Journal of Counseling Research

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Aim: The present research was aimed to determine the relationship between normal and neurotic perfectionism, and self-handicapping and its subscales (negative mood, effort, and excuse-making) among male university students. Method: The method of the current research was descriptive-correlational. Total of 350 male post-graduate students from University of Tehran were selected by cluster sampling method. The participants completed the Jones & Rhodewalt Self-Handicapping Scale (1982) and the Terry-Short, Owens, Slade, and Dewey's Perfectionism Scale (1995). The collected data was analyzed through Pearson linear correlation and linear regression analysis. Results: Normal perfectionism showed a significant negative correlation with self-handicapping and components of negative mood and excuse-making, and there was a positive and significant relationship between normal perfectionism and the effort component. On the other hand, neurotic perfectionism had a significant negative relationship with self-handicapping and components of negative mood and excuse-making, but it showed no significant relationship with the component of effort. Also, normal and neurotic perfectionism concurrently showed the most prediction power for negative mood, the total self-handicapping, excuse-making, and effort, respectively. Conclusions: With increase in students' scores in domain of normal perfectionism, their self-handicapping behaviors seems to decrease, while an increase in their neurotic perfectionism scores appears to correlate with increased self-handicapping behaviors. It is also possible to directly predict the students' self-handicapping through normal and neurotic dimensions of perfectionism.

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Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of emotion-focused counseling model based on Islamic teachings on the level of intimacy in incompatible couples. Methods: In the first stage, the research methodology was used in a qualitative way to extract the Islamic themes about emotion regulation and assess its content validity through a survey of experts in the field. For the second stage, the experimental research method  was conducted in the framework of a pseudo-experimental design, utilizing a pre-test and post-test type, with a control group. The statistical population was selected from among 30 volunteers who had been selected from all married clients experiencing marital conflicts and referring to Yara counseling center in city of Saveh in the second half of the year 2017. They were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The toolds for gathering information included Thompson & Walker's Intimacy Scale (1983) and the Bagarozzi Marital Intimacy Needs (MINQ) Questionnaire. The program was run for 10 sessions of 90-minute group counseling for the experimental group, and the control group did not receive any training. Multivariate covariance analysis was used for data analysis. Findings: The research results indicated that the designed model had an appropriate validity (CVR =0.7125) and significantly increased the marital intimacy and its dimensions: emotional intimacy, psychological, intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic, and social-recreational, but it has no significant effect on the two dimensions, sexual and physical. Conclusions: It can be concluded that an emotion-focused counseling based on Islamic teachings model can help inconsistent couples gain more emotional control and more intimacy as an effective way.

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Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy and cognitive behavior therapy on well-being and depression and in adolescents with depression symptoms
Method: This was a quasi-experiment with pretest /posttest method and control group. Study sample included all the adolescents with depression who referred to counseling centers and psychiatric services in sari, Iran, in the year 2017. 51 patients were selected using random sampling method and were randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group. The positive psychotherapy experimental group was under treatment within 10 sessions, and the cognitive behavior experimental therapy was under treatment within 8 sessions, each session of 90 minutes weekly, while the control group received no treatment. The data collecting instruments used in this study were children´s depression inventory (CDI) and Riff´s psychological well-being questionnaire (RSPWB).Findings: Data analysis by using multivariate covariance method showed that both positive psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy had significant effects on increasing well-being but the efficiency of positive psychotherapy in increasing well-being was more significant compared to cognitive behavioral therapy. Also, in the analysis the two methods of psychotherapies on depression, there has been a significant difference between the control and the experiment groups. While the two therapetical approaches were equally effective in reducing depression. Conclusion: Due to emphasis on the different psychological aspects and some common treating features, the two therapetical models of positive psychotherapy and cognitive behavior therapy were equally effective in reducing depression. But positive psychotherapy is more effective than cognitive behavioral therapy in increasing psychological well-being. So,  as one of the clinical interventions, positive psychotherapy can be used by experts and school counselors.                                                                                                                   
 

