1. health and fitness
2. therapy

International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Research. Vol., 4(1), 66-72, 2015
Available online at http:// www. ijpbrjournal.com
ISSN 2322-4002 ©2015 Victor Quest Publications
The effectiveness of couple’s therapy training on increasing of
psychological capital of couples
1
2
Seyed Mousa Golestaneh , Setareh Mohanaee , Mahnaz Jokar
3
1- Assistant Professor of Psychology, Persian Gulf University, Boushehr, Iran
2- M.A student , Islamic Azad University Science & Research Branch of Boushehr, Iran
3- Assistant Professor of Psychology, Persian Gulf University, Boushehr, Iran
Corresponding E-mail address: [email protected]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of training
couple therapy by Imago Relationship Therapy method to increase
psychological capital. The present study method is an experimental study with
pre test – post test and follow up control group design. The statistical
population was includes couples who due to the marital problems were
referred to family counselling center of justice, and the center of decrease the
divorce Bushehr city in the 91-92 years. The statistical sample were consisted
of 30 couples who were selected by randomly sampling method and were
divided into two groups of experimental (15 persons) and control groups (15
persons). The experimental group is participated in the eight training sessions
90 minutes based on imago relationship therapy approach. The research
findings were analyzed by the use of MANCOVA and subsequent ANOVA. The
research results was represents the impact of training imago relationship
therapy method on increasing psychological capital in the experimental group
compared with the control group. As well as results showed that impact the
imago relationship therapy method on dimensions of psychological capital,
this training method had a significant effect on self-efficacy, hope, optimism,
but in the dimension of resiliency was not observed significant effect.
Keywords: Couple Therapy Training, Psychological Capital
Introduction
Marriage has always been a main element in family system all over the world. Marriage is joining
of two persons with different genders, in a correlated unit, in order to make a system for fostering
children and raising them. These binds which end to marriage often begin with romantic love between
two persons and end to a permanent relationship (De.klerk,2001). A successful and true marriage is a
bind in which matrimony relationship is formed based on main elements such as sincerity, reciprocal
understanding, respect and… .(Hendrix and Hunt, 1999). Naturally, whenever matrimony relationships
are damaged, each of these elements are damaged too. matrimony relationship is a process through
which couples exchange their sensations and thoughts either in verbal form, by speech or nonverbal
form, by listening, pausing and facial expressions. The importance of relationship in family efficiency
has been demonstrated in several family interaction patterns. For example, Mc. Master pattern has
determined six important fields in family efficiency, including relationship and affective responsiveness
(Heller and wood, 1998).
Intl. J. Phys. Beh. Res. Vol., 4(1), 66-72, 2015
Psychological capital which is the third generation of human and social capitals is constituted
of four psychological variables, such as: Hope, Self efficacy, optimism and resiliency. In this
concept, they believe in capability of extension, fostering, and flowering of human perfection and
turning into what human optionally has. In another definition, psychological capital is one of
positivistic psychology indexes, which is defined by characteristics such as, human belief in his
ability to be successful, to have staying-power in following his goals, making positive attributes
about himself and bearing problems (Bahadori and Khosroshahi, 2012). Psychological capital and
its dimensions have significant role in matrimony relationships. One of couples therapy's
paradigms is Imago Relationship therapy (IRT). Hendrix's IRT is a short-term therapy which
combines insight with practical skills. Introduction of this theory is Freud and Jung's
psychoanalysis theory, and object relations, interpersonal theory, I-you philosophy, and social
learning theory. The aim of this paradigm is helping couples to make efficient relationship with
each other and more compatibility to understanding each other by consciousness discussion and
making a secure environment to satisfying needs and solving childhood problems (Braun et al,
1999).
This paradigm believes that childhood growth stages, especially person's primary
relationships with parent, affects on matrimony relationships. Choosing a spouse and matrimony
relationships is not a consciousness process, but its significant part is unconscious, and is the
result of necessity to complete imperfect childhood growth stages and healing affective damages.
In this way, couples can learn skills for healing childhood affective damages and making efficient
behaviours, by understanding their unconscious processes. Couples can achieve love and
sincerity by chaining unconscious marriage and relationship in to conscious one. In this regard,
this study aims to analysis IRT role in increasing of couples psychological capital, by investigating
about decreasing of couples' psychological capital. couples increasing contradictions in
contemporary world, and divorce and its negative effects on mental health makes consultants and
especially those who work with family, to present ideas and patterns, to help family's with
contradictory problems (Shiralinia, 2007).
