Comparison the effectiveness of group counseling based on choice theory and Gottman theory on increasing marital intimacy and decreasing marital conflicts in married women

This research aimed to comparison the effectiveness of group counseling based on choice theory and Gottman theory on increasing marital intimacy and decreasing marital conflicts in married women. Present research was a quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with control group. Research population was included married women with marital problem referred to counseling and psychological services center of Mehr Jonoob in BandarAbbas city in 2016 year that from them 45 people were selected through available sampling method and randomly assigned to three equal groups (each group 15 people). Each of the experimental groups trained 8 sessions of 90 minutes with one of the group counseling methods (based on choice theory or based on Gottman theory). Groups completed the questionnaires of marital intimacy (walker & Thompson, 1983) and marital conflicts (Sanaee, 2007) in the pre-test and post-test stages. Data was analyzed with using SPSS-20 software and with multivariate analysis of covariance and post-hoc test methods. The findings showed both methods of group counseling based on choice theory and Gottman theory was effective on increasing marital intimacy and decreasing marital conflicts in married women. Also group counseling based on choice theory in comparison the group counseling based on Gottman theory was effective on increasing marital intimacy in married women, but there wasn’t any significant differences between both methods on decreasing marital conflicts in married women (P<0/05). Therefore, counselors and therapists can use from both methods especially the group counseling based on choice theory method to psychological interventions.