The efficacy of couple therapy based on representing parental pattern upon lapse of divorce among couples on the brink of divorce

Background: Divorce in most countries, especially Third World Countries such as Iran has an over rising trend. Clearly the impact on couples and families, and especially children, can be very destructive. This study examined the effectiveness of couple therapy models based on parental pattern on lapse of couples on the brink of divorce

Methods: The method of this study was a quasi-experimental method, in the form of pre-test - post-test that was administered to a non-equivalent control group.  The population of the research included all couples applicant of divorce referred to Justice’s Family Counseling Center of Sanandaj city in 2011.  The subjects were 16 couples who applied for treatment sessions chosen by voluntary sampling and assigned randomly into two groups of control and experimental (each group consisted of 8 couples). Experimental group couples participated in 7 sessions of 90 minutes under treatment based on representing parental pattern. In order to analyze data x2 was used.

Results: 5 couples (62.5) out of 8 couples of experimental group and one couple (12.5) out of 8 couples of control group canceled divorce. The change of decision in divorce rate of couples participating in this program is more than control group (P≤0.01).

Conclusion: The findings of this study confirmed the role and effectiveness of couple therapy based on parental patterns in reducing divorce rate.