The effectiveness of emotionally focused couple therapy on emotional and sexual intimacy of incompatible couples

Emotionally focused couple therapy is a short-term and structured approach for treatment and improves the distressed relationship that focuses on stable interactive negative cycles which caused by deep emotional vulnerability and attempts to reduce couple’s emotional distress through intervention in emotional level, especially attachment-based emotional responses. The current study was administered aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotionally focused couple therapy on emotional and sexual intimacy in incompatible couples. The statistical population consisted of 100 couples among couples referred to Ahvaz counseling centers (Mehravaran, Neday Zendegi, and research center of behavioral sciences of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz) during the fall of 2017. The sample research consisted of 3 couples (6 individuals) among couples referred to these counseling centers that were selectedaccording to the results of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) with cut of point of 101 and with purposeful sampling method. In this research, a single-case experimental design, type of non-concurrent multiple baseline designs was used. To evaluate the couples’ emotional and sexual intimacy, the sub-scales of emotional and sexual intimacy of Schaefer & Olson’ Scale (1981) of Personal Assessment of Intimacy were used. The protocol of emotionally focused couple therapy was carried out in three phases of basic lines, intervention of 10 weekly sessions (90 minutes each session), and two months follow-up. The data were analyzed using visual drawing, the reliable change index (RCI) and the formula of improvement percentage. The findings indicated that in the treatment phase the couples experienced 33.82% improvement in emotional intimacy and 34.88% in sexual intimacy. Therefore, the research findings illustrated that emotionally focused couple therapy is effective on the increasing of emotional and sexual intimacy of the couples under studied by changing the negative interactive cycles.