ABSTRACT

Background and Purpose: Job stress of teachers, especially teachers of special schools, has a significant role in their mental health and educational dimension. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of cognitive-spiritual and dialectical behavioral hope therapy on reducing job stress in teachers of special schools.

Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study (pre-test-post-test with control group) 45 teachers from exceptional schools of Erzurum province (Turkey) were selected by available means and divided randomly into two experimental groups (15 people) and one control group (15 people) were located. For the first group of cognitive-spiritual hope therapy (10 sessions); 2 one-and-a-half-hour sessions per week) and 8 sessions for the second group of dialectical behavior therapy; Two weeks of one and a half hour sessions were performed and the control group did not receive any training. All subjects completed the Harris (1994) Job Stress Questionnaire before and after the training. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.

Results: The results demonstrated the mean scores of experimental groups decreased significantly compared to the control group in the post-test (p <0.05).

Conclusion: The results showed that Cognitive-Spiritual Hope therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy Reduced Job Stress in Exceptional School Teachers. Therefore, paying attention to the effectiveness of cognitive-spiritual method and dialectical behavioral therapy on reducing job stress of teachers of special schools is of special importance.

Keywords: Cognitive-spiritual hope therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, job stress, teachers, special schools.