Introduction: Dependent personality disorder is one of the most common cluster C disorders, which is associated with an extreme need for care, fear of separation, and severe anxiety. Anxiety in these patients can seriously disrupt their individual and social functioning.
Methods: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic therapy and emotion-focused therapy on reducing anxiety in people with dependent personality disorder. The research design was a quasi-experimental one with pre-test-post-test and control group. The statistical population included clients of psychological centers in Tehran in 1403 who were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The sample consisted of 45 people who were randomly assigned to three groups: short-term psychodynamic therapy (15 people), emotion-focused therapy (15 people), and control group (15 people).
Results:  The research instrument was the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The first intervention group received 11 sessions of short-term psychodynamic therapy based on the Duanlo protocol, and the second intervention group received 10 sessions of emotion-focused therapy based on the Greenberg protocol. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance.
Conclusion: The results showed that both short-term and emotion-focused psychodynamic therapy were effective in reducing anxiety, but no significant difference was observed between the two approaches. The findings indicate that both approaches can be used as effective interventions in reducing anxiety in patients with dependent personality disorder