Effectiveness of Spiritual Group Counseling on the Psychological Well-Being of Girls from Divorced Families

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Divorce is a stressful life event both for parents and children. Nowadays, an increase in the divorce rate is one of the major problems and concerns in many countries of the world, especially in Iran. Divorce can be a deterrent factor in the personal growth and development of the children from broken families. This study aimed to develop a groupcounseling model based on spirituality to boost psychological well-being in girls from divorced families. Methods: This experimental study was conducted on a total of 20 girls from divorced families using pretest-posttest control group design. The study population were selected through convenience sampling technique. The subjects were divided into two groups of experimental (n=10) and control groups (n=10). Those in the experimental group were taught spiritual issue in 8 sessions (2 h per session) in a form of group counseling model. The well-being of the participants was assessed by the 48-item Ryff's Psychological Well-being Questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed by ANCOVA. Results: The results showed that spiritual group counseling could significantly increase the psychological wellbeing of girls from divorced families (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that spiritual therapy can be used to increase the psychological well-being of girls from divorced families.

Effect of Spiritual-Religious Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, and Adjustment to Parental Divorce in Female High School Students

“…In other words, spiritualreligious interventions can reduce anxiety and depression in female adolescents. Safara et al in their study showed that spiritual interventions can improve psychological well-being in female adolescents, which is consistent with the findings of the present research (19). Furthermore, Weber et al have shown that spiritual and religious beliefs and practices can promote mental health (28).…”

“…According to previous studies, spirituality and religion can strengthen a person against the difficulties and adversities of life (17,18). Safara et al in their study showed that spirituality can improve one's mental health (19). Furthermore, spiritualityand religion-based practices can empower people in the face of adversities and lifethreatening diseases (20).…”

The Ecopsychological, Spiritual, Physiological Health and Mood Benefits of Zikr Meditation and Nature for Muslim University Students

“…One example is Ash-Sha'rani, a sixteenth-century Sufi writer, who explains this seven-fold zikr in the following way (quoted in Schimmel, 1975): "dhikr al-lisan, with the tongue; dhikr an-nafs, which is not audible but consists of inner movement and feeling; dhikr al-qalb, with the heart, when the heart contemplates God's beauty and majesty in its inner recesses; dhikr ar-ruh, when the meditating mystic perceives the lights of the attributes; dhikr as-sirr, in the innermost heart, when divine mysteries are revealed; dhikr al-khafiy, the secret recollection, which means the vision of the light of the beauty of essential unity; and, finally, the dhikr akhfa al-khafi, the most secret of secret, which is the vision of the Reality of Absolute Truth (haqq al-yaqin)". Moving forward, numerous studies have been conducted on the usefulness of zikr meditation, being the exact opposite to the stress responses, to potentiate stress reduction, and improve physical and psychological well-being (Safara et al, 2019;Sulistyawati & Probosuseno, 2019;Rochdiat et al, 2019). Other studies have found that mindfulness meditation is associated with nature connectedness (Unsworth et al, 2016).…”