Effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Existential Therapy on Self-Compassion and Existential Anxiety in Infertile Individuals

Background and Objective: Infertility often emerges as an unexpected crisis for couples, bringing about significant emotional distress and challenges. This experience can affect the mental health and quality of life of individuals, leading to feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression.  Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) and Existential Therapy (ET) on self-compassion and existential anxiety in infertile women in Yazd city in 2023. Material and Methods: In a quasi-experimental research design of the pretest, posttest, and follow-up type with two experimental groups and one control group, 60 infertile women from the target population were selected using the purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to the ISTDP, ET, and control groups. For the experimental groups, Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Existential Therapy programs were implemented in 8 sessions of 45 minutes, but the control group did not receive any intervention. The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS)-Short Form (2011) and the Existential Anxiety Scale (1974) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) conducted with SPSS software version 27.0. Results: The results showed a significant difference between the ISTDP and ET groups compared to the control group (P<0.001). The effectiveness of ISTDP and ET on improving self-compassion (F=44.40, P<0.001, η2= 0.43) and reducing existential anxiety (F=46.38, P<0.001, η2= 0.45) in infertile women was significant, and the effects of the treatments remained stable at the follow-up stage. No significant difference was observed between the two ISTDP and ET treatments. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that both Intensive ISTDP and ET are effective in significantly enhancing self-compassion and reducing existential anxiety among infertile women compared to a control group. These positive effects were maintained at the follow-up assessment, suggesting the enduring benefits of both therapeutic approaches.

Effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Existential Therapy on Self-Compassion and Existential Anxiety in Infertile Individuals Keywords:

Psychotherapy , Existential therapy , Self-compassion , Anxiety , Infertility