Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Background & Objectives: The family is one of the main pillars and institutions of society; The importance of the family lies in the fact that not only is it a good environment for spouses, but it also has the task of socializing and educating future generations. The internalization of values and norms begins in the family; Nevertheless, the family currently suffers from traumas such as divorce, marital disputes, suicide, runaway children, and domestic violence. Meanwhile, domestic violence or violence in the private sphere, a phenomenon that shakes and destroys healthy family relationships, relationships that are necessary for the survival and strengthening of the family. A review of theoretical and empirical background shows that the treatment of positive mindset and Compassion has been effective in internalizing feelings of shame and avoiding experiences. But it is not yet clear which of these interventions will be more effective and more stable over time. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness and continuity of the effect of positive mindset-based therapy and compassion-based therapy on feelings of internalized shame and experiential avoidance in abused women.

Methods: The present study was applied in terms of purpose and in terms of nature of quasi-experimental designs with pre-test and multi-group post-test with control group with a follow-up of three months. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all women victims of domestic violence who were members of safe houses in Shiraz in 2009-2010. Each group was calculated. A total of 30 people should be considered in this study, including 3 groups. Since there is a possibility of some participants falling and also in similar studies the volume of 15 people in each group has been suggested, in this study 45 samples were selected and divided into three groups of 15 people (30 people in two experimental groups and 15 people in one Control group) were replaced. After selecting the sample, the participants were explained about the subject, the courses and their goals, and the ethical considerations of the research were explained to them. During this period, the control group waited and no treatment was applied to them. After 4 months of re-testing, follow-up test was performed on participants. Assessment tools include; Bavand et al.'s Experience Avoidance Questionnaire (2010) and Cook's Internalized Shame Questionnaire (1987). One group received the Hoffman, Wu & Butcher (2014) Positive Mindfulness Intervention, and the other group received the Gilbert (2010) Compassionate Therapy Experiment in 8 sessions of 90 minutes each, and the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni method.

Results: The results showed that compassion-based therapy and positive mindfulness therapy are effective on internalizing feelings of shame and avoiding experiences (p>0.01). Compassion-based therapy is more effective than mindfulness therapy in reducing internalized shame and avoiding experiential experiences (p>0.01).

Conclusions: It seems that compassion-based therapy and positive mindfulness-based therapy can be used as a preventive and remedial measure in increasing the mental health and quality of life of women victims of domestic violence.