Effectiveness of Integrated Psychological Counseling With Couple Therapy Approach on Quality of Life of Infertile Women

Abstract

Introduction: Infertility has biological and psychological effects on various aspects of the infertile couple's life. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of integrated psychological counseling with a couple therapy approach on the quality of life of infertile women. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 60 couples (30 couples in the intervention and 30 in the control group) referred to Infertility Center in Kerman City, Iran, from October to December 2018. They were assigned to intervention and control groups with available sampling and block allocation method. The intervention group received six group counseling sessions. The subjects completed the FertiQoL questionnaire before and after the intervention. It has 24 items specific to infertility that cover four subscales of the QoL )emotional, mind-body, relational, and social(. Data analysis was conducted by paired t test, Chi-square test, and Mann-Whitney test. P values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: The mean ± SD ages of the participants were 33.25 ± 5.89 and 33.53 ± 5.46 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Results showed significant differences between the mean ± SD of the mind-body subscale of the intervention group (88.5 ± 6.39) and that of the control group (69 ±12.24), between the social subscale of the intervention group (78± 6.34) compared to that of the control group (60.5 ± 12.27), and between emotional subscale of the intervention group (73.75 ±6.71) compared to that of the control group (54.5 ± 12.29) at the post-test (P =0.001). However, no significant change was seen in the relational subscale of intervention (52.25 ± 6.25) compared to the control group (57.25 ± 12.25) (P= 0.060). Results showed a significantly higher FertiQoL total score for the intervention group (70.56±6.49) compared to the control group (57.76±12.26) at the post-test (P=0.001). Conclusion: The results indicated that integrated psychological counseling could improve the quality of life among infertile women. Therefore, it can lead to more satisfaction and cooperation in infertility treatment.

Effect of Existential Group Therapy on Infertility Stress in Infertile Men’s Spouses

“…Mokhtari Sorkhani et al conducted a study investigating the effectiveness of integrated psychological counseling with a couple therapy approach on the quality of life of infertile women. They concluded that integrated psychological counseling could improve the quality of life among infertile women [31]. Their study was consistent with the present study because they also could protect women in stressful events by using a form of group counseling.…”

A Qualitative Overview of the Infertility Process in Women: Infertility Psychological Counseling

“…When the approaches, models, and intervention systems related to infertility are examined, first of all, a model, which includes the topics of informing couples about sexuality, infertility diagnosis, and treatment, creating realistic and concrete expectations and goals, gaining the ability to cope with crisis and stress in a healthy way, applying to social support resources, instilling hope, creating alternative solutions (adoption, living a life without children), and strengthening psychological resilience, can be suggested (Clapp & Adamson, 2006;Mokhtari-Sorkhani et al, 2022;Sorkhani et al, 2022;Yılmaz & Oskay, 2015;Kaya & Oskay,2019). However, individual and group counseling sessions, including the themes generated in this study shown in Figure 9 (including infertility experience, stress factors, acquired skills, social support resources, the role of a spouse, coping skills, and belief in treatment), can be configured.…”