In matrimony relationships, damages appear due to couples' lack of knowledge about
appropriate communicational ways, lack of reciprocal understanding and knowing about features
and expectations, needs and attitudes of each other, this damages and disorders, in long-term
cause reduction of psychological capitals and couples' negative reactions against each other.
Thus it is so important and necessary to instruct correct ways of communication or cure disorders
in matrimony relationships in order to decrease negative effects and increase positive effects of
matrimony relationships (Hendrix and Hunt, 1999). So, communicational portrayal paradigm
combines training and therapy to help correction of relationships between couples (Etemadi, et al,
2006). Theoretical power of communicational portrayal way in this way that, at first couples were
instructured about reason and quality of contraditions and then they received instruments and
techniques to solve them (Niloofari, 2008).
This theory calls unsatisfied needs as " damages" and believes that, although people grow
up. physically and biologically, emotionally they are like children who want to satisfy their needs
which belong to primary stages of growth. Needs such as confirmation, attention and availability
of parent. These needs won't be eliminated unless be satisfied, because they origin from natural
impulses of growth. These needs which direct peoples unconscious toward marriage, show
themselves in a committed relationship, and affect couples relationship by untold expectations.
Also, needs if won't be changed into conscious one, after ending of romantic love stage, direct
couples relationship toward power war and malice increasing gaps (Hendrix, 2006).
So, by respect to the basis of this research couples therapy by imago therapy was chosen,
and its effect on increasing of couples psychological capital has been investigated. Also, by
considering this fact that family is the basis of health society, improving interpersonal relationship
in family has positive results for couples and family members; thus performing such research has
practical importance and necessity.
The general goal of this research is the investigation of instructing couples therapy
effectiveness by imago therapy, on increasing of psychological capital of couples who have
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Intl. J. Phys. Beh. Res. Vol., 4(1), 66-72, 2015
matrimony problems, and refer to consultation clinics, family consultation center judicature and divorce
reduction center of welfare, in Bushehr city, in 2014.
Materials and Method
The method of this research is field experimental research and its design is pre-test, post-test and
follows up control group. The statistical population of research includes couples who have referred to
consultation clinics, family consultation center judicature and divorce reduction center of welfare in
Bushehr, in 2014. In this research, sampling method is randomly sampling, which 60 samples (30
couples) were chosen randomly among applicants in consultation cilinics, family consultation center
judicature and divorce reduction center of welfare in Bushehr, and in 2014 (15 couples in experimental
group, and 15 couples in control group), who should have following conditions :
-The lack of acute mental and personality disorders
- The lack of critical contradictions or to be about to divorce
- To have at least fifth or cycle educational certification.
To identify couples with these conditions, primary recognitional interview was performed by
incorporation of Bushehr consultation center and welfare office. The members of two groups
completed psychological capital measurement questionnaire before beginning of sessions. Then
experimental group couples were instructed communicational portrayal by mental- educational
paradigm during 8 sessions and 90 min, and after these sessions they give post-test again. Imago
therapy treatment session were as follows:
 Session 1: Introduction and contract; Familiarity with members and introducing them to each
other. Explaining of process and session aims. Giving commitment to couples and group
members in order to use achieved insight in sessions for improving relationship. characterizing
imagery of an ideal and satisfactory romantic relationship. Determining desirable features of a
relationship and ideal features. Making therapy contract.
 Session 2:Increase of self-awareness; Returning to childhood house and reviewing memories.
Investigating couples attachment style and their communicational pattern. Investigating
communicational pattern of couples main family. Writing parent's positive and negative
features and their effect on person. Investigating unsatisfied needs of affective bind and
attachment. Explaining the concept of old and new brain and their effects on person's way of
reaction to frustration and communicational experience.
 Session 3:Spouse recognition; writing spouse's positive and negative features. Comparing
spouse features with person's imagery (Imago). Investigating spouse unsatisfied affective
needs. Investigating mutual effect of person's imagery with spouse features. Discussing and
explaining about falling in love from communicational portrayal point of view.
 Session 4: Unfinished function of childhood and learning conscious conversation. Reviewing
and discussion the results of 1-3 session with spouse. Instructing and practicing the way of
conscious conversation. Investigating couples definition of sincerity. Investigating couples
expectations from each other for more sincerity and sincere behaviours.
