The Effectiveness of a Counseling Program Based on the Model of Virginia Satir in Improving Quality of Life and Reducing Negative Communication Patterns among a Sample of Wives in Irbid Governorate

This study aimed at identifying the effectiveness of a counseling program based on the Virginia Satir Model in improving the quality of life and reducing negative communication patterns among a sample of wives in the governorate of Irbid. The study sample consisted of (24) wivesfrom Irbid governorate who were chosen purposefully. The quality of life scale and the negative communication patternsScale were applied to achieve the objectives of the study. The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α= 0.05) in improving the quality of life between the control group and the experimental group due to the application of the program and for the benefit of the members of the experimental group.The results also indicated that there were statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α= 0.05) in improving negative communication patterns between the control group and the experimental group due to the application of the program.The study results also showed that the members of the experimental group retained the effect of the program on the quality of life and reduce negative communication patterns a month after its application.The study recommended using the counseling program to improve quality of life and minimize negative communication patterns among wives and using strategies of Virginia Satir in working with them.


Study limits:
The results of this study are determined by the following limits: Time limits: 2019/2020 . Human limits: the wives in the governorate of Irbid . Spatial limits: Irbid Governorate. The objective limits: The extent to which the respondents respond to the paragraphs of the quality of life scale and the scale of negative communication patterns.

Study terms and procedural definitions: 1.5.1 Counseling Program:
A group of specific and organized sessions based on the theories, techniques and principles of psychological counseling. It includes a set of information, experiences, skills and various activities, which are presented to individuals during a specific time period; aiming to modify their behaviors, providing them with new behaviors and skills that enable them to achieve psychological compatibility (Hussein, 2004).

Satir Model
It is an approach contains a comprehensive set of positive beliefs; methods, tools and exercises that support positive change in individuals by enhancing awareness and understanding of patterns of communication between spouses. It promotes four goals of therapy: increase self-esteem, foster better choice making, increase responsibility, and develop congruence. (Aladdin, 2010) . It is procedurally defined as the methods applied to members of the experimental group to improve marital communication patterns among the wives.

Marital Quality :
It is defined as the essence and characteristics of the marital relationship, and the consistency of a healthy marital life conveyed within the marital relationship through a general sense of well-being. Lorentz (2008) considered it to be a dynamic concept because the nature and relationships between people can change over time.It is procedurally defined as the degree to which the wives will obtain at quality of life scale.

