Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and Self-compassion-based Therapy On Emotion Regulation In Women Affected by Infidelity

Background: Marital infidelity is a crisis for couples and families and one of the main reasons for divorce and family breakdown, which causes significant turmoil for the committers and their spouses. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of emotion-based couple therapy and self-compassion-based therapy on emotion regulation in women affected by infidelity. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was designed as pre-test-post-test with follow-up. The study population included all couples involved in marital infidelity who referred to Iranmehr Counseling and Psychological Services Center in Rasht, Iran in 2020, from which 20 couples were selected as the sample by available sampling method. Granfsky emotion regulation questionnaire was used to collect data and emotion-focused couple therapy sessions and self-compassion-based therapy were performed for 16 sessions of 4 hours (one treatment every two hours) on a weekly basis. After three months of treatment sessions, couples also participated in a follow-up session in order to measure the duration of treatment. Data were analyzed using combined analysis of variance. Results:  The results showed that both therapies are effective in increasing the emotional regulation of couples, but there is no significant difference between emotion-oriented couples therapy and compassion-based therapy on emotion regulation (F = 1.57 and P = 0.218). Conclusion:  Both treatment approaches in counseling centers were very effective in helping incompatible couples to improve and reduce marital problems, increasing satisfaction, especially in couples affected by infidelity.