Investigation the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) on Perceived Stress and Alexithymia in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease in Rasht

Background: Coronary heart disease is one of the most common diseases that can affect the mental health of people in addition to its influence on their body. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on perceived stress and Alexithymia in patients with coronary heart disease. Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental with a pre-test/ post-test design with a control group in 2019 on 30 patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease referred to Dr. Heshmat Hospital in Rasht, Iran. The patients were selected by simple random sampling and assigned to two groups of 15, including an experimental group and a control group. Assessment tools included the Perceived Stress Scale- 14 item (PSS-14) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale- 20 item (TAS-20), which were completed before and after the intervention. The experimental group received emotion-focused therapy (EFT) in eight 90-minute sessions for two months. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, MANCOVA and Bonferroni Post Hoc test. Results: There was a significant difference between the experimental group that underwent emotional-focused therapy (EFT) and the control group that did not receive any treatment. (F(2,25)=170.5, P<0.001, η2p=0.932) and according to the adjusted means this difference indicates the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy. Conclusion: Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) training can play an important role as adjunctive and psychological treatment along with drug intervention in reducing the perceived stress and also reducing Alexithymia.