tabrizi et al., 2014).

Cognitivists believe that the existence of irrational beliefs and cognitive errors causes behavioral incompatibility and marital conflict (Shafiabadi, 2015).

Psychologists especially believe in cognitive therapy more than all cognitive distortions. are considered effective in our perception of external reality. These distortions interfere not only in thoughts but also in imaginations (Younesi, 2018), in such a way that they distance us from reality to some extent.

Epstein [12] (cited by Bernstein [13], 2014) found that the amount of illogical and unrealistic beliefs about marital relationship is a strong predictor of marital distress and negative expectations of treatment. As a result, he suggests that treatment programs to resolve dysfunctional relationships should be based on the cognitive reconstruction of spouses.

Since the 1970s, a concerted effort has been made to apply the theory of cognitive-behavioral methods to couples (Goldenberg[14], 1998, translated by Arjmand, 1382). Among other things, he considers intimacy to be the result of spouses' inefficient communication skills and inability to effectively solve problems and conflicts, irrational expectations and beliefs, and negative behavioral exchanges (Etamidi, 2014).