Iran Medical Council Journal of Iranian Medical Council 2645-338X 4 2 2021 04 01 The Effectiveness of Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) on Emotional Divorce of Couples: A Randomized Clinical Trial 72 79 132598 http://dx.doi.org/10.18502/jimc.v4i2.6460 EN Zahra Heidari Department of Counseling, Abhar branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran Mohammad Ghamari Department of Counseling, Abhar branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran Alireza Jafari Department of Counseling, Abhar branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran Alireza Armani Kian Department of Psychiatry, Beheshti Hospital, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Journal Article 2020 12 10 Background: Some scientists consider emotional divorce as the first step in the divorce process, which means that the marital relationship is declining. Research shows the harmful physical and psychological effects of emotional divorce on couples. The present research was carried out to show the effectiveness of Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) on emotional divorce among couples.<br />Methods: This was a quasi-experimental design study with a control group, including a pre-test, post-test and a 45-day follow up. The statistical population of this study was all couples referred to the family therapy clinic of Shahid Beheshti Psychiatric Hospital in Zanjan in 2020. Twenty couples were selected based on a score of eight or higher in a 24-item two-choice questionnaire on emotional divorce which was developed by Guttman in 1998. Next, participants were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control. The experimental group received 11 weekly sessions of IBCT and each intervention session lasted for 120 minutes and the control group did not receive any intervention. Repeated measures ANOVA was used and data were analyzed by SPSS software V18.<br />Results: The results of ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference between the control and experimental groups in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up (p <0.001). Therefore, it can be concluded that IBCT has reduced the emotional divorce of couples in the experimental group.<br />Conclusion: Results suggest that IBCT can be used as a treatment of choice for reduction of emotional divorce.<br /><br /> https://www.jimc.ir/article_132598_282694fec0a1d98958ea32dd11df012a.pdf