unity oriented psychology

The current study examines the effectiveness of unity-oriented intervention on depression and suicidal tendencies of Shahid Beheshti University students. Research method was quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest, and control group and a three month follow up. The statistical population included all male Students between the ages of 19 to 24, attending Shahid Beheshti University in 2018.Statistical population of this research include 895 male Students, Living at university dormitories. Through screening, 20 Students were selected and randomly assigned to experiment and control group. The subjects were evaluated before and after interventions through Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (Beck, Kovacs & Weissman, 1979) and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995).The unity-oriented intervention was administered in 10 sessions, each of them took 1.5 hours in the experiment group and there was no intervention in control group. The data were analyzed through Mann-Whitney U test. Findings show that unity-oriented intervention has a significant effect on depression (U= 15, P= 0.02), and suicidal ideation (U= 14.5, P= 0.019) and this effect remained unchanged in the three month follow-up phase. Through integrationof life experiences and acceptance of life's realities, unity-oriented psychology approach promote a sense of belonging and meaningfulness. And decreases depression symptoms and suicidal tendencies. Therefore it can be used as an effective intervention method to alleviate psychological problems, especially suicidality and depression, and also promote student’s well-being.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of unity-oriented psychology training on Self-compassion and Marital Intimacy in Mothers in the empty nest stage. A quasi-experimental research method with a pretest-posttest, control group, and 2-month follow-up was used in this study. The statistical population consisted of Mothers in the empty nest stage of Tehran. The sampling method was purposive and 24 according to the inclusion criteria, 24 mothers were randomly assigned into two groups of 12 each. The experimental group participated in 6 sessions of Unity-Oriented Psychology training, once a week, for 120 minutes, and 6 home exercise sessions and the control group was on the waiting list. Research instruments were the Walker and Thompson Intimacy Scale (IS) and the Self-Compassion questionnaire-Short Form (SCS). Descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of covariance were used for data analysis. The results showed that the unity-oriented psychology training had a significant effect on Increasing self-compassion in mothers in the empty nest stage but the effect of this intervention on Marital intimacy was not significant. These results were also consistent after a 2-month follow-up. According to the findings of this study, unity-oriented psychology training can be considered as an effective way to Increasing the self-compassion of mothers in the empty nest stage.

The existential psychology is based on phenomenological philosophy. In this approach, the world has no meaning and is futile. What makes man distinguished from other creatures is his freedom and ability to choose. Psychological assumptions in this approach include human freedom, death anxiety, and humanism. In contrast, the unity-oriented psychology approach maintains that human nature has a purposive existence with a unity-oriented meaning and intention, and has founded its psychological assumptions on the basis of a unity-oriented nature, as well as the motivation of love, attachment and immortality of mankind. In this approach, the universe is not futile and vain, has inherent meaning, and each person, with his own unique characteristics is the creator of the story and meaning of his life. The purpose of this research was to answer these questions: What is the ontological nature of human existence, his cognition, motivation, and purpose? How is the analysis process in the native approach of unity-oriented psychology? And, what are the conceptual differences between this approach and the existential approach with regard to these indices? Unity-oriented psychology does not see human as a disposed object thrown away into the universe, and accounts human nature and psychological motives as a derivation of his love, connection, and attachment to the universe of unity that gives life a divine meaning and purpose. Therefore, the psychological interventions of the phenomenalist approach have little success or justification in the innatist and religious societies.

The researches indicate the positive effect of take advantage of spiritual interventions to enhancement the marital satisfaction and psychological well-being. As well as, the therapeutic model based on Unity-oriented psychology, is spiritual, local and new method that its positive influence in clinical work and research somewhat has been revealed. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of group counseling based on Unity-oriented psychology on marital satisfaction and psychological well-being of couples. The research method of current study was semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test design and one-month follow-up with the control group. By using a purposeful sampling among couples living in Sabzevar city, 24 couples (48 people) were selected as subjects and were assigned randomly in two groups of 12 couples (24 people) as experimental and control groups. The data were gathered by marital satisfaction scale by Olson, Furnier, Joen & Drakman, 1989 and Ryff’ Psychological well-being scale, 1980. Then the subjects of the experimental group participated in 8 sessions of 120 minutes of Group Interventions of training the Unity-oriented psychology. The results of analysis of variance with repeated measure indicated that group counseling based on Unity-oriented psychology has a positive and significant effect on marital satisfaction (F=3/59; Eta =22; P-Value <0/05) and psychological well-being  (F=4/57; Eta =26; P-Value <0/05) in posttest and follow-up. According to these findings, it can be conclude that the group counseling based on Unity-oriented psychology that derived from Iranian knowledge and culture and suitable for Iranian couples, is effective in promoting marital satisfaction and psychological well-being of them.

