abbas mehrabi - PhD Student in Counseling, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Research Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran
Mehdi Zare bahram abadi - Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Research Institute for Humanities Research and Development, Samat Organization, Iran.
Ali Asghar Asgharnejad Farid - Faculty member of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Director of Mental Health Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

In the field of family counseling and psychology, various approaches have been developed to reduce conflicts and communication disorders between couples. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of McMaster and Nichols family counseling approaches on problem solving ability. The present study is an applied research in terms of purpose and a quasi-experimental study in terms of method with pre-test-post-test design and control group. The study population consisted of all couples referring to counseling centers in Boroujerd in ۲۰۲۰- ۲۰۲۱, from which ۳۶ couples with marital incompatibility were selected as a sample. The tools of the present study included the Family Problem Solving Questionnaire (FPS) (۱۹۸۹). McMaster family therapy intervention was performed in ۱۰ sessions of ۱.۵ hours and Nickels family therapy in ۱۲ sessions of ۱.۵ hours each one week; But the control group did not receive any intervention. The research data were analyzed by mixed analysis of variance (with repeated measures). Findings showed that McMaster's family therapy and Nichols's family therapy are effective on problem solving ability in couples (P <۰.۰۵). The results also showed that there was no difference between the effectiveness of McMaster's family therapy and Nichols family therapy interventions in adaptation (p <۰.۰۵). It can be concluded that McMaster's family therapy and Nichols's family therapy are effective in adapting the couple.

McMaster Family Counseling Approach, Nichols, problem solving ability