The Effectiveness of Solution-focused Therapy on Couples\' Marital Adjustment in Conflicted Couples

Abstract

Solution-Focused Therapy is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on solutions rather than on gaining insight into challenges and concerns. This approach used a variety of principles to generate solutions for those who need them through a therapeutic process. The current study aimed to examine the effectiveness of solution-oriented approach on marital adjustment in conflicted couples in Kermanshah (Iran). This experimental study was conducted with an experimental pre-test-post-test with a control group design. The statistical population included all the conflicted couples in Kermanshah city in 2020 that referred to Kermanshah counseling centers due to marital conflicts and received a diagnosis of marital conflict by a psychologist. Participants were 30 couples were selected by random sampling and randomly assigned in experimental and control groups (15 couples in each group). Pre-test and posttest was administered in the control and experimental groups before and after intervention. Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory were used to collecting data. For analyzing the data Covariance analysis was used. The results indicated that the solution-oriented approach is effective on marital adjustment in conflicting couples. Overall, results support the use of SFT in increasing the marital adjustment and provide an effective approach that is more strength based and fewer problems focused.

Keywords

• solution-oriented approach
• marital adjustment
• conflicted couples