Marital Negative communication
They are patterns in which the relationship between couples comes in the form of hostile and avoidable patterns, conflict and contempt-based communication. Criticism and the withdrawal patterns are of the most common negative patterns used in marital communication (Holley, 2013). It is procedurally defined for the purposes of this study as the degree to which the wives will obtain a measure of negative communication patterns. Satir (1986) contended that the self-the core of every person-consists of eight separate but interacting elements or levels, which together exert a constant influence on a person's well-being. Satir searched for the varying degrees of strength in each of these parts of the person. In tapping an individual's nourishing potentials, she attempted to work at one or more of the following levels: Physical (the body) Intellectual (thoughts, logic, processing of facts, left brain activity)Emotional (feelings, intuition, right-brain activity) Sensual (sound, sight, touch, taste, smell) Interactional (I-Thou communication between oneself and others)Contextual (colors, sound, light, temperature, movement, space, time) Nutritional (solids and fluids ingested to furnish energy)Spiritual (one's relationship to life's meaning, the soul, life force), (Charlock, 2013.) Family reconstruction based on Satire's theory: The Reconstruction of the Family based on the theory of Satire has several stages(Satir, 2009). Namely 1. Communication: within a group setting, family members get acquainted with their actions and desire during the process of reconstruction the family. These stage benefits family members to understand the continuity of the strength of life, whether on the personal level of the individual or at the family level. During this process the family members have one goal which is depicting their lives in a continuous, comprehensive and coherent way during their identification or drawing their milestones, because that is a powerful technique to achieve this goal during that period. In the first stage, "to make contact," during this period, Satir tries to be totally present in order to treat family members, to establish contact, to enhance the sense of each person's existence and that he is special and distinct, to establish harmony and familiarity and, in the context of nurturing, to establish a basis of trust and willingness to change. 2. Release feelings: Satir aims at this stage to provide a safe and acceptable environment to enhance family members to express and release their feelings, and to link their feelings with experiences which is a kind of selfcatharsis. Satir aimed at this stage to improve the self-worth by making family members recognize their worth through expressing their feelings, ideas. This is achieved by appreciating their efforts and by explaining that change is possible. 3.Updating experience: In this stage Satir begins to create awareness through assisting family members to reach new awareness about themselves and other family members. She focuses on the strong aspects that occurred in the history of the family including feelings, beliefs, expectations, behaviors, and malfunctioning processes that do not function, parts of the self and its levels. 4. Identifying mechanisms: At this stage, Satir assists family members to detect the internal processes that automatically come including defense mechanisms, idle communication positions, and personal icebergs (individual interior levels). 5. Behavior change: after the mechanisms have been defined, consciousness becomes greater, Satir shifts to a critical stage (change of behavior) where the strong focus is on the parts that wish to grow, and works continuously to reach people beyond defensive tricks and idle methods of communication; thus change occurs, and this change is based on achieving all the family members ' goals in reconstructing and forming the family. Satir (2009) basic constructs based on: 1. Self; 2.Primary Triangle; 3.Communication; 4.Congruence ; 5.Components of the reaction 6. Six levels of experience. Marital Quality: Several factors affect marital quality of life, including gender, mental health, physical health, communication habits, socio-economic status and job opportunities, duration of marriage and stressful events (Parlina, 2006).According to Simon (2005)  The relationship between spouses in this pattern is described as adversarial, avoidant, Conflictive, Contempt and Criticism. According Neil &Silverberg (2012) Satir defined four modes of communication that were called "Negative Communication Stances" that are considered destructive stances. Virginia Satir had four categories that were responsible for many family conflicts and one that can be used for resolving conflict and bringing people together. 1. Placater (Non-assertive):Placate rare out to please, non-assertive, never disagreeing, and always seeking approval. They avoid conflict. Their main concern is how other people perceive them. 2 .Blamer: Blamer behavior finds fault -never accepting responsibility themselves, always blaming someone or something else. The Blamer hides a feeling of alienation and loneliness behind a tough and complacent mask. Blamers are more likely to initiate conflict. 3. The Super-reasonable:The super-reasonable is cool, calm and collected, as you might expect. They choose their words carefully, often using elaborate language or uncommon words. They expect people to perform efficiently and conform to the rules. 4 .Distracter: Distracters' seek attention to compensate for their feelings of loneliness or inadequacy. Rather than positive action, Distractors use a range of emotions from anger to guilt to either avoid an issue or manipulate how others feel. Distractors use a range of behavior from Blamer, Computer and Distractor. 5 .Leveler (Assertive): Levelers have emotional balance and can relate to all kinds of people. They are assertive. Previous studies: Several previous studies were conducted on the quality of life some of these studied include the following :

