Study of the Experiences of the Family Counselors of the Judiciary System to Identify the Effective Features of the Family Counseling in Reducing Family Disputes and Strengthening the Family

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of the family counselors of the judiciary system to identify the effective features of the family counseling in reducing family disputes and strengthening the family. Methods: This was a phenomenonological type of qualitative research. The participants in the research included 20 people (13 women and 7 men) whoe were family counselors at the judiciary system in several Iranian cities during 1399-1400 Persian calendar. Participants were selected using the purposeful sampling method according the entry criteria. Sampling continued until saturation was reached. In order to analyze the data, first, the data were recorded and coded, then analyzed using Van Menen's interpretive phenomenological analysis method. Results: The findings of the research included 6 main themes and 33 sub-themes of counselors' experiences as effective therapeutic features. The main themes obtained include: goals pursued to reduce family disputes and strengthening the family, characteristics of counselors, facilitating and promoting measures of counseling alongside the court proceeding, failure of resistance in clients beside the court, interventions to achieve change in order to reduce family disputes and strengthen the family and the characteristics of the counseling location in order to increase the effectiveness of the counseling near the court. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the counselors of the judiciary system who have a lower divorce rate at the end of the counseling sessions and are more successful in solving family problems than their other colleagues, have personal characteristics and principles governing their meetings as such that it provides safe and favorable conditions for this group of clients and paves the way for raising issues, listening to them, and ultimately resolving their concerns.