Comparison of the Effectiveness of Spiritual Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy on Resilience in Women with Breast Cancer

Objective: The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of two psychotherapeutic approaches, including spiritual therapy and emotion-focused therapy, on enhancing resilience in women with breast cancer. Methods and Materials: The present study was a quasi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of women with breast cancer who referred to Imam Ali Hospital in Bojnurd in 2024. Among them, 45 participants were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to three groups (two experimental groups and one control group). The first group received 12 sessions of spiritual therapy based on the protocol developed by Richards and Bergin (2006), and the second group received 12 sessions of emotion-focused therapy based on Greenberg’s model (2010). The research instrument was the Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale (2003). Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Findings: The results of statistical analysis showed that both psychotherapeutic interventions led to a significant increase in resilience compared to the control group (p < 0.01). Moreover, the effectiveness of spiritual therapy in enhancing resilience was significantly greater than that of emotion-focused therapy. Conclusion: The findings indicate that both spiritual therapy and emotion-focused therapy can contribute to improving resilience in women with breast cancer. However, the use of spirituality-based interventions, due to their alignment with the cultural and religious beliefs of Iranian patients, has greater effectiveness in improving their psychological condition. It is recommended that these approaches be used as complementary treatments in medical centers.