Comparing the Effects of Creativity Therapy and Group Counseling Based on Choice Theory on Students’ Exile Feeling and Thought Emotion

Nostalgia is described as a stressful reaction to being away from home or attachment objection (like parents). According to the thought emotion theory, affection and cognition are very important in creativity process. The present study compares the effectiveness of creativity therapy and group counseling based on the choice theory on the nostalgia and thought emotion of university students. The participants of this study included all students referring to the counseling center of Payame Noor University, Sari Center, in 2016-2017 academic year. The convenience sampling method was used for the selection of the subjects. The sample consisted of 45 individuals who were randomly divided into two experimental and one control group (n=15 in each group). In pretest, the exile feeling and thought emotion questionnaires were administered to all groups. One experimental group received the creativity therapy and the other group counseling training based on the theory of choice in eight 90-minute sessions for 2 months. The control group did not receive training during this period. After completing the training, posttest was obtained from three groups. The obtained data were analyzed using covariance analysis in SPSS V. 16. The results showed a significant difference between the effectiveness of creativity therapy training and group counseling based on choice theory in relieving students’ nostalgia and thought emotion (P<0.05). Also, the experimental interventions (group training based on group choice theory and creativity therapy) decreased the nostalgia and reduced thought raptus and increased thought dynamism in students. Creativity therapy training and group counseling based on choice theory may be effective in improving nostalgia and thought emotion in students