Rooyesh-e- Ravanshenasi Journal(RRJ)

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Addiction as a recurrent, destructive, self-inflicted disorder inflicting harm on family and society comes at a high cost while wasting opportunities and suppressing talents. Several treatment options have been designed for addiction but one of the most effective and important methods used all over the world is the twelve-step program or the treatment protocol used in the meetings of anonymous addicts. However, this method alone has often been associated with shortcomings. It has been shown that the twelve-step approach will be more effective when combined with therapeutic approaches to treat comorbid disorders such as depression and anxiety. Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy is an experiential and emotional therapy that has been shown to be highly effective and persistent in reducing depression and anxiety. This study analyzes the mechanism of effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapeutic interventions along with the twelve-step approach in reducing the symptoms of addiction, reducing the temptation to consume, and reducing the psychological defenses that lead to addiction.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the Combination of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Interventions and the 12-step method in reducing the defense mechanism of denial in recovering addicts in Tehran province. The research design was a quasi-experimental pretest and posttest with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all recovering addicts in Tehran province in 1399, of which 58 people were selected by purposive non-random sampling and assigned to experimental groups (30 people) and control (28 people). The instrument of the present study was the Defense Styles Questionnaire (DSQ) (Andrews et al., 1993). The intervention group received psychotherapy for 10 sessions of 60 minutes per week in addition to the twelve-step sessions, and the control group did not receive any intervention. The results of univariate analysis of covariance showed that there was a significant difference between the scores of the defense mechanism denial of the experimental and control groups in the post-test stage (p <0.05). The subjects in the experimental group scored better than the control group in the post-test stage compared to the control group. Based on the findings of this study, short-term intensive scanning psychotherapy and the 12-step method as a suitable option to reduce the defense mechanism of addicts' denial are improving.

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The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of short-term dynamic psychotherapy on the emotional expression and differentiation of betrayed women. The research method was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all betrayed women who were referred to counseling centers and psychological services in Tehran in the second half of 2020. Using the available sampling method, 40 people were selected as a sample and randomly tested in 2 groups of 20 people. They were replaced awaiting treatment. The experimental group underwent 9 sessions of 75-minute short-term dynamic psychotherapy and the waiting group remained on the waiting list. The instruments used included the Emotional Expression Questionnaire (EEQ) (King and Emmons, 1990) and Differentiation (DSI) (Skowron & Friedlander, 2003) which were used in two stages pre-test and post-test. Data analysis was performed using SPSS₂₂ software and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results showed that short-term dynamic psychotherapy increased the expression of emotion (and its components) (p<0.01) and differentiation (and its components) (p<0.01) in betrayed women. These results can provide appropriate educational and therapeutic implications for therapists as well as betrayed women to reduce the problems caused by this problem.

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The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Intensive and Short-Term Dynamic Therapy (ISTDP) on defense mechanisms and emotional expression in individuals with coronavirus-induced death anxiety. The method of the present study was quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test & follow-up design with the control group. The statistical population of the present study included all undergraduate students of accounting at the Azad University of Tehran in the first semester of 2021, who scored higher than the cut-off (70 and above) in the coronavirus-induced death anxiety that 34 people selected in a purposive manner after screening and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (17 people in each group). Treatment (8 sessions of 75 minutes per week) was presented to the experimental group individually. Also for data collection, Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ, Andrews, et al., 1993), Expressed Emotion (EEQ, King and Ammons, 1990), and Coronavirus-induced Death Anxiety (CDA, Naji, 2021) were used and analyzed by Multivariate analysis of variance. The results showed that intensive and short-term dynamic therapy reduces coronavirus-induced death anxiety, and neurotic and immature defenses, and increases emotional and mature defenses. (p<0.01). Dynamic psychotherapy can facilitate coping strategies with anxiety and how to express emotion, and dynamic psychotherapy allows better defense mechanisms to be used. Therefore, it can be said that according to the intended therapeutic goals, dynamic psychotherapy can be used to affect different dimensions of individual problems.

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This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy and emotion-focused couple therapy on couples with alexithymia, marital satisfaction, and difficulty in emotion regulation. The method of the present study is quasi-experimental including pretest- posttest with a control group and with 3 month follow-up pattern. The statistical population of this study is based on online invitations for volunteered couples living in strict 1,2,3 in Tehran, for which 60 teams among them were selected according to inclusion criteria. The instruments used included the Farsi version of The Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (FTAS-20), the Afrooz and Erich Marital Satisfaction Scale, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. The experimental groups got two different types of therapy once a week. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of the Covariance and Bonferroni tests. Results showed that both therapies were significant for research variables and they were consistent in 3-month follow-up. So both methods can help reduce symptoms of Alexithymia, marital dissatisfaction, and difficulties in emotion regulation.