Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of self regulation couple therapy on marital satisfaction, identity style and family problem solving.
Method: This is a semi experimental research with pre and post test and control group. 10 couples who referred to psychiatrists, neurologists and counseling centers in the city of Kashmar were selected by convenience sampling, and then designed randomly into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in 8 treatment sessions of self regulation couple therapy (Halford, 2004), while the control group received no treatment. The participants completed the ENRICH Couple Scale (ECS), objective measure of Ego Identity Status (OMEIS-II) and family problem solving questionnaire (FPS). Data were analyzed by SPPSS20 software, and one way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and descriptive statistics indices.
Results: The findings showed that self regulation couple therapy increases the couple marital satisfaction and problem solving skills of experimental group in comparison with control group. In addition, self regulation couple therapy decreases the mean score of diffusion, foreclosure, and moratorium and identity style. In contrast, this therapy increases the mean scores of achievement identity style.
Discussion and Conclusion: In general, self regulation couple therapy has a great effect on increasing the marital satisfaction, modifying the identity styles and increasing the family problem solving of the couples. Couple therapists can use self regulation therapy for improving the marital satisfaction, identity styles and family problem solving.