Effectiveness of the Combined Emotion-Focused and Solution-Oriented Therapy on the Couples’ Marital Intimacy and Adjustment

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of the combined emotionfocused and solution-oriented therapy on the couples’ marital intimacy and adjustment.

research method was quasi-experimental in case of data collection method with pretest, posttest, control group and two-month follow-up design. The statistical population of the study included all the couples who referred to Healthy Family Consultation Center of Qom in 2017 to resolve their marital problems. 16 couples who were willing to participate in the study were selected through purposive method and accommodated into experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of combined emotion-focused and solution-oriented therapy during two-and-a-half months. The applied questionnaires included marital conflict (MCQ), marital intimacy (MIQ) and marital adaptation (MAQ). The data were analyzed through repeated measurement ANOVA method.

the results showed that the combined emotion-focused and solution-oriented therapy has significant effect on the couples’ marital intimacy and adaptation (p<0.001).

the findings of the present study indicated that the combined emotion-focused and solutionoriented therapy can be applied as an efficient method to improve the couples’ marital intimacy and adaptation through utilizing techniques such as Emotional control in intimate relationships, validating both spouses' diverse experiences, identifying treatment potentials and encouraging autonomy, focusing on finding solutions, and identifying denied needs.