Efficacy of short-term anxiety-regulating psychotherapy on love trauma syndrome

Objective: this study has been conducted to investigate the efficacy of short-term dynamic psychotherapy on love trauma syndrome (lts) in female students. lts includes a constellation of intensive signs and symptoms which appear following the breakdown of a romantic relationship after a long time. it interrupts person's function in many areas (academic,social or professional) and leads to maladaptive reactions. methods: this study was a multiple baseline single-case experimental study. the sample included five cases who were selected based on purposeful sampling procedure. the intervention was conducted based on mccullough's manual for short-term dynamic psychotherapy. in general,the study consisted of three stages including the baseline evaluation,the intervention period,and follow-up. the instruments included the love trauma inventory (lti),beck depression inventory (bdi-ii),global assessment function (gaf) of dsm-iv and millon personality inventory mcmi-ii the data were analyzed using the clinical significance method and the recovery percent formula. results: all subjects who completed the treatment showed significant improvement in their symptoms including depression and general functioning. conclusion: it appears that mccullough's short term anxiety-regulating psychotherapy is effective in treating lts.