Theoretical framework: Virginia Satir Model
Pio (2001) study aimed at exploring the effectiveness of an educational program in improving the interpersonal and communication skills of 24 Taiwanese married women. This program targets the married women having the desire to change. It also targets the married women who have poor communication and interpersonal skills. The latter researcher suggests that such poor skills shall negatively affect family and marital relationships. It was found that the latter educational program is effective in improving the interpersonal communication skills of 24 Taiwanese married women . Scuka (2005) study aimed at revealing the effectiveness of a group counseling program based on a counseling program in improving marital communication skills. The study sample consisted of (11) married women. Scuka applied the marital communication scale. The results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in the experimental group before and after the training and there were no statistically significant differences in the experimental group between the post-test and post-test .
Li & Vivian (2010) study aimed at improving the concept of the self-esteem by using the Satir stages of change model, and the study sample consisted of (16) couples. The results indicated the effectiveness of the program based on the Satir model and its ability to help individuals gain a high concept and improve the mental health of couples .
Mashagabeh (2012) study aimed at improving marital satisfaction among these married women. The study sample consisted of (16) married women who were divided into an experimental and control group. A qualitative measure was used. The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the quality of life between the control and experimental groups and in favor of the experimental group .
Ammarin (2014) identified the effect of the family reconstruction model on improving communication skills, marital harmony and satisfaction. The study sample consisted of (20) married women. The communication skills scale and marital satisfaction measure were applied to the study sample. The results showed that communication skills and the marital satisfaction were improved .
Shammout (2015) study aimed at identifying the effect of pre-marital counseling according to the patterns of Gutman and Satir in improving the ego and self-esteem among a sample of young orphans. The study sample consisting of (29) orphan females who were divided into two experimental and a control group. Two scales of ego identity and self-estimation were used. The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences in self-esteem between the control and experimental group in favor of the experimental. The results also indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the identity of the ego .
Bashir (2016) study aimed to measure the effectiveness of a counseling program based on developing the concept of self-esteem in improving communication between spouses. The study sample consisted of (20) husbands and wives. The results of the study showed that there was a relationship between self-concept among the couple and communicate between them and the effect of the counseling program on the development of selfconcept and how communication occurred between couples .
Bani Salama (2016) study aimed to identify the effectiveness of the Satir model in improving communication patterns among a sample of the wives in Zarqa Governorate, Jordan. The study sample consisted of (20) the wives . The marital communication scale and the relationship evaluation scale were applied. The results indicated that the mean scores for the experimental group were statistically significant in the dimensional measurement and in the follow-up measurement compared to the control group.
Comment on previous studies : Most of the preceding studies indicate the efficacy of the counseling program as in Bani Salama (2016) , Pio (2001), Shammout (2015), and Ammarin (2014) research. Most of the studies conducted on the quality of life and negative communication patterns for married women did not address the two variables the quality of life and negative communication patterns. Therefore, this study differs from the previous studies in terms of identifying the effectiveness of a counseling program based on the Virginia Satir model in improving the quality of life and reducing the negative communication patterns among married women in Irbid governorate.

Methodology and procedures:
3.1 Study Approach: The researchers followed the quasi-experimental approach for its appropriateness for this study. O3

Study population:
The population included all the wives at the Family Reform Center, Bani Ubaid, Irbid . 1.3 3.3 The study sample: The sample of the study consisted of (22) the wives, who were randomly assigned from the Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5766 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0484 (Online) Vol.10, No.12, 2020 88 Family Reform Center Bani Ubaid. They were divided equally into two groups, experimentaland control. The equivalence of the two groups ( experimental& control) was verified by using the Mann-Whitney-U Test as shown in table (1) shows that.  (1) shows that there are no statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) attributed to the group in the quality of life scale.This result indicates the equivalence of groups.The equivalence of the groups was also verified on the negative communication patterns scale by usingthe Mann-Whitney-U Test asshown in Table (2) Table (2): The results of the "Mann-Whitney" test to find the significance of the differences in the experimental and control groups' scores on the negative communication patterns scale in the pre-measurement.  Table (2) shows that there were no statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) attributable to the group in the scale of negative communication patterns, and this result indicates the equivalence of groups .

