The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Marital Conflict and Emotional Divorce of Women Facing Divorce

The study focuses on the increasing rates of divorce and the need for effective therapeutic interventions to reduce marital conflict and emotional divorce. The current study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in reducing marital conflict and emotional divorce among women who are facing divorce and seeking services at Zanjan family counseling centers, Zanjan, Iran. This quasi-experimental study was conducted in the second half of 2021. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 20 participants from Zanjan family counseling centers, who were randomly allocated into two groups. The treatment group received ten sessions of 60 minutes twice a week (5 weeks) of acceptance and commitment therapy. The Marital Conflict Questionnaire and Emotional Divorce Scale were used as research tools to measure pretest and posttest scores. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in SPSS version 24 to compare the mean scores for marital conflict and emotional divorce between the treatment and control groups. The findings of the study revealed that acceptance and commitment therapy was effective in reducing both marital conflict and emotional divorce scores in the treatment group compared to the control group. The mean score for marital conflict decreased significantly from 172.50±18.23 to 147.25±15.68 in the treatment group (P<0.001), while the control group showed no significant changes. The mean score for emotional divorce also decreased significantly from 2.35±16 to 1.93±12 in the treatment group (P<0.001), while the control group again showed no significant changes. This research demonstrated that acceptance and commitment therapy is an effective psychotherapy for reducing marital conflict and emotional divorce in women at risk of divorce who referred to family counseling centers. The findings of this study have practical implications for counseling settings.