The Effect of Two Couple Therapies, ACT and Schema Therapy, on Forgiveness and Fear of Intimacy in Couples’ Conflicts

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and schema therapy on forgiveness and fear of intimacy in conflicting couples. Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The participants were selected from the conflicting couples who referred to counseling and psychological service centers in districts 1 and 5 of Tehran in 2019. Of the couples who scored high on the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991) and obtained a low score on the Interpersonal Forgiveness Inventory (Ehteshamzadeh et al.2010), 30 couples (60 people) were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to the schema therapy group (10 couples), the ACT group (10 couples), and the control group (10 couples). Then, the participants in each of the intervention groups attended eight 90-minute therapy sessions based on ACT and Schema therapy techniques. After the interventions, the participants in the three groups completed the questionnaires again and follow up after three months. Results: The results showed that both ACT and schema therapy had a significant effect on fear of intimacy and forgiveness. Upon controlling the pretest score, significant differences were found between the two ACT and schema therapy groups in terms of reconnection and revenge control (p <0.01), but the two groups were not significantly different in terms of resentment control, realistic perceptions, and fear of intimacy and Schema  couple therapy was more effective than ACT in controlling conflicting couples' revenge and improving reconnection and this greater effectiveness was still retained in the follow-up phase. Conclusion: ACT and schema-based couple therapies can be used by psychologists and counselors as effective approaches to increasing forgiveness and reducing fear of intimacy in couples. However, Schema couple therapy is more effective than Act in controlling negative emotions and treating them in couples.