A comparison of the effectiveness of Adlerian counseling and cognitive reconstruction based on an allegory of student mental health

The present study determines the effectiveness of two types of group counseling, Adlerian counseling and cognitive restructuring, based on an allegory to improve the mental health of students. The study was quasi-experimental. Participants consisted of 45 male students from the Teacher Training Center of Tehran, who were randomly assigned to two case groups and a control group. One case group underwent Adlerian group counseling, and the other underwent cognitive restructuring based on an allegory of 12 sessions. The mental health scale GHQ-28 was administered at pretest, posttest and follow-up stages. Results suggest that cognitive restructuring based on allegory effectively improved the mental health outcomes of group members and made a meaningful decrease in social function. However, significant changes were not found for participants in the Adlerian group. Modern treatments, such as cognitive restructuring, can be effectively utilized in Iran due to their cohesion with Iranian culture. It would be appropriate to promote it as an effective treatment based on the present study’s results.