The comparison of the effect of Gottman Couple Therapy and Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy on couples’ marital intimacy

Intimacy in marriage is essential for maintaining marital and family relationships. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Gottman Couple Therapy (GCT) and the Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) methods on marital intimacy. For this purpose, 36 couples were selected from among all couples referring to Aramesh, Ofogh, and Khanevadeh in Shahrood counseling centers in 2017. The subjects were matched based on having a score of Spanier (DAS) below average. They were then randomly assigned to two experimental and one control groups. Participants were asked to complete the marital intimacy Needs Questionnaire (Bagarozzi, 2001) in the pretest and posttest stages. Afterwards, one group received GCT for 10 weeks, and the other group was subjected to EFCT for 9 weeks, while the control group was on the waiting list. The results showed that both experimental groups showed improvements in Marital Intimacy than the control group. A significant difference was also found between the effectiveness of GCT and EFCT methods on Marital Intimacy in couples, so that the GCT group was more successful in Marital Intimacy. Although significant changes were observed in all components of marital intimacy in both experimental groups compared to the control group, the two experimental groups were significantly different in four components  namely, Emotional, Psychological, Sexual, Physical and Recreational. Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that GCT couple therapy is more effective on couple's intimacy than the emotional couple therapy.