Study instruments:
3.4.1 the quality of life scale :The five-point scale of Likert was adopted to correct the study instruments by giving each of its items one of five grades (strongly agreed, agreed, neutral, disagreed, strongly disagreed) digitally represented (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) respectively, the following scale was adopted for the purpose of analyzing the results: The degree from (1.00-2.33) for each item indicates a low level of quality of life .  The degree (2.34-3.67) for each item indicates an average level of quality of life .  The degree from (3.68-5.00) eachitem indicates a high level of quality of life .  The term is used to interpret the degree to which the wife obtains the whole paragraph as follows: Range = largest value -smallest value / number of values Highest value -lowest value = 5-1 = 4. Then the groups were divided according to the (3) levels: 4/3 = 1.33 then Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5766 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0484 (Online) Vol.10, No.12, 2020 (1.33) will be added to the lowest range of each category. Construct validity: (internal consistency): Correlation coefficients for scale items with total score were extracted in anexploratory sample from outside the study samplewhichconsisted of (22) member. As the scale items were analyzed and the correlation coefficient was calculated for each of the items.The items correlation coefficients with the instrument overall degree ranged between (0.46-0.88), and with the area (0.45-0.89) as the following table shows. .849 (**).840 1 * Statistically significant at the level of significance (0.05) ** Statistically significant at the level of significance (0.01) Reliability of instrument: To ensure the consistency of the study instrument, the test-retest method was applied, and it was re-applied after two weeks to a group from outside the study sample consisting of (22) members. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between their estimates The reliability coefficient was also calculated by the method of internal consistency according to the Cronbach alpha equation as shown in Table ( (5) indicates that the coefficients of the reliability of the quality of life scale in the Alpha Cronbach method ranged between (0.83 -0.90) and for the scale in total (0.94).Where in the method of test -retest, it ranged between (0.91 -0.93), and a total of (0.93).These results are considered acceptable for the objectives of the study.

The negative communication patterns scale :
The five-point scale of Likert was adopted to correct the study instruments by giving each of its items one of five grades (strongly agreed, agreed, neutral, disagreed, strongly disagreed) digitally represented (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) respectively, the following scale was adopted for the purpose of analyzing the results: Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5766 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0484 (Online) Vol.10, No.12, 2020  The degree from (1.00-2.33) for one item indicates a low level of negative communication patterns.  The score of (2.34-3.67) for one item indicates an average level of negative communication patterns .  A score of (3.68-5.00) one item indicates a high level of negative communication patterns.
The range was calculated to explain the degree to which the wives obtain a paragraph as follows:Range = largest value -smallest value / number of values.Highest value -lowest value = 5-1 = 4. Then the group were divided according to the number of levels which are (3) as follows:4/3 = 1.33 then (1.33) will be added to the lowest itemof each category. Construct validity: (internal consistency):Correlation coefficients for scale items with total score were extracted in anexploratory sample from outside the study samplewhichconsisted of (22) member. As the scale items were analyzed and the correlation coefficient was calculated for each of the items.The items correlation coefficients with the instrument overall degree ranged between (0.45-0.93), and with the area (0.50-0.91) as the following table shows. .880(**) 1 * Statistically significant at the level of significance (0.05) ** Statistically significant at the level of significance (0.01) The reliability of the study tool: To ensure the consistency of the study tool, the test-retest method was applied, and it was re-applied after two weeks to a group from outside the study sample consisting of (22) members. Then, the Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between their estimates.The reliability coefficient was also calculated by the method of internal consistency according of Cronbach alpha as indicated in Table (8) . Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5766 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0484 (Online) Vol.10, No.12, 2020 (8) showed that the coefficients of the reliability of the negative communication patterns scale in the Alpha Cronbach method ranged between (0.70 -0.86) and the total scale grade (0.92). Whereretest reliability ranged between (0.87 -0.92) and an overall grade (0.91). These results are considered appropriate for the objectives of the study.

The counseling program for improving the quality of life and the negative communication patterns.
The counseling program was built according to the principles of the Virginia Satir theory and the reviewed literature that concerned with building counseling programs.This counseling program constructed of (15) sessions. It was revised by (10) arbitrators in the field of psychological counseling. There effective comments played a role in enriching the program in terms of its techniques and the nature of its exercises, the following is a brief description of the sessions of the counseling program: Session 1: (acquaintance and introducing the program):The first session aimed to create an atmosphere of integration and communication through showing acceptance, understanding, respecting and caring for the participants .During the session the researcher clarified the necessary rules and the procedures of the program to enable the participants to adhere to them. The date of every session was scheduled. Session 2: (awareness and making change):This session aimed to clarify the concept of awareness for creating change. This session enhances the participants awareness for the possibility and the need to make change. In addition toraise the participants awareness for the need to communicate with the self and how to accept them selves and the others.   (9) shows that the mean averages ranged between (2.21-2.89), where the health area came first with the highest arithmetic mean (2.89).The psychological area came in the last rank with mean (2.21).Theoverall average of the quality of life is (2.46).
The results of this question indicate that the wives in Irbid governorate have moderate level of quality of life, which confirms the need for more programs that concerned with improving the quality of life. The result is consistence with the study of (Rose, 3013) which indicated that the quality of the wives life has a strong influence on the health of the wives individuals, and that the occurrence of negative marital behavior is often accompanied by physical health weakened it.

