The Effect of Gestalt‑Based Counseling on the Level of Self‑Esteemand Intimate Partner Violence against Pregnant Women: A Randomized Control Trial

Violence against women is a health problem that poses an additional threat to themother and fetus during pregnancy. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigatethe effect of Gestalt counseling on self‑esteem and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in pregnantwomen.

This clinical trial was carried out on 60 pregnant women whowere referred to health‑care centers in Kerman, Iran, in 2018. Simple random sampling wasperformed through lottery. The intervention group (n </em>= 30) received counseling in eight weeklysessions of 45 min using the Gestalt approach. The control group was placed on a waiting list.There was no blinding during the study. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire,the Domestic Violence Questionnaire designed by Mohseni Tabrizi, and the Rosenberg Self‑EsteemScale before and after counseling.

Differences between the groups in terms of meanscore of violence (intervention: t</em>34 = 1.81, p </em>= 0.08; control: t</em>34 = 1.41, p </em>= 0.16) and self‑esteem(intervention: t</em>34 = 1.87, p </em>= 0.07; control: t</em>34 = 1, p </em>= 0.32) in the pretest and posttest werenot significant. Analysis of covariance results showed a significant difference between theintervention 21.79 (10.62) and control groups 21.79 (10.62) in terms of mean (SD) violence(F</em>1,67 = 1.97, p </em>= 0.049) after the counseling sessions. It also showed a significant difference betweenthe intervention 74.47 (14.61) and control groups 66.28 (15.14) in terms of self‑esteem after theintervention (F</em>1,67 = 5.02, p </em>= 0.01).

Considering the impact of the Gestalt approachon IPV and self‑esteem, it is recommended that health‑care providers be educated about using theGestalt approach and apply it in communication with women.