comparing imago therapy with acceptance and commitment therapy in effectiveness in resolving marital conflicts and improving marital intimacy

Objective: this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of imago therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (act) in resolving marital conflicts and enhancing marital intimacy among couples.methods: a quasi‑experimental design with a pretest–posttest control group was used. the statistical population consisted of all couples who attended the rasa counseling and psychological services center between february 20 and may 21, 2022. using convenience sampling, 24 couples were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (8 couples per group). participants completed sanaie's marital conflict questionnaire (mcq) and the walker and thompson intimacy scale (wtis) before and after the interventions. the first experimental group received ten 90‑minute sessions of imago therapy, and the second experimental group participated in nine 90‑minute sessions of act. data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ancova) and multivariate analysis of covariance (mancova).results: the results indicated significant differences between the experimental groups and the control group (p < .05). both interventions effectively reduced marital conflict and increased marital intimacy. however, act produced significantly greater improvements in both variables compared to imago therapy.conclusions: both imago therapy and act can serve as effective interventions for promoting marital adjustment by decreasing conflict and enhancing intimacy. nevertheless, act appears to be the more powerful approach, suggesting that focusing on acceptance, mindfulness, and value‑guided behavior may yield deeper and more lasting relational improvements.