The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy on reducing marital burnout and sexual intimacy of couples referring to counseling centers in Tabriz

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student in psychology, Ardabil branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran (corresponding author)

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral couple therapy on reducing marital burnout and sexual intimacy of couples referring to counseling centers in Tabriz. The present research method is semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of all couples referring to counseling centers in Tabriz has at least 2 years of marriage. To conduct the research, 34 people were selected in a purposeful way based on the entry criteria and randomly replaced in two groups (experimental and control). According to Delavar (2016), the minimum number of groups in experimental research is 15 people. Entry criteria include living together for at least two years (married people have lived together for at least two years), informed consent to participate in the research of couples, at least third-level literacy for couples aged 20 to 40 years, and exit criteria include taking psychiatric drugs and not being absent for more than one session. Participation in other psychological intervention programs. The research tools are the Pines Marital Discomfort Questionnaire (Pines and Nunes, 2003) and the Sexual Intimacy Questionnaire. Botlani et al. (2009) was invalid. The experimental group underwent cognitive-behavioral couple therapy for 8 sessions of 90 minutes. The results of data analysis showed that cognitive behavioral couple therapy is effective in reducing marital boredom and sexual intimacy of couples referring to counseling centers in Tabriz.

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