Effectiveness of positive couple therapy in the empathy and intimacy of infertile couples

Infertility is one of the life crises that put a lot of stress on infertile couples. The phenomenon of infertility with the conditions of a crisis-causing accident, duration, complex conditions, unpredictability, and uncontrollability of conditions, creates a comprehensive crisis in the life of infertile couples and causes various problems and injuries. This study aimed to show the effectiveness of positive couple therapy on empathy and intimacy of infertile couples. The research method was semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with the control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all infertile couples referred to Baran and Rah-e Sabze Zendegi counseling centers in Shiraz in 2019, among whom 30 were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A positive couple therapy program was performed for the experimental group, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups responded to the marital empathy scale (Julie and Farrington, 2006) and marital intimacy questionnaire (Walker and Thompson, 1983) in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Data analysis was performed using ANCOVA analysis using SPSS.22 software. The results showed that positive couple therapy can improve empathy (p <0.01), and intimacy (p <0.01). The results also showed that the effectiveness of positive couple therapy on empathy and marital intimacy was lasting until the follow-up phase (p <0.01). It can be concluded that positive couple therapy is effective on empathy and intimacy and can be used as an effective method in infertile couples.