Forgiveness Based Mindfulness and Emotionally Focused Therapy on Rumination and Marital Satisfaction of Women Injured by Husband's Infidelity

Cheating is one of the serious injuries of marital life. This can have negative consequences for cheated. The major disruptions experienced by an injured spouse are intense rumination about the event and reduced marital satisfaction. Therefore, marital satisfaction along with rumination seems to play a significant role in the life and mental health of women damaged by husband's infidelity. Positive psychological approaches, such as forgiveness therapy and mindfulness therapy, are particular importance in this regard and ever-increasing research suggests the benefits of these two treatments. In spite of the fact that the evidence and ideas in the area of mindfulness and forgiveness speak of the possibility of combining the strengths of these two treatments, but so far, specifically and specifically, these two treatments have not been used in the formulation or integration of this group of injured women. Therefore, with the formulation and implementation of a package of forgiveness-based mindfulness, it is likely that this group of women can help to control the wrath they feel from their spouse in a desirable manner and by forgiving; they will feel more relieved than their unpleasant excitement. This study aimed to determine the effect of forgiveness based mindfulness and emotionally focused therapy on the mental rumination and marital satisfaction of women injured by husband infidelity. 

The research method was a semi-experimental with 3 groups of two stages (pre-test and post-test). The statistical population of the study consisted of 100 women hearted by husband's infidelity in Isfahan (Isfahan province, Iran) during the winter of 2017, who responded to the recall of the consultation centers and treatment centers in the city of Isfahan, 45 of them were selected by purposeful sampling based on entry and exit criteria. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups of experimentation (forgiveness based mindfulness axis of 15 people and emotionally focused therapy of 15 people) and control group (n=15). In this research, rumination questionnaire (Nullen-Huximaa 1991) and marital satisfaction (Inrich, 1993) were used. Forgiveness based mindfulness group was treated for 11 sessions of 90 minutes and the emotionally focused group was treated for 9 sessions of 90 minutes, but the control group did not receive any treatment during this period. Data were analyzed using covariance analysis using SPSS-20 software.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between forgiveness based mindfulness therapy and emotionally focused therapy with the control group in post-test stage after pre-test control in rumination and marital satisfaction (p<0.001). Both treatments reduced rumination and increased marital satisfaction. But there was no significant difference between the treatments of forgiveness based mindfulness therapy and emotionally focused therapy in rumination and marital satisfaction in post-test stage after pre-test control.

Based on the findings of this study, both treatment forgiveness based mindfulness and emotionally focused therapy to increase marital satisfaction and reduce rumination in women injured by husbands infidelity are potently effective.