Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Group Therapy in Social Intimacy, Social Acceptance, and Self-Compassion of Clients with anxiety referring to Counseling Centers

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D student, Department of Psychology, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran

2 Associate Professor , Department of Psychology, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran

3 Assistant Professor,Department of Psychology, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran

Abstract

Background: Anxiety is a general,vague,andvery unpleasant emotional feeling accompanied by many uncomfortable physical sensations.
 
Objective: The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of emotion-focused group therapy in social intimacy, social acceptance, and compassion of clients with anxiety referring to counseling centers in Isfahan.
 
Method: This quasi-experimental study used a pre-test, post-test design with a control group and a one-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the study included 40 clients with anxiety referring to counseling centers in Isfahan in the spring and summer of 2020. They were selected via the available sampling method from Tohid counseling centers in Isfahan and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (n=20 in each group). The experimental group received an emotion-focused treatment program in 12 120-min sessions (once a week), while the control group did not receive any intervention. The research instruments included the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) questionnaire, self-compassion scale, social intimacy questionnaire, and social acceptance test scale. The acquired data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance in SPSS software (version 24).
 
Results: The results pointed out that emotion-focused therapy had a significant effect on the enhancement of social intimacy, social acceptance, and self-compassion (P<0.01).
 
Conclusion: It can be concluded that emotion-focused group therapy is a useful intervention to increase social intimacy, social acceptance, and self-compassion in people with generalized anxiety disorder.
 

Keywords

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

1. Bach D, Groesbeck G, Stapleton P, Sims R, Blickheuser K, Church D. Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) improves multiple physiological markers of health. Journal of evidence-based integrative medicine.2019;24:25-36. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515690X18823691
https://doi.org/10.1177/2515690X18823691
PMid:30777453 PMCid:PMC6381429
 
2. Baker LR, McNulty JK. Self-compassion and relationship maintenance: the moderating roles of conscientiousness and gender. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2011;100(5):853-67. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021884
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021884
PMid:21280964 PMCid:PMC3082631
 
3. DaneshvarPour Z, Esmaeili T, Shahraray M, Shokri O. Sex Differences in Social Intimacy: The Role of Identity Styles. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. 2008;13(4):393-404.
 
4. Etemadi A, Nasirnejhad F, Smkhani Akbarinejhad H. Effectiveness of group reality therapy on the anxiety of women. Journal of Psychological Studies. 2014;10(2):73-88. https://doi.org/10.22051/PSY.2014.1773
 
5. Ferdowsy S. The role of Meta-Cognitive Beliefs and thoughts control strategies in predicting the symptoms of social anxiety in university students. Knowledge & Research in Applied Psychology. 2019;20(4):15-23.
 
6. Garcia-Lopez LJ, Saez-Castillo AJ, Fuentes-Rodriguez G. Psychometric properties of the Youth Anxiety Measure for DSM-5, Part I (YAM-5-I) in a community sample of Spanish-speaking adolescents. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2017;208(1):455-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.045
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.045
PMid:27817909
 
7. Goldman RN, Greenberg LS, Angus L. The effects of adding emotion-focused interventions to the client-centered relationship conditions in the treatment of depression. Psychotherapy Research. 2006;16(5):537-49. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503300600589456
https://doi.org/10.1080/10503300600589456
 
8. Geller S. Cultivating online therapeutic presence: Strengthening therapeutic relationships in teletherapy sessions. Counselling Psychology Quarterly. 2020;2(2):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2020.1787348
https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2020.1787348
 
9. Ghadampour E, Mansouri L. The effectiveness of compassion focused therapy on increasing optimism and self-compassion in female students with generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Psychological Studies. 2018;14(1):59-74.
 
10. Moradmand M, Khanbani M. Efficacy of written emotional disclosure on self-efficacy and affective control in student with anxiety. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2016;10(1):37-43.
 
11. Soleimani AA, Najafi M, Ahmadi K, Javidi N, Kamkar EH, Mahboubi M. The effectiveness of emotionally focused couples therapy on sexual satisfaction and marital adjustment of infertile couples with marital conflicts. International journal of fertility & sterility.2015;9(3):393-99. https://doi.org/10.22074/ijfs.2015.4556
 
12. Hoge EA, Hölzel BK, Marques L, Metcalf CA, Brach N, Lazar SW, Simon NM. Mindfulness and self-compassion in generalized anxiety disorder: Examining predictors of disability. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2013;1(2):20-33. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/576258
https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/576258
PMid:24174978 PMCid:PMC3794663
 
13. Kalla M, Simmons M, Robinson A, Stapleton P. Making sense of chronic disease using Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT): An existential view of illness. Explore. 2020;16(4):214-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2020.03.006
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2020.03.006
PMid:32335005
 
14. Sagherian K, Steege LM, Cobb SJ, Cho H. Insomnia, fatigue and psychosocial well‐being during COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional survey of hospital nursing staff in the United States. Journal of clinical nursing. 2020;3(1):12-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15566
https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15566
PMid:33219569 PMCid:PMC7753687
 
15. Khoshravesh S, Khosrojavid M, Hoseyn Khanzade A. Efficacy of emotion regulation training on social acceptance and empathy of students with dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2015;5(1):32-46.
 
16. Lafrance Robinson A, McCague EA, Whissell C. "That chair work thing was great": A pilot study of group-based emotion-focused therapy for anxiety and depression. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies.2014;13(4):263-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2014.910131
https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2014.910131
 
17. Mirzazadeh F, Ahmadi K, Fatehezadeh MA. Examining the effectiveness of emotionally focused therapy on post-divorce adjustment in women. Family Counseling and Psychotherapy. 2012;2(1):441-60. https://doi.org/20.1001.1.22516654.1391.2.1.2.7
 
18. Dessaulles A, Johnson SM, Denton WH. Emotion-focused therapy for couples in the treatment of depression: A pilot study. The American Journal of Family Therapy. 2003;31(5):345-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926180390232266
https://doi.org/10.1080/01926180390232266
 
19. Manafi SF, Dehshiri G. Fear of disease progression in patients with cancer and multiple sclerosis and its relation to emotional problems. Quarterly Journal of Health Psychology. 2017;6(22):115-30.
 
