Investigating the effectiveness of paradoxical couple therapy (PTC) on marital conflicts and emotion regulation in conflicting couples

The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of paradoxical couple therapy (PTC) on marital conflicts and emotion regulation in incompatible couples. The research design was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the current study included couples with marital conflicts who were referred to counseling centers in Tehran in the fall and winter of 1400, and who gave their informed consent to participate in this study. The final sample number in the present study was 18 couples with marital conflicts, which were selected by non-random sampling (available and purposeful) and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups (9 couples in the experimental group and 9 couples in the control group). The instruments used included the Marital Conflict Questionnaire (Barati and Sanai, 2015) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Gross and Jan 2003). After collecting the questionnaires and extracting the raw data, the analysis of the data from this research was done by SPSS-23 software and using univariate covariance analysis. The results showed that paradoxical couple therapy has a significant and favorable effect on marital conflicts and emotional regulation in couples with marital conflicts (p<0.001) and reduces marital conflicts and improves emotional regulation in couples with marital conflicts. Therefore, it can be concluded that psychotherapists can use this method of treatment to treat couples who have conflicts.