Survey and comparison of the effectiveness of schema mode therapy and emotionally focused couples therapy in increasing secure attachment style and reducing avoidant and ambivalent attachment styles in couples with marital conflict

Abstract

The aim of this study was to survey and comparison of the effectiveness of schema mode therapy and emotionally focused couples therapy in attachment styles (secure, avoidant, and anxious) in couples with marital conflict in a quasi-experimental method in a pretest, posttest and follow up design with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all the couples with marital conflict who visited the Mehrana counseling center in 2019 in Ahvaz, Iran that 45 couples were selected by voluntary sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group (15 pairs in each group). The participants completed the Adult Attachment Scale (Hazan and Shaver). The experimental groups underwent schema mode therapy and emotionally focused couples therapy for 12 sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. The data were analyzed by the statistical analysis of repeated measures in SPSS-19 software. The results showed that both schema mode therapy and emotionally focused couples therapy are effective in increasing the secure attachment style and reducing reducing avoidant and ambivalent attachment styles in the couples with marital conflict. There was no significant difference between the schema mode therapy group and the emotionally focused couples therapy group in attachment styles. Therefore, it is recommended that therapists and family counselors use these therapies along with other therapeutic interventions to increase secure attachment styles and reduce marital conflicts.