A Couples Therapy Plan Based on the Self-Regulation Model with an Islamic Approach

Introduction: Self-regulation refers to the way in which one has control over one's responses in order to pursue goals and meet criteria. In Bandura's (1991) social cognitive theory, self-regulation operates through three main sub-actions; these actions are as follows: self-monitoring of one's behavior, its effective factors and its outcomes; self-judgment of one's behavior relative to personal standards and environmental conditions; and emotional self-reactivity. Carver and Scheier (2004) presented the process of self-regulation to the psychological community in the form of cybernetic control theory. In the field of psychology of religion, researchers have attempted to demonstrate religious self-regulation by investigating the effects of religion on self-regulation processes. A review of Islamic sources in the field of "behavior regulation" shows that the central source of the process of behavior regulation is "reason". Research by Jahangirzadeh et al. (2020) showed that reason has twenty components that can be organized into four domains: cognitive, motivational, emotional, and executive. Explaining psychological damages based on self-regulation problems and adjusting therapeutic interventions based on self-regulation competencies has been the focus of various studies. In this regard, self-regulation-based couples therapy was first introduced by Halford, Sanders, and Behrens (2004) to help improve couples' relationships. Considering the importance of the self-regulation construct in psychological research in recent decades, the effect of religiosity on the self-regulation process, and the entry of the self-regulation construct into clinical interventions, the researcher has tried to design a couples therapy plan with the aim of influencing indicators of marital relationship quality, based on the self-regulation model based on the relationships among the components of reason in Islamic sources and with the help of Halford's couples therapy model.
Method: This study used the qualitative content analysis. Content analysis involves analyzing the content of a text containing author's beliefs, views, and feelings and helps to examine the concepts, principles, attitudes, and all elements raised within the framework of that text. The population includes the contents of verses and narratives in reliable religious sources based on Tabatabaei's classification (2014). The sample includes narratives that refer to self-regulation processes regarding the concept of "reason" and were purposefully selected. After filtering repetitive and similar narratives, the relationships between the components were extracted through the coding process and in the form of a self-regulation model. Then, within the framework of this model and with the help of the structure of self-regulation-based couples therapy (Halford, 1994), the plan of "self-regulation-based couples therapy with an Islamic approach" was developed to promote adaptive processes and increase marital satisfaction. Finally, the validity of the couples therapy plan in terms of structure, goals, and techniques was analyzed by five experts with higher education in psychology and seminary sciences and confirmed based on CVI and CVR.
Findings: The findings of the study show that the Islamic self-regulation model includes six dynamic processes facing the situation, analyzing the situation with a focus on one's role based on Islamic beliefs and values, activating innate transcendental motivations, emotional arousal, practical planning, directing attention, formulating action, and a posteriori evaluation. In this approach, first, sufficient information is collected from the situation of the family. Then, the current situation is examined based on one's role in the situation. This situation is measured by basic facts and moral standards in Islamic thought. Next, one's desired states are defined and self-oriented goal-setting is carried out in accordance with the ideal state at two levels of action and intention; for example, at the intention level, the ideal state is attention to the divine will and ultimate salvation and the requirement of moral performance; in contrast, it is attention to the desires of the self and worldly results. Then, practical self-change plans are designed to realize the situation, using common mechanisms in self-regulation-based psychotherapies or methods proposed in religious teachings. Engaging consciousness with spiritual matters, religious imagery, studying sacred and moral texts, cognitive adjustment through religious interpretations are examples of methods that can enrich the process of self-regulation based on religious teachings. In the last stage, the impact of self-change methods is evaluated. This evaluation can lead to changes in the way behavioral patterns, implementation plans, and even identified goals are activated. Finally, the validity of construct, goals, and treatment techniques was evaluated by experts and confirmed based on CVI and CVR.
Discussions: The similarities of the cybernetic process model of self-regulation (Carver and Scheier, 2011) and the process model of emotion regulation (Gross and Thompson, 2007) with the self-regulation model in Islamic sources can be summarized in the following: emphasis on the rational dimension of human; emphasis on the role of self-awareness and self-monitoring; emphasis on the role of goals and values ​​in the regulation process; emphasis on pre-action processes or "planning processes"; and emphasis on post-action processes or "experience-achieving". The characteristics of the Islamic model can also be summarized in the following: the entry of transcendental beliefs and motivations in guiding the self-regulation process; expanding the concept of rationality to religious rationality; guiding the thinking process to human shortcomings on the path to happiness; the entry of specific religious concepts into the self-regulation process, such as self-mastery, opposition to sensual desires, and the intention to be close. The overall goal of the treatment in the Islamic approach is to regulate psychological processes based on religious criteria; The partial goals of the treatment are also to develop to think based on logic, belief in God, belief in the resurrection, and virtue; to enhance spiritual and moral motivations; to transform primitive and passive feelings into transcendent feelings; and to enhance the ability to self-regulate and practical skills in the couples' relationships. The couples therapy program based on the Islamic approach, while maintaining the structure of self-regulation couples therapy (Halford, 2004), guides cognitive-practical processes in line with values ​​based on Islamic teachings and, in this regard, uses techniques derived from religious texts. This couples therapy model, by highlighting the position of self-change, personal responsibility, and freedom of action of individuals in regulating psychological actions, as well as adding spiritual and moral elements at the level of evaluation criteria, goal setting, and intervention techniques, approaches existential or spiritual therapies of a religious nature.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Dr. Fathi Ashtiani and Dr. Fereshteh Moutabi for assisting the author in formulating the theoretical foundations and designing the intervention plan.
Conflicts of interest and funding: It is declared that in relation to the submitted article, I have fully complied with the rules of publication ethics and have avoided any plagiarism, misconduct, falsification of data, and dual submission and publication. I have no commercial interests in this regard and have not received any payment for submitting my work.