The effect of hope, forgiveness and combined marital counseling on interpersonal cognitive distortions of divorcing couples

Aim and Divorce and conflict processes are overlapped. Then, couples do attempt to divorce based on experiencing the conflict levels. Hope and forgiveness interventions are aimed at reinforcing marriage and reducing divorce rates. This study aimed at examining the impact of hope-focused, forgiveness-oriented marital counseling and the mixed one on decreasing interpersonal cognitive distortions of applicant couples to divorce in Isfahan, Iran.Method and Materials: It was a semi-experimental and double-bind design with pre- and post-tests and control group. Statistical population was 440 couples referred to Divorce Crisis Intervention Center (DCIC). The sample size was 60 divorcing couples. They were replaced randomly in four groups: hope-focused group, forgiveness-oriented group, mixed group, and control group. Couples as a unit were studied and analyzed. The research tool was Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale (ICDS) which reliability with 3-items deleted was estimated 0.87, using Cronbach's alpha. The data was analyzed with non-parametric Kruskal-wallis and Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney's U tests. In general, hope and mixed interventions reported meaningful effects on total decrease of couple's interpersonal unrealistic expectations and interpersonal cognitive distortions in comparison of control group. All three interventions showed meaningful decrease in all three subscales of ICDS in comparison of their scores in pre-test scores as well. It is suggested to apply hope and combination of hope and forgiveness interventions to decrease couple's interpersonal cognitive distortions. In order to determining appropriate interventions, it's so important to rate levels of marital conflicts in which couples are.