Background: Perfectionism is a personality trait whose negative aspect becomes obsessive and causes many problems for the individual and the family. In addition to perfectionism, many variables make couples' compatibility difficult which different therapies seek to reduce them.
Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted with two experimental groups and a pretest-posttest design with 40-day follow-up. The statistical population of this study included 200 self-reported couples who referred to Isfahan Social Emergency Counseling Center (Mosalla), Isfahan, Iran, for their marital problems in 2016. The sample group was voluntarily selected from among clients referring to the Social Emergency Counseling Clinic. Group couple therapy based on reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was done for both groups in eight sessions of two hours. Data were collected through Perfectionism Questionnaire and basic needs adjustment questionnaire, and were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) via SPSS software.
Findings: There was no significant difference between the effectiveness of group couple therapy based on reality therapy and ACT on adaptive perfectionism, but there was a significant difference in maladaptive perfectionism
(P < 0.050). Besides, there was a significant difference between the effectiveness of group couple therapy based on reality therapy and ACT on adjustment of couples' needs (P < 0.050).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that reality-based couple therapy was effective in reducing incomplete perfectionism, and ACT was effective in adjusting the needs of couples. Therefore, these two approaches can be used in couple counseling.