جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « گروه درمانی وجودی » در نشریات گروه « پزشکی »

Aging is a challenging period and the last stage of human life. Awareness of imminent death causes existential anxiety in the elderly. Therefore, the elderly must have the ability to respond to their basic existential problems. Existential psychotherapy, focusing on the ultimate concerns of humans, including death, loneliness, emptiness, and freedom, seems to be a suitable treatment for the elderly. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of existential group therapy (EGT) on existential anxiety and the quality of life of the elderly. The method of the present study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population was made up of the elderly between 60 and 85 years old referred to the social work clinic of Aftab Zendi in Shemiranat country, Tehran, in the second quarter of 2019. The sampling of this research was based on convenience sampling method. In general, 24 people were eligible to participate in group therapy in the current research, who were selected after considering the inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. The group therapy consisted of 12 Ninety-minute sessions, performed online due to the spread of the Covid-19 disease. Used to measure the mentioned criterion variables were Massoudi Sani and Bahmani’s existential anxiety questionnaire and Weir and Sherbon’s quality-of-life questionnaire (short form). The analysis of research data was done using analysis of univariate covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS-21 software. Results indicated that according to the scores in posttest, existential anxiety has decreased and there is no significant increase in the quality of life of the elderly. In other words, the results of the research figured out that EGT reduces the existential anxiety of the elderly and it is possible to benefit from EGT as an effective treatment to deal with the mood problems in the elderly.

Sexual harassment, or in other words, the use of children and adolescents for sexual gratification, is one of the forms of harassment of children and adolescents that occurs at all ages from childhood to adolescence, and the adverse consequences and sometimes irreparable harm to health and well-being. Adults are large in size (2). In this regard, research has shown that child abuse, in addition to the destructive short-term consequences it has on the child, causes the child to feel insecure, anxious, distracted, afraid, depressed, inattentive, and post-traumatic stress disorder behaviors; It will also have long-term consequences (4).Given the above and the negative impact of sexual harassment in childhood on individual and social life and causing great material and spiritual damage to the individual and society, researchers and experts are constantly seeking to discover new ways to reduce these effects. And help the mental and physical condition of the victims, and in this regard, various medical and non-arbitrary methods have been used. However, among the methods that have been considered recently, emotion-oriented therapy can be modernist and experimental therapy (5), which points to the important role of emotions and emotional communication in organizing communication patterns and considers emotions as a factor of change. Takes (6).On the other hand, existential psychotherapy, by emphasizing important concepts such as responsibility, presence in existence, freedom, choice, search for meaning and especially constant self-awareness, has provided a unique way to treat existential anxiety (11). Existential therapy provides the therapist and client with the opportunity to understand how the client chooses how to express their "individuality." In the existential treatment of worldviews, values, beliefs, as well as the type of worldview of people and the events we face; It becomes clear (12).In general, the review of existing research shows that so far no comprehensive and similar research has been conducted that simultaneously examines the impact of both emotion-oriented and existential therapies on the psychological issues of victims of sexual harassment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effect of emotion-oriented and existential group therapy on the defense mechanisms of victims of child sexual abuse in Isfahan.

For the present quasi-experimental research, which was performed with a pre-test-post-test-follow-up plan and a control group, among those with a history of being victims of any sexual abuse in a child who had referred to psychology centers in Isfahan in 1398 and 1399, Eligibility criteria for the study were 45 people were selected as available and randomly divided into three groups of emotion-oriented therapy, existential and control. After completing the consent form, the subjects in the experimental groups received 8 sessions of interventions. It should be noted that before, after and 3-month follow-up period, research variables were measured. The research tool also included the following:Laserman Sexual Harassment Questionnaire (LSHQ) which includes 7 questions with yes and no answers. Scoring in this test indicates that the person is a victim of at least one type of sexual harassment. And the Defense Styles Questionnaire (DSQ-40), a new version of which was developed by Andrews et al.In the present study, the reliability of the internal consistency method using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the three defense styles developed, immature and psychotic is equal to 0.68, 0.75 and 0.71, respectively, which are acceptable coefficients.

The results showed that there was a significant difference in the scores of developed and psychoactive defense mechanisms in the three stages of pre-test, post-test and follow-up measurement and the interactive effect of their measurement stages with the group (P <0.01). The results also showed that in the developed defense mechanism, a significant difference is observed in the measurement stages, while such a difference is not seen due to the interaction of time with the group (Table 3).As the results of Table 4 show, with the significance of time within the groups with F calculated for immature (28.86), mature (3.11) and psychotic (13.61); Confirms the existence of a significant difference between the three measurements of pre-test, post-test and follow-up at the level of P <0.01.The results also showed that the interactive effects of the two immature and psychotic styles with F calculated at 11.86 and 10.14 were significant, but with no significant source in the group between the control and experimental groups in all three styles; It can be said that there is no significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental groups, emotion therapy, existential therapy and the control group (P <0.05). No (Table 4).

