Effectiveness of Couple Therapy by Gottman Method on Family Function and Marital Adjustment in Divorce Applicant Couples

Divorce applicant couples have many problems, especially in the field of family function and marital adjustment and psychological interventions are necessary to improve their characteristics. This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of couple therapy by Gottman method on family function and marital adjustment in divorce applicant couples. This research was semi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test. The research statistical population was divorce applicant couples referring to counseling centers of Gharchak city in spring season of 2018 year. Research sample was 50 couple that were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to two equal groups (each group 25 couple). The experimental group trained couple therapy by Gottman method for 8 sessions of 90 minutes (two sessions a week). The research instruments were family function and marital adjustment questionnaires that completed in pre-test and post-test stages by both groups. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance method. The findings showed that couple therapy by Gottman method led to increase family function (F=47/50, P<0/000) and marital adjustment (F=44/82, P<0/000) in divorce applicant couples. The results indicate the importance of couple therapy by Gottman method on increase the family function and marital adjustment in divorce applicant couples. As a result, clinical psychologists and therapists can use couple therapy by Gottman method to improve psychological characteristics, especially improving family function and marital adjustment in divorce applicant couples.