The second question:
What is the level of negative patterns of communication between a sample of the wives in the Irbid governorate from their perspective?;To answer this question, the mean and standard deviations were extracted for the level of negative communication patterns in a sample of the wives in Irbid Governorate as indicated in table (10).  (10) shows that the mean ranged between (3.52-3.91) , where the rigid field came in the first rank with the highest average of (3.91), while the dialogue of deaf area came in the last rank with an average of (3.52), and the overall average negative communication pattern (3.70).
The results of this question indicate that; married women in Irbid governorate have a high level of negative communication patterns, which confirms that married women need assistance to reduce negative communication Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-5766 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0484 (Online) Vol.10, No.12, 2020 93 patterns and they need more counseling programs in communication patterns. This result is consistence with the study of (Kalantar, 2011) which indicated that the presence of effect of the positive and negative communication patterns, which is represented by a relationship between spouses in the form of hostile and communication based on contempt and criticism.

The third question:
Are there any statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the mean performance of the experimental and control groups in the dimensional measurement on the quality of life scale due to the application of the indicative program?;To answer this question, the Mann and whiteny test was used to find the significance of the differences between the experimental and control groups' scores on the quality of life scale in the post measurement as Table (11) illustrates. Table (11) indicated that there were statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) attributable to the group in all the areas and in the overall degree. The differences came in favor of the experimental group who were exposed to the counseling program. The acquisition of quality of life skills for married women in the experimental group in the governorate of Irbid has improved after participating in the counseling program based on the Satir model .
The result of this question is attributed to the motivation that members showed during the application of the session of the program and their eagerness to implement various activities on the one hand; and the nature of the program's content which contains multiple skills, various tools and activities. The program based on a Satir model, it focuses on using discussion, dialogue, learning new techniques and feedback of previous sessions through feedback. On the other hand, the members of the experimental group showed improvement compared with the control group members as a result of the diversity of the different methods in the sessions of the counseling program.

Fourth Question:
Are there any statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the mean performance of the experimental and control groups in the dimensional measurement on the scale of negative communication patterns due to the application of the indicative program?;To answer this question, the Mann-Whitney test was applied to find the differences between the experimental and control groups' scores on the negative communication patternsscale in the post measurement, Table (  Table (12) shows that there are statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) attributed to the group in all areas and in the overall degree. The differences came in favor of the experimental group who were exposed to the indicative program.The result of this question is attributed to the motivation that members showed during the application of the session of the program and their eagerness to implement various activities on the one hand; and the nature of the program's content which contains multiple skills, various tools and activities. The program based on a Satir model, it focuses on using discussion, dialogue, learning new techniques and feedback of previous sessions through feedback. On the other hand, the members of the experimental group showed improvement compared with the control group members as a result of the diversity of the different methods in the sessions of the counseling program. 4.5 Fifth Question: Are there any statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the experimental group performance averages in the two-dimensional measurements and the follow-up on the quality of life and negative communication patterns?;To answer this question, the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used to find the differences between the average ranks of the study sample scores in the experimental group between the two dimensional applications and the follow-up of the quality of life and negative contact patterns, and the table below shows that.  Table (13) that there are no statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) between the average grades for the study sample scores in the post and follow-up applications.This resulted from the effectiveness of the counseling program in improving the quality of life and reducing negative communication patterns of the experimental group, i.e. the counseling program adopted several scientific activities and participation of the group members in activities and methods were effective.The participants adhere to all the program sessions which reflect positively on their performance.