Identification and understanding of meaningfulness of life events is one of the most fundamental issues in the quality of human life and its positive changes which also has always had an important role in his mental health and life satisfaction. This study by surveying meaningfulness of life events in Quran and unity-oriented psychology, aims to achieve a conceptual structure, so that effective artistic practices and programs could be designed on its basis to be used in the psychological interventions.
Some psychologists such as Alport, Frankl and Maslow consider meaningfulness of life as the most important factor affecting positive psychosocial actions. So it can be said that giving attention to the meaning of life has been very much considered in the field of psychology. The answer given to the question of “meaning of life” affects our life experiences and everyday practices. It is creation of meanings that makes sense of the world to us and specifies the path of our life in the world; thus true achieving of it decreases the level of negative emotions (such as depression and anxiety) and also reduces the risk of mental illnesses, so that the “Meaning Therapy” (MT) is considered as one of the main interventions in psychology. Although meaningfulness of life is a subjective perception and mental cognition; but it depends entirely on the attitude of man to life, and religion is the factor that gives direction to the attitude and worldview of an individual. As a result, the necessity of examining religious psychology is also felt.
In Islam, the Holy Quran has repeatedly expressed the divine goal in meaningfulness of life and giving meaning to the living of human beings. It has stated - in the verses of belief through the explanation of this principle and in the verses of the commandments and ethics by mentioning the way of meaningful life- that it is the wonder and psychological miracle of Quran. One of the psychological characteristics of Quran is its consideration of its goal-oriented and immortal human conduct which is reminiscent of human attachment to the One Being and his origin “God Almighty” which he ultimately will return to (Al-Baqarah, v. 46). The forgetfulness of this connection leads to separation from the true self, forgetting oneself and fear of loss and insecurity which are the main root of concerns and fundamental anxieties (al-Hashr: 19 and al-Yunus: 62).
Unity-oriented psychology as a new meaning-oriented approach in psychology based on religious knowledge with the centrality and theoretical framework of the concepts of the unity of being and the Quranic teachings, and relying on the unity-oriented transcendent wisdom and by its use, has tried to make a unitary connection between the self of person, his environment and the changes. So that; one can get a positive perception of his life events_ which are the natural causes of his developmental stages_ leading to the constructive change of himself/herself. This monotheistic and religious attitude to the nature of man and the universe describes all the changes and subtleties of individuals in how to respond to the need for one's own monotheistic connection in growth stages of life and considers the separation, lack of interconnectedness and weakening of its attachment in the stages of development as the main causes of anxiety and fundamental fear and the origin of many mental disorders.
Hence, by examining the issue of meaningfulness of life events based on Quran and unity-oriented psychology and the concept of monotheistic outlook toward life experiences and events, it was concluded that in order to objectify, materialize and better adapt to the life events, respectively, three indicators are derived from it: 1. “unity-oriented recognition and acceptance of life events”, referring to verse 23 of Surah al-Hadid, and related concepts in unity-oriented psychology to create a balanced and meaningful life with reminiscent of the lack of ecstasy in joys and lack of disappointment and frustration in plights; 2. “the conjunction of opposite pluralities” on the basis of the verses 5 of surah al-Yunus, verse 3 of surah al-Molk and other verses referring to the conjunction of divine guidance such as the chain loops, and interpretation of the same concept in unity-oriented psychology with an emphasis on the continuity of any incident with the past, future, nature and environment, and the adventures before and after it; 3. “giving meaning to multiplicities of life” referring to verse 216 of Surah al-Baqara, and the concept of the existence of the purpose and wisdom of good and the constructive cultivation of all that occurs, with the intention of opening up and guiding man to purity and consciousness and discovering himself towards progress, prosperity and enlightenment of the path in the unity-oriented attitude.
On the other hand, since the main attribute of religious and Islamic art in Iran has monotheistic foundation, and art is also considered in the unity-oriented approach as a facilitating tool for opening the way for the influence of positive imagination and receiving inspiration and intuition on the mind and makes the clients see their status in an integrated mode and get consistent with the events of life; as a result, artistic design, media and artistic techniques (design, painting, collage, photography, sandbox, etc.) could be used in this regard. Hence, each of the three indicators deduced from unity-oriented psychology and the teachings of Holy Quran in the context of the concept of a unitary attitude in experiences and events of life can be the basis for designing artistic exercises, so that by the use of unity-oriented art, one could give meaning to his/her life events and by removing negative effect of some events, their positive role in the growth and life balance could be found. In this approach; by unitary narrative of his/her life and doing artistic and unity-oriented practices in accordance with the extracted concepts and along with their interpretation by the viewpoint of Quran and unity-oriented psychology approach, one could be able to explain what she/he has perceived from life events and adapt them with examples of his/her own life.

This study was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of participating in teaching sessions based on concepts on unity-oriented psychology on the level of stress and mother-child relationship in mothers of autistic children.
A quasi-experimental pre-post design with control group was applied in the current research. The statistical population included 35 mothers of autistic children who were referred to the Autistic Training and Rehabilitation Center (Behara) in Tehran in 2014. All participants were residents in the City of Tehran. Of these sixteen mothers were on convenience and were placed in either the experimental or the contril group. The experimental group participated in eight sessions of intervention based on unity-oriented psychology as well as eight home work sessions. The control group was placed on a waiting list. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) by Cohen, Kamark and Mermelstein (1983) and Mother-Child Relationship Scale (MCRE) by Roth (1961) were administered to all participants. Mann- Whitney non-parametric test was used for data analysis.
Statistical results indicated that intervention of unity-oriented psychology conceptions was effective in reducing the stress level and improving mother-child relationship in the experimental group as compared to the control group. A two month follow up... .