The Effectiveness of Group Spiritual Therapy on Increasing Resilience in Women with Breast Cancer

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of group spiritual therapy on resilience in women with breast cancer.

The study method was quasi-experimental based on pre-test and post-test design with control group. The statistical population of this study was breast cancer patients referred to Taleghani Hospital in Tehran in 2016. Twenty-four subjects were selected randomly according to the inclusion criteria and were assigned to two groups of 12 randomly (experimental and control). Then, the experimental group was exposed to group spirituality with the protocol of therapy proposed by Richards and Berger (2005) for a period of 60 to 90 minutes weekly. Before and after 12 sessions of group therapy, both groups were tested by research instruments. Measured instruments included Structured Clinical Interviews for Axis I and II Disorders based on DSM-IV, and the Kunner & Davison Resiliency Questionnaire (CD-RISC, 2003). Covariance analysis was used to analyze the collected data.

Findings of this study showed that spirituality therapy had a positive effect on mental status and disease control in different samples.

The results showed that spiritual therapy group increased the resilience of the experimental group in comparison with the mean of the control group. Also the difference between the scores of experimental group and control group or the effect of spiritual therapy group (η2 = 0.763), ie 76% difference in post-test resiliency scores, was related to spiritual therapy group.