A Comparison of the Effect of a Systematic Motivational Counseling with an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Family Adaptability and Cohesion of Incompatible Marital Women

Systematic motivational counseling and acceptance and commitment therapy can improve the family structure by putting emphasis on the motivational structure amendment and the acceptance of life problems and facts. The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of systematic motivational counseling and acceptance and commitment therapy on family adaptation and cohesion of incompatible marital women. The research design was a quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test type with a control group which was done through random assignment and a three-month follow-up. Sampling was carried out voluntarily. Thirty-six incompatible women were assigned to one of the experimental and control groups. The research tool included family adaptability and cohesion evaluation scale (FACES-III). Data were analyzed through mutual variance analysis method by the repeated measurements. the results showed that there was a significant difference between the average pre-test and post-test scores in the control group (p<0.05). Also, the comparison of therapeutic groups indicated that there is no significant difference between the effect of systematic motivational counseling methods and acceptance and commitment therapy and family cohesion. the results showed that systematic motivational counseling and acceptance and commitment therapy could improve family adaptation and cohesion. Therefore, the results of the research provides empirical evidence for both therapies to improve the family structure.