The Effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy on the Alexithymia, Defense Styles, and Ego Strength in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the digestive diseases that is associated with psychological causes, and dynamic treatment can play an effective role in improving psychological symptoms. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of intensive and short-term dynamic therapy on alexithymia, defence style, and ego strength in patients with IBS.

The research method was quasi-experimental. The research population was all IBS patients referred to internal clinics in Andimshek in 2022. Thirty people were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental (15 subjects) and control groups (15 subjects). The experimental group received dynamic therapy for fifteen 90-minute sessions, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Two groups were evaluated in three stages using the Alexithymia, Defense Styles, and Ego Strength Questionnaires. Data were analyzed using two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The average scores of defense styles, alexithymia, and ego strength before the intervention were 72.25, 58.36, and 24.08 in the treatment group, and 72.12, 59.16, and 23.52 in the control group, respectively (p>0.05), but after the intervention, the average scores of ego strength showed a significant increase in the treatment group compared to the control group, while defense styles and alexithymia significantly decreased (p<0.001).

The results of the study indicated the effect of intensive and short-term dynamic therapy on the improvement of psychological symptoms in the experimental group. With caution, it is recommended to use this intervention as a complementary treatment for irritable bowel syndrome.