Examining the Effectiveness of Short-Term Psychodynamic Therapy on Reducing Alexithymia, Impulsivity, Cognitive Fusion, and Obsessive Symptoms in Individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic therapy in reducing alexithymia, impulsivity, cognitive fusion, and obsessive symptoms in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Methodology: This research was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design. The statistical population consisted of individuals with OCD who sought treatment from psychological and counseling centers in Birjand city from March to December 2023. Based on Cohen's table, 40 participants were purposefully selected and randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received 11 sessions of short-term psychodynamic therapy, while the control group did not receive any intervention during this period. The research tools included the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) by Bagby, Parker, and Taylor (1994), the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) by Goodman, Price, Rasmussen, and Mazure (1986), the Cognitive Fusion Scale by Gillanders et al. (2010), and the Obsessive-Compulsive Scale by Hodgson and Rachman (1977). These tools were administered in three stages: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up to collect data. To analyze the data, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. Findings: The findings indicated that short-term psychodynamic therapy significantly reduced alexithymia, impulsivity, cognitive fusion, and obsessive symptoms in the post-test stage (p < 0.05), and the effects of the therapy were maintained after three months. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that short-term psychodynamic therapy has a significant impact on reducing alexithymia, impulsivity, cognitive fusion, and obsessive symptoms in individuals with OCD. This therapeutic approach can be used to reduce and modify these symptoms in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder.