THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION IN WOMEN WITH MS

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is disease of central nervous system that causes major psychological challenging in patients all over world. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on psychological adaptation in women with MS. Method: In this study which was a Quasi-Experimental with pre-test, post-test and control group, the sample group was selected by available sampling method from patients referred to the Kermanshah MS association. Therefore, 30 female subjects were chosen randomly and assigned to two control & experimental groups (each with 15 subjects). To assess the severity of psychological adaptation, psychological adaptation Lowell E- white was used respectively in pre-test. The experimental group experienced the treatment based on acceptance and commitment therapy in eight; two hours sessions and the control group did not receive any treatment. These questionnaires again conducted on both group in post-test. Results: The findings indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy has been effective on the improvement of patient's psychological adaptation. Conclusion: According to the findings, acceptance and commitment therapy is efficacious on increase of psychological adaptation of multiple sclerosis patients. So it can be applied as useful method of intervention for improving psychological adaptation in patients with Multiple Sclerosis.