20. Sanagavi Moharrar G, Shirazi M, Mohammadi R, Maghsoodloo F. Effectiveness of Emotional Therapy on Reducing Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. medical journal of mashhad university of medical sciences. 2019;61(1):190-200. . https://doi.org/10.22038/MJMS.2019.14605
 
21. Pallini S, Baiocco R, Schneider BH, Madigan S, Atkinson L. Early child-parent attachment and peer relations: A meta-analysis of recent research. Journal of Family Psychology. 2014;28(1):118-23. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035736
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035736
PMid:24512287
 
22. Fathi S, Pouyamanesh J, Ghamari M, Fathi Aghdam G. The Effectiveness of Emotion-based Therapy and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy on the Pain Severity and Resistance in Women with Chronic Headaches. Community Health Journal. 2021;14(4):75-87. https://doi.org/10.22123/CHJ.2021.219287.1441
 
23. Zlotnick C, Johnson J, Najavits LM. Randomized controlled pilot study of cognitive-behavioral therapy in a sample of incarcerated women with substance use disorder and PTSD. Behavior Therapy. 2009;40(4):325-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2008.09.004
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2008.09.004
PMid:19892078 PMCid:PMC3031094
 
24. Powell LH, Shahabi L, Thoresen CE. Religion and spirituality: Linkages to physical health. American psychologist. 2003;58(1):36-44. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.36
https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.36
PMid:12674817
 
25. Hartley MT. Investigating the relationship of resilience to academic persistence in college students with mental health issues. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin.2013;56(4):240-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355213480527
https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355213480527
 
26. Sedighi S,Makvand Hosseini Sh, Ghanbari Hashemabadi B. The effectiveness of group therapy interaction analysis on improving couples communication patterns, knowledge and research in applied psychology. 2016;17(3): 44-36.
 
27. Neff KD. The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and identity. 2003;2(3):223-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309027
https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309027
 
28. Miller RS, Lefcourt HM. The assessment of social intimacy. Journal of personality Assessment. 1982;46(5):514-8. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4605_12
https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4605_12
PMid:16367633
 
29. Rasteghar S, Abdollahi M, Shahgholian M. Internet Addiction, Social Intimacy and Happiness in Students, Developmental Psychology: Iranian Psychologists. 2014;11(42): 37-49.
 
30. Sharafaldin H. Reliability and validity of the social acceptance scale. Journal of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. 2010;5(2):56-69.
 
31. Greenberg LS. Emotion-focused therapy. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy: An International Journal of Theory & Practice. 2004;11(1):3-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.388
https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.388
 
32. Sayadi M, Madani Y. Effectiveness of emotionally focused couple therapy on marital commitment and couple burnout in infertile couples. J Educ Community Health.2017;4(3):26-37. https://doi.org/10.21859/jech.4.3.26
https://doi.org/10.21859/jech.4.3.26
 
33. Shahar B, Bar-Kalifa E, Alon E. Emotion-focused therapy for social anxiety disorder: Results from a multiple-baseline study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.2017;85(3):238. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000166
https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000166
PMid:28221059
 
34. Wnuk SM, Greenberg L, Dolhanty J. Emotion-focused group therapy for women with symptoms of bulimia nervosa. Eating disorders. 2015;23(3):253-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2014.964612
https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2014.964612
PMid:25329045
 
35. Shapiro A, Keyes CL. Marital status and social well-being: Are the married always better off?. Social Indicators Research. 2008;88(2):329-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9194-3
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9194-3
 
36. Timulak L, Keogh D, McElvaney J, Schmitt S, Hession N, Timulakova K, Jennings C, Ward F. Emotion-focused therapy as a transdiagnostic treatment for depression, anxiety and related disorders: Protocol for an initial feasibility randomised control trial. HRB OpenResearch.2020;3(2):18-26. https://doi.org/10.12688/hrbopenres.12993.1
https://doi.org/10.12688/hrbopenres.12993.1
PMid:32296754 PMCid:PMC7140776
 
37. Watson JC, Goldman RN, Greenberg LS. Contrasting Two Clients in Emotion-Focused Therapy for Depression 1: The Case of" Tom,"" Trapped in the Tunnel". Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy. 2011;7(2):268-304. https://doi.org/10.14713/pcsp.v7i2.1091
https://doi.org/10.14713/pcsp.v7i2.1091
 
38. Gerayeli M, Aghamohammadian Sharbaaf H, Asghari Ebrahim Abad MJ. Effectiveness of emotion-focused group therapy in increasing hope and interpersonal forgiveness in the love Trauma Syndrome. Research in Clinical Psychology and Counseling. 2020;9(2):87-100. https://doi.org/10.22067/IJAP.V9I2.68223
 
39. Thompson S, Girz L. Overcoming shame and aloneness: Emotion-focused group therapy for self-criticism. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies.2020;19(1):1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2019.1618370
https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2019.1618370
 
40. Amini M, Lotfi M, Fatemitabar R, Bahrampoori L. The effectiveness of emotion-focused group therapy on the reduction of negative emotions and internet addiction symptoms. Practice in Clinical Psychology. 2020;8(1):1-8. https://doi.org/10.32598/jpcp.8.1.1
https://doi.org/10.32598/jpcp.8.1.1

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics