The Effect of Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT) based Brief Psychodynamic Psychotherapy on Marital Satisfaction

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy according to “core conflictual relationship theme” on the improvement of marital satisfaction among Iranian couples. The study population consisted of men and women who were married in Qom City for three years. 30 subjects were selected through volunteer sampling, assigned randomly to experimental (15 subjects) and control (15 subjects) groups. Both groups were assessed by ENRICH marital satisfaction questionnaire in the pre-test phase.
Experimental group passed a short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy according to “core conflictual relationship theme”. To evaluate the effect of the treatment, both groups again replied to the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire at the post-test phase. It was indicated that the scores of marital satisfaction and subscales in the experimental group were significantly improved.
Short-term dynamic psychotherapy according to “core conflictual relationship theme” is an effective and reliable treatment for mitigating marital problems and improving marital satisfaction. Moreover, the results highlight the importance of early developmental problems of couples in the present marital dissatisfactions.