Investigation of the Effectiveness of the Combined Couple Therapy for Couples on the Improvement of Intimacy and PTSD

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the combined approach of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on improving intimacy and reducing Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by extramarital relations (EMR). This was a quasi-experimental research with a control group. The subjects were selected through multistage cluster sampling. Twenty - nine couples who were dealing with infidelity at the time of the research were selected and filled the PTSD scale and intimacy survey. Based on the results, it can be concluded that CCT is effective in improving intimacy and reduced PTSD caused by EMR.

Keywords:

• Marital intimacy
• extramarital relations
• mindfulness
• acceptance and commitment
• post-traumatic stress

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the psychological counseling clinics in Mashhad city for allowing us to carry out this research. We are also thankful to all participants for making the data available for this study.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were by the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the present study.

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest among authors.

Author Quchani declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Author Safarian declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Author Khoynezhad declares that he has no conflict of interest.