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Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the effect of integrating positive thinking and resiliency training on body image concerns and social self-efficacy in adolescent boys. Methods: This research was an experimental study with a quasi-experimental design that included a pretest/posttest with a control group. The population included all 10^th grade male students in Tehran’s 16^th district. One of the high schools in that area was selected through convenient sampling method. From the entire 10^th grade students in that high school, 30 were selected based on the highest scores obtained in the Littleton and colleagues (2005) BICI questionnaire and were randomly placed in two experimental and control groups. Then, both groups responded to the Smith and Betz (2000) social self-efficacy scale. Eight approximately 75-minute training sessions of integrating positive thinking and resiliency were conducted for the experimental group, while the control group did not receive any training during this period. At the end of the course of experiment, post-test was performed and the data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and covariance analysis. Findings: The findings showed that training had a significant effect on reducing body image concern and increasing social self-efficacy of adolescents. Conclusions: It can be concluded that integrated training of positive thinking and resiliency can be a suitable method for reducing body image concern and increasing social self-efficacy in adolescents.

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Aim: This study was to examine the effectiveness of education for parent with Adlerian approach in reducing feeling of guilt and improving psychological well-being in children with depression. The method of this research was quasi experimental with pre-test/post-test design, with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all sixth-grade students in elementary school of Kamyaran, Kurdistan, Iran during the academic year 2017-2018. Using randomized cluster sampling, two schools (for boys and girls)  were selected and 60 parents whose children showed signs of depression were placed into experimental and control groups. The experimental group went through 8 ninety-minute sessions of parent education with Adlerian approach. In both groups, parents’ children answered two questionnaires that were designed based on Ryff’s psychological well-being scales (2002) and Izonk’s guilt and shame scales (2007). The data was analyzed with mixed-design analysis of variance. Accordingly, the findings have shown that the average scores of post-test and follow-up of the feelings of guilt for students in theexperimental group decreased and their psychological well-being improved significantly. Therefore, parent education that employs Adlerian approach has been effective in decreasing guilt in depressed children and improving their psychological well-being
 

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Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the five major traits of personality and symptoms of depression in students, with mediating role of self-esteem and self-efficacy. Methods: The research method was descriptive of correlational type. In order to select the sample, 400 students studying at Gonbadkavus Azad and State Universities were selected through cluster random sampling. The instruments used in this study included depression scales, five personality factors, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Pearson correlation test and path analysis methods were used to analyze the data. Findings: The results indicated that neuroticism as the strongest predictor of depression had a significant positive effect on it. While extraversion, agreeableness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy had a significant negative effect on depression. Also, the results of path analysis indicate that self-esteem and self-efficacy variables, simultaneously play a mediating role in predicting depression based on personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). Conclusion: According to the results of the research and the mediating role of self-esteem and self-efficacy in relation to personality traits and depression, planning to promote self-esteem and self-efficacy can play an important role in reducing depression by enhancing extroversion and agreeableness and reducing psychological distress.

 

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Aim: Intimacy among couples is an important factor in sustainable marriages. If couples' intimacy fades, it will affect their tendency toward extramarital relations. Individuals' style of attachment form during childhood and exert a notable influence on the formation of their marital intimacy during adulthood. Therefore, the goal of the present research was to study the mediating role of marital intimacy in relation between attachment styles and attitude of  Methods: This research is a descriptive-analytic study of correlational type. The statistical population is comprised of all married men and women of Tehran in the Iranian year of 1396. The study's sample was chosen from the population using the convenient sampling method. Data collection tools included Mark Whatley (2006) Q Attitude Toward Transnational Relationships Questionnaire, Collins & Read (1990) Attachment Style Questionnaire, and Thompson and Walker (2002) Marital Intimacy Questionnaire. The total population size of the sample was 650 couples, consisting of 357 women and 293 men.   Data analysis was done using the path analysis method and the AMOS statistical software from SPSS company. Results: Analyzing the correlation coefficients and their standardized values, in addition to the related t-test values, indicated that the direct effect of the anxiety-driven attachment style on marital intimacy is meaningful (P≤0/05). Furthermore, the indirect effect of marital intimacy on tendency toward infidelity is meaningful (P≤0/05). Conclusion: Since marriage and choosing a partner is one of the most important decisions in life, considering the predicting role of unsafe attachment style and the role of marital intimacy in individuals' tendency toward infidelity, the necessity of analyzing these two variables as it applies to premarital counseling and parental training about child education and attachment styles, must be emphasized.

