Effectiveness of Existential Psychotherapy in Increasing the Resiliency of Infertile Women

Abstract

Background and Aim: Many problems are associated with infertility diagnosis, especially for women. Resiliency is one of the strategies which may reduce psychological distress of infertile women. The aim of current research was to study the effectiveness of existential psychotherapy in increasing the resiliency of infertile women. Method: The design of the present study was a semi-experimental research with pretest and posttest with control group. Statistical population consisted of all infertile women of Dehdasht, Iran, in the summer of 2014. Samples were selected at first by available sampling method and after completing resiliency questionnaire, and obtaining score for enter to research, were placement using random sampling method in two experimental and control groups (N = 8 per group). The experimental group participated in 8 sessions of group counseling based on existential approach and control group received no intervention. The gathered data were analyzed using covariance analysis. Results: The results showed that significant differences between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group existed. This difference was significant at the level of 0.01. Therefore, it seemed that existential psychotherapy increased the resiliency of infertile women. Conclusion: The results revealed that existential psychotherapy increased resiliency of infertile women and interventions based on this approach will lead to the improvement of the mental health.

Keywords

• Existential Psychotherapy
• Resiliency
• Infertile women.