Effectiveness of Existential Therapy Based on Ontological Core Schemas on Rumination and Mindfulness of Depressed Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial Design

Abstract

The integration of cognitive and existential therapy can be seen when existential therapy attempts to change ontological core schemas. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of existential therapy based on ontological core schemas on rumination and mindfulness of depressed women. A randomized clinical trial design with waiting list control group was conducted. 70 depressed women were selected by purposeful sampling method and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The participants of experimental group received 10 sessions of existential therapy based on ontological core schemas and control group was put on the waiting list. All participants answered to the Freiburg mindfulness inventory and Ruminative response scale as dependent variables at 3 time points (pre, post and 2-month follow-up test). The findings showed that, compared to control group, the rumination and mindfulness in experimental group after the intervention significantly decreased and increased, respectively (p < .01); also, These changes were maintained after two-month follow-up (p < .01). Although, due to the lack of comparative intervention groups, it cannot be conclude to what extent existential therapy based on ontological core schemas can be more effective than existential therapy or cognitive therapy, but the findings of this study show that when existential therapy is combined with cognitive therapy to address ontological core schemas, it can reduce rumination and increase the mindfulness of depressed women.