Effect of “Ellis's Rational Emotive Therapy” and “Seligman Optimism Training” on General Health and Hopelessness in Divorce Women with Depression

Clinical disorders are disorders that present as residual symptoms of acute illness. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of “Ellis's Rational Emotive Therapy” and “Seligman Optimism Training” on general health and hopelessness in divorce women with depression.

The research design was quasi-experimental with pre-posttest in two experimental and control groups. The statistical population consisted of divorced women who contacted the Wellbeing Counseling Line who complained about physical symptoms and general health status, anxiety, social dysfunction and depression and suicide and hopelessness, were invited to a counseling session and diagnosed by a psychiatrist at a depression clinic. Of these, 32 subjects were selected through convince sampling. Data were collected using “General Health Questionnaire” and “Kazdin Hopelessness Scale”. Content validity and reliability were measured by Cronbach's alpha. The 10 sessions were a combination of "Ellis' Rational-Emotional Therapy" and "Seligman's Optimism Training". Data were analyzed by SPSS. 25.

Experimental group that received combined treatment interventions reported lower depression (F = 219.00) with mean of 11.441 and lower mean score of hopelessness (F = 108.00) with mean 7.41.

The combination of "Ellis's Rational-Emotional Therapy" and "Seligman's Optimism Training" reduced the severity of major depressive disorder. Therefore, group therapy is recommended for people working with depression.