Comparing the Effectiveness of Existential Psychotherapy with Acceptance and Commitment-Based Therapy on Ppsychosomatic Symptoms and Emotional Distress Tolerance in Women with Marital Conflicts

This research was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of existential psychotherapy with treatment based on acceptance and commitment on psychosomatic symptoms and tolerance of emotional distress in women with marital conflicts.

This research was a pre-test and post-test design with experimental and control groups and a three-month follow-up period. The statistical population included all women with marital conflict referring to Parham Counseling and Psychotherapy Service Center in Tehran in 2022-2023, out of which 45 subjects met the criteria for entering the research. They randomly assigned in three groups (15 people in each group). Each of the two intervention approaches were implemented during 8 sessions for the experimental groups, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Data collection was done using the Lacourt Psychosomatic Symptoms Questionnaire and the Simmons and Gaher Distress Tolerance Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures

The results showed that both therapeutic interventions were effective in reducing psychosomatic symptoms and increasing distress tolerance of the test group subjects (P<0.05). The results of Benferroni's post hoc test also showed that there is no significant difference between the effect of two treatment approaches on psychosomatic symptoms, but the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on increasing distress tolerance is greater than existential therapy (P<0.05).

Considering the effectiveness of two intervention approaches in women with marital conflict, psychologists and counselors working in this field are recommended to use these educational and therapeutic methods to improve the psychological performance of their clients.