The results showed that there was no significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental therapy, existential therapy and control groups. Regarding the findings of the present study, it should be noted that sexual harassment is a complex problem that has various physical, psychological and legal aspects. The use of coping strategies and defense mechanisms reduces vulnerability in stressful situations such as sexual harassment (18). But it should be noted that emotionally empowered people make it easier for them to face life's challenges and, as a result, have better mental health. These people are more successful in coping with negative experiences and show better adaptation to the environment and others (19).In emotion-oriented therapy, the therapist focuses on raising awareness of the mental content that has been denied or distorted by the therapist in order to create new meaning influenced by the client's physical experience (5). Approaching bitter mental and emotional experiences for victims of child sexual abuse is often a difficult and tedious process. In addition to building an effective relationship, the therapist's mission is to teach emotion regulation skills. Therefore, the therapist has based his treatment on the self-improvement and balance of the person and tries to self-regulate the person and his emotional system through positive self-concept, and in treatment sessions, he widely uses treatment methods to express new feelings. Slowly (12).An existential therapist helps individuals and victims of child sexual abuse find meaning in life in the face of anxiety and stress, and this is achieved through the use of thinking power, responsible action, and coping with negative thoughts and social pressures. According to what has been stated in the above explanation, it can be stated that since the existential components directly involve the victim with the existence and existential processes, the person looks at the process of change in a deep and conscious way. This process always requires the victim to allow a part of him or her that has been hidden or repressed to come to the realm of awareness and analysis so that the person has the opportunity to make a more informed choice and gain a deeper perspective on issues.

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the world and as a stressful experience it can cause many psychological, social and biological problems. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of meaning-based existential psychotherapy on depression and serum levels of cytokine interferon gamma in women with breast cancer.

For this purpose, in a quasi-experimental clinical trial, 24 patients with breast cancer from Ayatollah Khansari Hospital in Arak were selected by purposive sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent meaning-based existential intervention for 10 sessions and the control group did not receive any intervention. Serum interferon gamma and depression levels were measured in both groups before, after, and three months after the last intervention.

The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that meaning-based existential therapy had a significant effect on reducing depression and interferon-gamma levels, and this efficacy was relatively stable over time (P <0.05).

Based on the results of this study, in the case of cancer patients, health professionals can use meaning-based existential psychotherapy to improve depression and their immune system.

Drug addiction is a chronic illness that can often be associated with another psychiatric illness, such as depression. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of existential group therapy and cognitive behavioral group therapy on depression among patients on Methadone Maintainance Therapy (MMT) in Qazvin Province.

The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test, and control group. Participants included 90 male patients on MMT rehabilitation facilities of Qazvin in 2019, whowere purposefully selected and randomly divided into three groups: an experimental group under 10 weekly 120-minute existential group therapy, an experimental group under 10 weekly 120-minute cognitive-behavioral therapy, and a control group. All three groups completed Beck's Depression Questionnaire before the intervention, after the intervention and after 3 months. Data were analyzed using repeated measure test in SPSS software version 22.

In the group receiving cognitive-behavioral intervention, the mean (SD) score of depressionvaried from 44.5 (3.3) in the pre-test to 34.9 (3.1) in the post-test and 34.1 (3.5) in the follow-up, p<0.001. In the group receiving existential therapy intervention, the mean (SD) score of depression varied from 47.7 (3.2) in the pre-test, to 37.1 (5.5) in the post-test, and 35.9 (5.4) in the follow-up phase, p<0.001. In the control group, the mean (SD) score of depression did not vary significantly in pre-test, post-test and follow-up. The effect size of cognitive-behavioral therapy (Eta=0.53) was greater than the effect size of existential therapy (Eta=0.24) in reducing depression, which indicates a greater effictivenesss of cognitive-behavioral therapy compared to existential therapy in depression reduction.

It can be concluded that both cognitive-behavioral therapy and existential therapy are effective in reducing depression among patients under MMT, with cognitive-behavioral therapy being more effective in reducing depression than existential therapy.

This study aimed to determine the effect of existential group therapy on distress tolerance, existential anxiety, meta-worry and health worry in elderly women with cardiovascular disease.

 Elderly women with cardiovascular disease have major problems in psychological health and one of the intervention methods for reducing psychological problems is existential group therapy.

 This study was a semi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design with control group. In this study, 40 elderly women with cardiovascular disease referred to Mehr hospital of Ahvaz city in 2018, were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into experimental and control group. Experimental group experienced 10 sessions of 60 minutes duration existential group therapy and the control group was placed on the waiting list for training. Research tools were the questionnaires distress tolerance, existential anxiety, meta-worry and health worry. Data were analyzed in SPSS software version 21 with using independent t-tests and multivariate analysis of covariance.

 Before intervention, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in distress tolerance, existential anxiety, meta-worry and health worry, but after intervention, a statistically significant difference was observed between groups in terms of all four variables (P≤0.0001). In the other words, the method of existential group therapy increased distress tolerance (F=52.158, P≤0.0001), and decreased existential anxiety (F=67.813, P≤0.0001), meta-worry (F=59.766, P≤0.0001) and health worry (F=60.475, P≤0.0001) in elderly women with cardiovascular disease.

 The results indicated the effect of existential group therapy on increasing distress tolerance and decreasing existential anxiety, meta-worry and health worry in elderly women with cardiovascular disease. It is recommended that clinical psychologists and therapists use the method of existential group therapy along with other therapeutics methods for improving psychological health of elderly women with cardiovascular disease.