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Introduction: Emotional or silent divorce is the most dangerous type of divorce. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of reality-based couple therapy and group forgiveness therapy on marital adjustment, emotional differentiation, and intimacy of divorced couples.
Materials and Methods: The research design of this study is semi-experimental and the type of design is multi-group pre-test and post-test. The statistical population is all married couples referred to Tabriz Andisheh Relief Centers and Allameh Amini for counseling. Purposeful sampling was performed based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria (year of marriage, age, education and emotional divorce), thus, 42 patients (21 couples) were randomly divided into three reality therapy groups. (8 sessions), forgiveness therapy (8 sessions) and control group were selected. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the results and repeated measures test was used to evaluate the scores at follow-up.
Results: Findings indicated that despite the favorable effect of both therapies, reality therapy had more significant effect on adaptation variable than therapeutic forgiveness. Also, none of the above treatments had a significant effect on the differentiation variable, and only the reality therapy had a significant effect on the intimate variable.
Conclusion: Training the principles of reality therapy, informing the spouses about the severity of their needs and creating a sense of responsibility for the satisfaction of their needs can play an important role in establishing and improving intimate relationships and couple adjustment.
 

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Aim: Romantic breakup has temporary and lasting effects on individual's psychological health. The aim of this study was to investigate the narrative identity of people with heartbreak. Methods: Using purposive sampling method, 15 participants with heartbreak who met the inclusion criteria were selected. Their stories were collected using a modified form of "relationship narrative interview." Then, data were analyzed with thematic analysis method (Clark and Brown, 2015). After determining the sub-themes and main themes, a conceptual model of participant's narrative was presented. Results: 63 sub-themes and 13 themes were formed during the analysis. The results show that participants tend to narrate the past as failure, the present as suspension, and the future as despair. The concept of the desirable self was hidden in their narratives, the desirable self that the individual had experienced or was in search of in that particular relationship. Conclusion: Based on the results, it seems that people with heartbreak who are experiencing a state of interruption in their transition, have a kind of rupture in their narrative identity that they feel they cannot repair. The results of this study can be effective in better understanding their narrative identity and possibly creating a psychological intervention for this situation.
 

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 Aim: The transition from university to work is one of the most sensitive periods in the lives of the educated, which can be a challenging or a relatively calm developmental stage. Therefore, the quality the type of this transition can affect the future career path as well as other life transitions. The purpose of the current research is to identify the challenges of the transition of students from university to work in the form of developing a native theoretical model. Methods: This research was conducted qualitatively using the grounded theory in 1401 .Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 undergraduate and graduates of the University of Isfahan using the method of purposive sampling, considering the rule of saturation. Findings: The results indicated the identification of 52 concepts and 15 categories. The model of the challenges of transitioning from university to work were compiled into 1. Causal conditions: Weakness in basic skills, self-awareness, psychological capitals, incompatibility of the individual characteristics with the field, low adaptability, lack of work experience; 2. Contextual conditions: Lack of environmental support, geographical location, imbalance between the supply and demand of the field in society; 3. Intervening conditions: Networking behavior; 4. Strategies: Skill training in a job unrelated to the field, education without a goal in postgraduate studies, willingness to migrate; and 5. The consequences: Individual, and social consequences. Conclusion: The results indicate that the challenges of students' transition from university to work are classified into two general categories: Challenges related to lack of preparedness (intrapersonal) and environmental factors (extra-personal). Therefore, the successful transition from university to work can be seen as dependent on two general factors: Intrapersonal (preparedness) and extra-personal (environment. ( The sum of these factors is effective in preparing students for transition .Specialists can help in preparing and the successful transition of students from university to work and in preventing unemployment and its resulting harms.

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Aim: There are many problems in couples who experience infidelity, and one of the effective methods in this area is schema therapy. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of schema therapy on boredom and marital satisfaction in people who cheat in marriage. Methods: The current research was semi-experimental. The statistical population of the current research included clients who had experience cheating and had visited Sahel Counseling Center in Tehran during the winter and spring of 2022. The sample of 40 people were selected by purposful sampling method and randomly divided into two groups (20 people in each group) including experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent schema therapy intervention and the control group did not receive any interventions. The measurement tools included the Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Pines Marital Discomfort Questionnaire. Multivariate analysis of covariance test was used for analysis. Findings: The results showed that schema therapy is significantly effective in modulating all three components of marital dissatisfaction as well as improving all components of marital satisfaction except financial management and relationships with children (p<0.01). Conclusion: In general, the results of this research showed that schema therapy is useful in changing aspects of loneliness and marital satisfaction and can be used to reduce family and psychological problems of people who cheated.