Combination of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Interventions and the Twelve-Step Method in Reducing the Denial Defense Mechanism in Recovering Addicts in Tehran Province

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Combination of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Interventions and the 12-step method in reducing the defense mechanism of denial in recovering addicts in Tehran province. The research design was a quasi-experimental pretest and posttest with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all recovering addicts in Tehran province in 1399, of which 58 people were selected by purposive non-random sampling and assigned to experimental groups (30 people) and control (28 people). The instrument of the present study was the Defense Styles Questionnaire (DSQ) (Andrews et al., 1993). The intervention group received psychotherapy for 10 sessions of 60 minutes per week in addition to the twelve-step sessions, and the control group did not receive any intervention. The results of univariate analysis of covariance showed that there was a significant difference between the scores of the defense mechanism denial of the experimental and control groups in the post-test stage (p <0.05). The subjects in the experimental group scored better than the control group in the post-test stage compared to the control group. Based on the findings of this study, short-term intensive scanning psychotherapy and the 12-step method as a suitable option to reduce the defense mechanism of addicts' denial are improving.