Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic group therapy on increasing life satisfaction of middle-aged individuals who have identity crisis symptoms. The research project was a semi-experimental with the pre-test-post-test design. The statistical population of this research included all people who visited the psychological clinic in February 2012 to address psychological problems and who were between the ages of 35 and 50 years. A researcher sampled 16 individuals according to inclusion criteria (complaints of psychopathological symptoms and age range of 35 to 50 years old) from the statistical population. For sampling, voluntary sampling method with random assignment was used. Sample members had been randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control. The experimental group received a short-term psychodynamic therapy for 12 sessions of 2 hours each and the control group received no treatment and they stayed on the waiting list. Subjects in the experimental group were assessed using life satisfaction scale in two stages: pre-test and post-test. The findings of this research were analyzed using SPSS software and covariance analysis. The results showed that the short-term psychodynamic therapy reduced the symptoms of the middle-age identity crisis in the experimental group compared to the control group.