Effects of transactional analysis and solution-focused brief therapy on improving marital satisfaction of christian couples in Accra metropolis, Ghana.

Abstract

Marriage is the foundation of all communities, societies and the nation at large. If marriages do not succeed, there is bound to be problems in society. Divorce cases in Ghana have been reported to be very high in Accra Metropolis. These reports are said to stem from issues relating to marital dissatisfaction. In view of this, there was the need to ascertain what the marital satisfaction levels of married persons were and to provide ways of improving marital satisfaction. Using the descriptive and experimental research designs, this study sought to find out the levels of marital satisfaction of Christian couples in the Accra Metropolis, and to investigate the effects of transactional analysis and solution-focused brief therapy on improving the satisfaction levels of couples. Four hundred respondents were sampled for the initial survey. Based on the analysis of their responses, 15 ‘dissatisfied’ couples were selected and placed into control and experimental groups. There was one control group and two experimental groups (the Transactional Analysis and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy groups). The study found that Christian married men and women in Accra Metropolis were relatively satisfied in their marriages. With regard to the experiments, both transactional analysis and solution-focused brief therapy were effective at improving the marital satisfaction levels of participants. Based on the findings it was recommended that counsellors should learn more about the two theories and apply them in helping their clients out of their marital relationship concerns.