Volume 7, Issue 4 (December 2025)                   IEEPJ 2025, 7(4): 1-15 | Back to browse issues page

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Toope M, Mirzamani Bafghi S M, Hatami M. (2025). The Effectiveness of Reality Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy on the Psychological Well-Being of Women with Marital Distress. IEEPJ. 7(4), 1-15.
URL: http://ieepj.hormozgan.ac.ir/article-1-1019-en.html
1- Department of Psychology and Counseling, To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran, m.toope@iau.ac.ir
2- Department of Psychology, Baqiyatallah University, Tehran, Iran , mirzamani@bmsu.ac.ir
3- Department of Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract:   (1444 Views)
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of reality therapy and emotion-focused therapy on the psychological well-being of women experiencing marital distress.
Methods: This research employed a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, a control group, and a follow-up period. The study population consisted of all married women with marital distress who visited counseling clinics in District 2 of Tehran during the summer of 2023. Using convenience sampling and based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 45 participants were selected and randomly assigned to three groups: Reality Therapy (n = 15), Emotion-Focused Therapy (n = 15), and Control Group (n = 15). Data were collected using the short form of Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale (1989), the Weissman, Snyder, and Beach (2009) Marital Distress Questionnaire, and the Johnson & Greenman (2008) Emotion-Focused Therapy protocol. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24.
Results: The findings indicated that the mean psychological well-being scores of participants in the reality therapy and emotion-focused therapy groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, the mean psychological well-being score in the emotion-focused therapy group was significantly higher than that of the reality therapy group (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Both reality therapy and emotion-focused therapy were effective in improving the psychological well-being of women with marital distress. However, emotion-focused therapy demonstrated a greater impact compared to reality therapy. These results highlight the importance of emotion-focused therapeutic approaches in addressing marital distress and enhancing psychological well-being.
Full-Text [PDF 445 kb]   (399 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Original | Subject: Educational Psychology
Received: 2025/05/18 | Accepted: 2025/08/23 | Published: 2025/12/1

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