Effectiveness of Imago Therapy Training on Perspective Taking and Forgiveness in Females Damaged by Marital Infidelity

Marital infidelity is a critical problem for couples and families, especially for females. This research aimed at determining the effectiveness of Imago Therapy training on perspective taking and forgiveness among females damaged by marital infidelity.
This semi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test and post-test. The statistical population included all females damaged by marital infidelity that had referred to counseling centers of Ahvaz city during year 2015. In total, 30 females were selected by the convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to 2 groups (each group with 15 individuals). The intervention group received Imago Therapy training for 8 sessions of 90 minutes. The control group, however, did not receive any treatment. Both groups completed the "Perspective Taking Questionnaire" and “Forgiveness Questionnaire” in the pre-test and post-test steps. The reliability of both questionnaires were determined by Cronbach's alpha. Data were analyzed by the SPSS 21 software.
The findings showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups on perspective taking and forgiveness. In this respect, Imago Therapy training significantly increased perspective taking (F = 48.888, P ≤ 0.001) and forgiveness (F = 30.847, P ≤ 0.001) in females damaged by marital infidelity (P This study showed that Imago Therapy training increases perspective taking and forgiveness in females damaged by marital infidelity. Therefore, it is suggested for counselors and therapists to use this therapy to enhance psychological characteristics (especially perspective taking and forgiveness) of females damaged by marital infidelity.