Effect of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) on Attachment Styles ofcouples with Marital Conflict

Compassion-focused therapy helps increase couples 'emotional security by regulating emotional systems, which can ultimately improve couples' attachment styles. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of compassion focused therapy (CFT) on attachment styles of couples with marital conflict. In this study, a single case design of asynchronous multiple baseline type was used. The statistical population of this study was married couples with marital conflict referring to Hamedan counseling centers. Accordingly, three couples who had marital conflict were selected by purposive sampling. Compassion-focused therapy was performed in three stages: baseline, intervention (8 sessions of 90 minutes), and follow-up, and couples responded to the Adult Attachment Style (Collins and Reed, 1990). Data analyzed with visuals inspection, improvement percentage and reliable change index (RCI) strategies. The results showed that the rate of improvement after treatment and follow-up is for secure attachment styles (36.33-33.93), avoidance (40.37-37) and anxiety (26.47-25.98), respectively. Therefore, the research findings indicate that compassion-focused therapy can be used as an effective treatment to improve the attachment styles of couples with marital conflict