Comparison of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Relationship Enhancement and Emotion Focused Therapy on Family Function in Couples with Low Self disclosure

The study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Relationship Enhancement (MBRE) and Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) on Family-Functioning in Couples with low Self-disclosure. This research was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test design with experimental and control groups and 3-month follow-up. The research statistical population included all couples who were referred to non-governmental counseling centers in Kermanshah in 2023, who had low level of self-disclosure. Among them, 30 couples were selected by purposeful sampling and randomly replaced in two experimental and one control group (10 pairs each). The first experimental group underwent MBRE (Eight 90-minute couple-sessions and one full-day session) and the second experimental group underwent EFT (Nine 90-minute couple-sessions) and control group didn’t receive intervention. The research tools included the Marital Self-Disclosure Questionnaire of Waring et al. (1998) and the Family-Functioning Scale (Tavitian et al., 1983). Analysis of variance with repeated measures showed both interventions increased family-functioning (p<0.01) and this effect was maintained during the follow-up period. Also, findings of research indicated there is no difference between MBRE and EFT in improving family-functioning. According to research results, it is recommended that counselors use both approaches as an effective method to help improve couples and family’s relationship.