Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of emotion-focused therapy on the reduction of anxiety and depression in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Methods: ­ This research was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest design with experimental and control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all patients of MS Association of Tehran in year 3. To this end, first contacted all MS MSCs who complained of anxiety and depression symptoms and were interested in volunteering to complete the questionnaire. Of these, 40 individuals with more severe symptoms of anxiety and depression (based on questionnaires) were selected as the sample and were randomly divided into two groups of experimental (1 patient) and control group (2 patient). Experimental group received 1 hour, EFT treatment in 2 sessions.A week after the end of treatment sessions, subjects in both experimental and control groups completed Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory again. The control group did not receive any intervention and remained on the waiting list. Data were analyzed by covariance analysis using SPSS software version 2
Results: Intervention was effective in reducing anxiety symptoms by examining the mean scores of anxiety in post-test. That is to say, there is a significant difference between the two groups in terms of their effects on anxiety and depression symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Conclusion: The results indicate that emotion-focused therapy, anxiety and depression and patients with multiple sclerosis can help. The use of psychotherapy approaches improves the mental health of these patients and can also influence the physical refereeing of patients.