positive psychotherapy

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of positive psychotherapy on decreasing the students' stress, anxiety, depression and increasing their well-being. In this study, an   experimental research method was adopted using a pretest-posttest control group design. A total of 34 undergraduate students were sampled out of 1200 students in academic year 2013-2014 University of Shahid Beheshti. Using convenience sampling, the participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The instruments employed in the study included Depression/ Anxiety and Stress Scale Lovibond (1995) and positive psychotherapy inventory (Rashid & Seligman, 2013). The positive psychotherapy was trained to the experimental group on a weekly basis during six two-hour sessions. The results of covariance indicated that positive psychotherapy was effective in decreasing stress, anxiety, depression and increasing the students' well-being and that their permanence was observed two months after the experiment. Because the early period of the students' life is stressful, and as the results represented, positive psychotherapy can be beneficial for students as an effective way to strengthen the psychological resources and mental health.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on cognitive flexibility and distress tolerance in divorced women. Methods: The study population consisted of all divorced women in Damghan City in 2020, from which 30 individuals were randomly selected and assigned to the control and experimental groups (15 individuals in each group). The Distress Tolerance Scale, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, and Positive Psychotherapy Protocol were used to collect the data, and the ANCOVA test was used to analyze the data. The ANCOVA results showed that the intervention group obtained significantly higher scores in cognitive flexibility and distress tolerance than the control group (p<0.01). Results: According to the findings, cognitive flexibility and distress tolerance significantly increased in the experimental group. According to the findings of the present study, positive psychotherapy and improvement of psychological components such as psychological flexibility and distress tolerance can play an important role in improving the mental health of divorced women. Conclusion: By focusing on talents and abilities, a positive therapeutic approach can use the potential capacities of people in order to improve psychological problems to a significant extent.

Objective: The purpose of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis of positive psychotherapy interventions for parents of children with special needs in Iran. Method: This study determined the effect size of positive psychotherapy interventions for these parents by synthesizing the results of various studies. The data sources included the National Publication Database, the Academic Jihad Science Information Center, and the Noor Specialized Journals Database. Out of 18 studies, 12 met the inclusion criteria and were selected, utilizing a meta-analysis checklist as the research tool. The study was based on 348 samples and 12 effect sizes. Findings: The meta-analysis revealed that the effect size of positive psychotherapy interventions for parents of children with special needs is d = 1.19 (p = 0.05), which is considered high according to Cohen's scale. The highest effect size was reported by Rezaei Kalantari et al. (2019), with a d = 2.31, titled "Effect of positive psychotherapy on perceived stress and life purposes in mothers of children with autism," and the smallest effect sizes were found in the study by Nili et al. (2019), with d = 0.2 and d = 0.23, titled "Effectiveness of positive training on irrational beliefs and happiness in mothers of deaf children." Conclusion: Overall, the results indicate that positive psychotherapy interventions are effective for parents of children with special needs, and researchers can utilize this program to enhance mental health components.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy and emotion-focused therapy on attachment patterns, communication patterns, and lifestyle of incompatible couples who referred to counseling centers. Methods: This study is applied research in nature and quasi-experimental in execution, utilizing a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included all couples with incompatible spouses who referred to counseling centers (Behesht Counseling Center) in Isfahan in 2022. From this population, 45 individuals were selected using convenience and purposive sampling and divided into three groups: two experimental groups (each with 15 participants) and one control group (15 participants). The first experimental group underwent Goodwin's positive psychotherapy (2018) in ten sessions, and the second experimental group underwent Johnson's emotion-focused therapy (2006) in eight sessions. The questionnaires used in this study were Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Questionnaire (1987), Christensen and Sullaway's Communication Patterns Questionnaire (1984), and Miller-Smith's Lifestyle Questionnaire (2003). Findings: Using covariance analysis, the results indicated that, after controlling for pre-test levels, there were significant differences between the experimental and control groups of incompatible couples in terms of attachment patterns (secure, avoidant-insecure, and ambivalent-insecure), communication patterns (constructive mutual), communication pattern (demand/withdraw), communication pattern (avoidant), and lifestyle. The effect size was 0.48 for emotion-focused therapy. Similarly, significant differences were observed for positive psychotherapy with an effect size of 0.41. There was a significant difference in the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy and emotion-focused therapy on attachment patterns (secure, avoidant-insecure, and ambivalent-insecure). Conclusion: Overall, the results indicate that emotion-focused therapy has a greater impact on attachment patterns (secure, avoidant-insecure, and ambivalent-insecure) compared to positive psychotherapy. Significant differences were also observed in the impact on communication patterns (constructive mutual, demand/withdraw, and avoidant) and lifestyle, with emotion-focused therapy showing a greater effect.