Comparing the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Experiential Avoidance in Individuals Grieving Due to COVID-19

Authors

    Aliakbar Salimi Roodsary Ph.D. student of Department of Psychology, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran
    Shohreh Ghorban Shiroudi * Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran Shghorbanshiroudi@toniau.ac.ir
    Mohammadali Rahmani Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran
https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.jayps.5.3.10

Abstract

Objective: Psychiatric interventions for individuals with complex grief are essential; therefore, this study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy on experiential avoidance in individuals grieving due to COVID-19.

Research Method: This semi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test, post-test design with a control group and a three-month follow-up. The population of the study consisted of all families grieving due to COVID-19 during 2020-2021 in the city of Chalus, from which 45 individuals were selected through purposive sampling based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly assigned into three groups (two experimental and one control) of 15 members each. The first group received 9 sessions of Greenberg's (2017) emotion-focused therapy, the second group received 9 sessions of Beck's (2011) cognitive-behavioral therapy, and the control group received no intervention. The Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ; Gámez et al., 2011) was completed by participants at three stages: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up, for data collection. The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Findings: The results indicated that both emotion-focused therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy are effective in reducing experiential avoidance in grieving individuals, and moreover, in comparing the two therapies, emotion-focused therapy was more effective than cognitive-behavioral therapy in controlling experiential avoidance (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that emotion-focused therapy can be utilized to improve experiential avoidance in grieving individuals.

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Published

2024-03-10

How to Cite

Salimi Roodsary , . A. ., Ghorban Shiroudi, S., & Rahmani, M. . (2024). Comparing the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Experiential Avoidance in Individuals Grieving Due to COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent and Youth Psychological Studies (JAYPS), 5(3), 91-99. https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.jayps.5.3.10