Comparison of The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy and Its Combination with Spiritual Masnavi’s Metaphors on Existential Anxiety and Psychological Capital

Nowadays, existential crisis and reduced psychological capital have resulted in anxiety and other mental problems. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the effectiveness of ACTgroup therapy using metaphors of spiritual Masnavi and ACTtherapy on psychological capital and existential anxiety.

The research method was quasi-experimental. The population includedall clients at Psychological Clinics of Tehran in 1400. Sixtypeople were selected by random sampling method and allocated to groups of twenty. Interventions for experimental groups consisted of eight weekly sessions. Data were collected through the Luthans (2007) Psychological Capital Questionnaire and Good (1974) Existential Anxiety. The hypotheses were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

The results showed that both treatments were effective in improving psychological capital. The effectiveness of the combined group therapy based on acceptance and commitment in addition to the metaphors of spiritual Masnavi was greater than the ACTgroup therapy alone on psychological capital. Also, ACTgroup therapy and its combination with the metaphors of the spiritual Masnavi has no significant effect on improving existential anxiety.

The current study supports the idea of integrating acceptance and commitment to therapy with Masnavi’s metaphors to enhance its effectiveness. So, Iranian literature and art can be a useful source to improvetherapeutical and preventive interventions.