Introduction: vaginismus is one of the most common sexual disorders in women, which endangers women's sexual activities and issues. Consequently The aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of integrated cognitive behavior based acceptance and commitment therapy (CBT-ACT) on sexual function and self steem of women with vaginismus in Mashhad.
The method of this study was a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test with a control group. For this purpose, from among all women with vaginismus referring to gynecologists' offices and psychological service clinics in Mashhad, based on purposive sampling, 30 women with vaginismus were selected based on the diagnosis of a gynecologist and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The intervention was implemented in a group manner in 12 sessions on the experimental group. The instruments used in the study were the Rosen Female Sexual Function Questionnaire (FSFI) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire (RSES), which individuals answered questions in the pre-test and post-test stages. Covariance analysis was used to analyze the data.
Results: Analysis of the results showed that CBT-ACT intervention is effective in improving sexual function (P<0/01) and promoting self-steem (P<0/001) in women with vaginismus.
Discussion and Conclusion: CBT-ACT treatment can be effective as a flexible and practical therapeutic intervention in the treatment of sexual disorders, especially vaginismus.