The Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy Training on Alexithymia and Perceived Stress in Women Affected by Infidelity

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: The present study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of emotion-focused couple therapy training on alexithymia and perceived stress in women affected by infidelity.

Methodology: In terms of purpose, the research is applied, and in terms of method, it is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population included all women affected by infidelity and experiencing marital betrayal who referred to counseling centers and psychological service clinics in District 1 of Tehran. Using a cluster sampling method, 3 centers were selected out of 16 counseling centers and psychological service clinics, and from each center, 10 women with the experience of infidelity were selected through purposive sampling. Participants were then randomly assigned into two groups of 15 (experimental and control, with 15 participants in each group). The data collection tools consisted of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale developed by Taylor, Bagby, and Parker (1994) and the Perceived Stress Scale developed by Cohen et al. (1983). The emotion-focused couple therapy intervention (Farhoudi Manesh, 2025) was implemented for the experimental group over a period of two months, comprising 8 sessions of 90 minutes each (one session per week). This educational-therapeutic plan was based on the protocols of emotion-focused couple therapy (Johnson, 2012). Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance with SPSS version 27.

Findings: The results indicated that emotion-focused couple therapy training was effective in reducing alexithymia and perceived stress in women affected by infidelity (P< 0.01).

Conclusion: Emotion-focused couple therapy can be employed by couple therapists to address problems related to alexithymia and perceived stress in women harmed by infidelity.