 Session 5: Closing exit doors. Identifying exit doors (run away doors from solving
contradictions). planning for closing exit doors and mutual concordat. Instructing and
practicing constructive ways of solving contradictions.
 Session 6: Remembering romantic memories. Reviewing past desirable behaviours and
memories. providing justification of existing differences in sincerity of man and woman for
couples. Determining available ways for spouse. Identifying spouse's needs and unsatisfied
wishes. giving unexpectable gifts.

Session 7: Showing anger and exemption; Determining and investigating undeclared and
negative sensations and uncompleted and unsolved situations. Instructing anger discharge
and control in a constructive way. To have empathy and forgiving each other for affective
damages and deciding for compensation.

Session 8: Summing up and conclusion; Summing up different parts of denied, lost and
fictitious self and real self. Practicing love visualization.
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Intl. J. Phys. Beh. Res. Vol., 4(1), 66-72, 2015
Instruments: In this research Luthans psychological capital scale (2007) was used for
measuring the rate of couples matrimony psychological capital. This questionnaire was developed
in 2007, by Luthans. In this questionnaire, standardized rates were used which extensively
measure structures such as hope, resiliency, optimism and self-efficacy, and its validity and
reliability has been demonstrated. This questionnaire includes 24 questions and 4 sub-scales, and
each sub-scale includes 6 point, and subjects should answer each point in likert's 6-grade scale
(completely disagree to completely agree).To obtaining psychological capital grade, at first each
sub-scale's grade should be determined separately, and then the sum of these grades considered
2
as a total grade. x ratio of these two tests is 24.6, and CFI and RMSEA statistics in this model
were 0.97 and 0.08 respectively. Also in this research questionnaire reliability, was obtained 0.83,
by Alpha.
Result
descriptive statistics of psychological capital and its dimentions in seperating experimental
group and control group, in pre-test, post-test and follow up stages, have been shown on table 1.
Table 1: psychological capital mean and standard deviation and its dimensions by separation
of experimental group and control group in pre-test, post-test and follow up stages.
Variables
Statistical
Experimental group
Control group
indexes
Pre-test
Post-test
Pre-test
Post-test
Pre-test
Post-test
Hope
21.53
28.13
28.53
20.6
20.93
20.87
SD
4.73
3.41
3.21
4.8
4.66
4.65
Resiliency
27.6
27.6
27.4
23.87
23.87
23.63
SD
2.9
2.9
2.88
4.78
4.78
5.44
Optimism
23.27
30.3
30
22.67
23.1
22.97
SD
6.12
2.73
2.88
5.25
5.13
5.49
Self-efficacy
20.53
25.9
25.8
20.93
21.1
21.27
SD
6.37
3.09
2.99
4.9
4.78
4.94
Psychological
93.43
111.93
111.73
88.07
89
88.73
capital
SD
16.93
8.36
8.97
16.8
16.49
17.93
To investigate experimental treatment effect, multi-variate covariance (MANCOVA) analysis
was performed on post-test scores, by controlling pre-tests of dependent variables (psychological
capital, hope, resiliency, optimism and self-efficacy). multivariate covariance analysis results on
post-test scores, by controlling dependent variables pre-test (psychological capital, hope,
resiliency, optimism, self-efficiency) indicated with F = 36.77 and p< 0.001 there is significant
difference between experimental group and control group, regarding to at least one of dependent
variables (psychological capital, hope, resiliency, optimism, self-efficacy). In the other words, we
can say imago therapy (communicational portrayal) has increased couples psychological capital.
For investigating the difference, one way factor covariance analysis was performed on dependant
variables. The results of this analysis have been represented in table 2.
Table 2: one-way factor covariance analysis results on post-test scores by controlling
dependant variables pre-test in experimental group and control group.
Source
SS
DF
MS
F
P
Eta
Dependant
variable
Group
Hope
505.32
1
505.32
94.23
0.0001
0.64
Resiliency
0.08
1
0.08
1.02
0.31
0.01
Optimism
404.98
1
404.98
54.72
0.0001
0.50
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Intl. J. Phys. Beh. Res. Vol., 4(1), 66-72, 2015
Self-efficacy
Psychological
capital
208.50
3253.93
1
1
208.50
3253.93
21.93
91.59
0.0001
0.0001
0.29
0.63
The results in table 2 show that one-way covariance analysis in hope (F=94.23 and P=0.0001),
optimism (F=54.72, P=0.0001), self-efficacy (F=21.93, P=0.0001) and psychological capital (F=91.59,
P=0.0001). between experimental group and control group had significant difference, however, in
resiliency variable there was no significant difference between two groups.
