Sexual dysfunction is often accompanied by emotional imbalance, diminished psychological and sexual
self-esteem. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of compassion-based psychotherapy on
self-awareness and sexual self-esteem of women with sexual dysfuncti More
Sexual dysfunction is often accompanied by emotional imbalance, diminished psychological and sexual
self-esteem. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of compassion-based psychotherapy on
self-awareness and sexual self-esteem of women with sexual dysfunction symptoms. A semi-
experimental research design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up measurements was employed. The
study population consisted of married women with sexual dysfunction who sought counseling in the
family counselling centers in Tehran between January 2023 to April 2023.
The research sample included 30 women with sexual dysfunction who were purposefully selected based
on inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly assigned to two groups: experimental(15 participants)
and control (15 participants). Data were collected using the Female Sexual Function Index, the short form of the Sexual Self-Esteem Scale, and the Self-Compassion Scale. The experimental group received 12 sessions of 90-minute
compassion-based psychotherapy, while the control group did not receive any treatment. Data were
analyzed using SPSS 24 software through repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post-
hoc test. The results of repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant differences between
post-test and follow-up measurements of the experimental and control groups in sexual self-esteem and
self-awareness scores (p ≤ 0.001). The therapeutic effects were maintained during the 3-month follow-
up. Based on the findings, compassion-based psychotherapy was found to be effective in enhancing self-
awareness and sexual self-esteem of women with sexual dysfunction symptoms. Therefore, further
research is recommended to explore the efficacy of this approach and compare it with other evidence-
based treatments in larger samples.
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