The Effectiveness of a Group-Counseling Program Based on Science of Trust by Gottman to Enrich Marital Trust among a Sample of Newlywed Women
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59759/educational.v5i3.2378Keywords:
Group Counseling, Gottman’s Science of Trust, Trust, Newly Married Women.Abstract
The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a group-counseling program based on John Gottman’s The Science of Trust in enhancing marital trust among newly married women. The study sample consisted of 16 newly married women who were purposively selected from those who obtained the lowest scores on the Marital Trust Scale. Participants were then randomly assigned to two equivalent groups: an experimental group and a control group, each comprising eight newly married female teachers. To achieve the study objectives, a Marital Trust Scale was developed, and its validity and reliability were established. In addition, an enrichment-based group-counseling program based on John Gottman’s The Science of Trust was designed and implemented. The program consisted of (11) counseling sessions delivered twice weekly, with each session lasting (90) minutes. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the experimental and control groups on all dimensions of the Marital Trust Scale, with results favoring the experimental group. Follow-up findings indicated no significant differences between the post-test and follow-up measurements for the experimental group, demonstrating the program’s effectiveness and the sustainability of its impact after completion of the program.
Downloads
References
أولًا: المراجع العربية
المشاقبة، أسيل. (2024). فاعلية برنامج إرشاد جمعي لإثراء المودة العاطفية بالاستناد إلى علم الحب لجوتمان لدى عينة من الزوجات في محافظة المفرق (رسالة ماجستير غير منشورة). الجامعة الهاشمية، الزرقاء، الأردن.
مقدادي، سكينة. (2024). فاعلية برنامج إرشاد جمعي قائم على نموذجي روزبلت وجوتمان في إثراء الاستثمار في العلاقة والالتزام لدى عينة من المتزوجات حديثًا (رسالة ماجستير غير منشورة). الجامعة الهاشمية، الزرقاء، الأردن.
ثانيا: المراجع الأجنبية
Bloch, L., Haase, C. M., & Levenson, R. W. (2014). Emotion regulation predicts marital satisfaction: More than a wives’ tale. Emotion, 14(1), 130–144.
Brown, S. L., Manning, W. D.,&Payne, K. K. (2017). Relationship quality among cohabitors and married women: Differences and similarities. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79(5), 1306–1324.
Choi, H., Marks, N. F., & Jackson, J. B. (2012). Marital quality, social support, and mental health: A dyadic approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(5), 617–627.
Corey, G. (2021). Theory and Practice of Group Counseling (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
da Silva-Dias, A. Y. M., Weber, L. N. D., Philippsen, M., de Barros, B. E.,&Rodrigues, N. D. (2023). Educational programs for couples: A systematic literature review. Research, Society and Development, 12(2), e38481.
Deylami, N, et al. (2021). Evaluation of an online Gottman's psychoeducational intervention to improve marital communication among Iranian couples. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(17), 8945.
Dupuis, H. E., Girme, Y. U., Overall, N. C., Cross, E. J., & Sibley, C. G. (2025). Changes in well-being and relationship satisfaction in the years before and after marriage. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 42(4), 1079–1101.
Gholipour Firozjaei, H., Hosseinian, S., & Movahedi, Y. (2023). Comparing the effectiveness of reality therapy and logotherapy on marital forgiveness and trust among women affected by infidelity and filing for divorce. Family Counseling and Psychotherapy Quarterly, 13(2), 75–92.
Gottman, Julie Schwartz. (2004). The Marriage Clinic Casebook. W. W. Norton
Gottman, J. M. (2011). The science of trust: Emotional attunement for couples. W. W. Norton&Company.
Gottman, J. M., & Notarius, C. I. (2002). Marital research in the 20th century and a research agenda for the 21st century. Family Process, 41(2), 159–197.
Gottman, J. M. (2015). The new science of love. Routledge.
Gottman, J. M.,&Gottman, J. M. (2014). The Sound Relationship House Questionnaires. The Gottman Institute.
Gottman, J. M., & Gottman, J. S. (2015). 10 principles for doing effective couple’s therapy. W. W. Norton.
Gottman, J., & Gottman, J. (2017). The natural principles of love. Journal of Family Theory and Review, 9(1), 7–26
Gottman, J.,&Silver, N. (2012). What makes love last? How to build trust and avoid betrayal. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2015). The seven principles for making marriage work. Harmony Books.
Halajian, Z., Babakhani, V., Pooyamanesh, J.,&Jafari, A. (2022). Comparison of ACT-based couple therapy and Gottman couple therapy on marital commitment. Journal of Psychological Science, 21(115), 1485–1501.
Irvine, T. J. (2022). Validating the effectiveness of a Gottman Method Couples Therapy intervention, the Trust Revival Method, for affair recovery (Doctoral dissertation). Florida Atlantic University.
Irvine, T. J., Peluso, P. R., Benson, K., Cole, C., Cole, D., Gottman, J. M.,&Schwartz Gottman, J. (2024). A pilot study examining the effectiveness of Gottman Method Couples Therapy Over Treatment-Usual Approaches for Treating Couples Dealing with Infidelity, The Family Journal, 32(1), 81–94.
Jalalvand, D., Goodarzi, K., Karimi, J.,&Yaghoobi, A. (2022). The effectiveness of behavioral-integrated couple therapy. Journal of Family Research, 19(1), 107–134.
Jubran, M., Wang, N., Hartman, A., & Georgia, E. (2025). Our love language… Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice. Advance online publication.
Khatibi, J., Haji Arbabi, F.,&Fariborzi, E. (2024). Integrated Gottman and EFT vs. Imago therapy. International Journal of Education and Cognitive Sciences, 5(5), 18–29.
Kloeber, S. R. (2023). Communicating forgiveness and reconciliation in marriage (Doctoral dissertation). University of Kentucky.
Markman, H. J., Hawkins, A. J., Stanley, S. M., Halford, W. K.,&Rhoades, G. (2022). Helping couples achieve relationship success. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 48(1), 251–282.
Markman, H. J., Stanley, S. M., & Blumberg, S. L. (2010). Fighting for your marriage. John Wiley&Sons.
Megale, A., Peterson, E., & Friedlander, M. L. (2022). Online couple relationship education. Contemporary Family Therapy, 44(3), 294–304.
Omidi, M., Koraei, A., & Sodani, M. (2022). SFT vs. Gottman therapy. Family Counseling and Psychotherapy Quarterly, 12(3), 45–62.
Pambudi, P. R., & Ratnasari, Y. (2024). Authenticity and marital satisfaction. Bulletin of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 6(3).
Raypole, C. (2020, September 30). How to use an emotion wheel to get in touch with all your feels. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/emotion-wheel
Stanley, S. M., Amato, P. R., Johnson, C. A., and Markman, H. J. (2006). Premarital education, marital quality, and marital stability: findings from a large, random household survey. Journal of family psychology, 20(1), 117–126.
Tarkeshdooz, Z. S., Jenaabadi, H.,&Kord Tamini, B. (2021). The effectiveness of Gottman couple therapy on intimacy and marital adjustment of couples with marital problems. Razavi International Journal of Medicine, 9(3), 44-49.
The Gottman Institute. (2025). About the Gottman method and the Sound Relationship House theory. https://www.gottman.com/about/the-gottman-method/
Zahl-Olsen, R., Thuen, F., & Bertelsen, T. B. (2024). Effectiveness of Gottman Seven Principles Program. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 50(4), 882–898.