So, the effect of imago therapy training on psychological capital, hope, optimism and self-efficacy
is confirmed, but the effect of imago therapy training on couples resiliency is not confirmed, also for
investigating experimental treatment effect on interaction with gender, multi-variable covariance
analysis (MANCOVA) on post-test scores was performed, by controlling pre-tests dependant variables
(psychological capital, hope, resiliency. optimism, self-efficacy) and gender. there was no significant
difference between gender and its interaction in group. So interaction of group with gender was not
significant.
Discussion and Conclusion
Research results show that couples in imago therapy training, by practicing conscious
conversations, learn that they can rescue themselves of trapping in negative interactions, and solve
their contractions. The more interactions between couples, provided that these interactions will be
more sincere, the more satisfaction between couples (Sadrjahani and et al, 2010). In imago therapy
approach, couples can raise psychological capital dimensions, by giving unexpected gifts, reviewing
past good memories, doing mutural and desirable activities, investigating positive and negative
features of parents, himself/herself, his/her spouse and reconstructing a real mental image of his/her
spouse. On the other hand, the more couples separate themselves from their past experiences the
more psychological capital they will experience.
The results of performed researches indicate that psychological potentials, such as: hope,
resiliency, optimism and self-efficacy, together, constitute “psychological capital" factor. In other word,
some of psychological variables such as: hope, resiliency, optimism and self-efficacy, together
constitute a hidden factor or supply which is visible in each of these variables. So psychological capital
is constitute from positivistic psychological variables which are measurable and it is possible to foster,
expand and manage them (Bahadori khosroshahi; etal, 2012).
In explaining resiliency dimension which was not confirmed it must be stated that performed
researches indicate that some of resilient people, after confronting with difficult situation, again come
back to operation normal level, where as operation of some people after confronting with frustrations,
disasters and difficulties, are promoted. Communicational portrayal is a process in which couples
receive knowledge and information and most importantly are instructed in order to be informed about
their unconscious dimensions of their relationships and inspect their contractions root, rather than try
to solve them in surface (Veisi, 2009). According to this point of view childhood stages growth,
specially child's first relationships with parents, affect matrimony relationships. Choosing spouse in
matrimony relationships is not just a conscious process, but its main part is unconscious and a result
of completing unfinished part of childhood stages and healing affective damages. In this way, couples
can learn skills for healing childhood damages and making true behaviors, by understanding
unconscious processes in themselves and their spouse and also achieve their needed love and
sincerity by changing unconscious relationship into conscious relationship and marriage (Hendrix and
Hunt, 1999).
So the effect of imago therapy training on psychological capital, hope, optimism and self-efficacy
is confirmed but the effect of imago therapy (communicational portrayal) on resiliency is not confirmed.
Also, research results showed that there is no significance interaction between gender and
experimental group. In explaining this hypothesis, it should be stated that results indicate imago
therapy (communicational portrayal) has some effect in psychological capital, hope, resiliency,
optimism and self-efficacy on men and women, and there is no significant difference between men
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Intl. J. Phys. Beh. Res. Vol., 4(1), 66-72, 2015
and women in psychological capital. It means, the rate of stated variables were the same in men
and women. According to research results, men and women value psychological capital in the
same way.
Also, research results indicate that there is no difference between post-test and follow-up
scores of psychological capital variable and each of its dimension in couples and control group,
and it can be due to successful training sessions. Regarding to effectiveness of imago therapy
approach on increasing of psychological capital and its dimensions, it is suggested that:
practical techniques of this approach are used by consultants for increasing psychological,
capital practices and skills of this approach can be presented to couples and counselling students,
in training sessions before marriage, family training, instructional workshops and practical
pamphlets. Regarding to effectiveness of childhood damages and experiences on matrimony
relationships, in pre-marriage counselling, couples who subjected to danger were identified and
counselled. The importance and effect of parents relationship with children were considered in
family training sessions and making health relationships skills were instructed to parents. It is
suggested to welfare organization to consider concentrated training programs in couples therapy,
by imago therapy for applicant couples. Regarding to this fact that marriage counseling in our
country is based on traditional theories, new approaches of couples therapy and imago therapy
are more considered. Performing instructional workshops about different matrimony problems,
and the ways of living with spouse, and techniques of confronting with marriage conflicts, couples
are equipped with suitable skills and strategies for solving their problems.
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