محمد رجبی

 Objective: Patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders such as peptic ulcers struggle with many psychological and physical problems. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with emotion-focused therapy (EFT) on cognitive emotional regulation of patients with peptic ulcer. Method: This semi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test-post-test-3-month follow-up design and a control group. For this purpose, 45 patients were selected through convenience sampling method among patients referred to specialized internal medicine clinics during Jan-March 2023. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups i.e. control (15 people), EFT (15 people), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (15 people). The intervention groups received eight sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy/ emotion-focused therapy. The control group did not receive any treatment during the study. The participants completed the standard cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire of Garnefski and Kraaij before, after and three months after the interventions. The obtained data were analyzed by repeated measurement analysis of variance and Bonferroni test. Results: Overall, the obtained results showed that EFT and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy are effective in the emotional regulation of patients with peptic ulcers (P=0.001). Comparing the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with emotion therapy on adaptive (P=0.56) and maladaptive (P=0.22) emotional regulation showed no significant difference in patients with peptic ulcer. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be said that both emotional therapy methods and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy have a positive effect on the emotional regulation of patients with peptic ulcers, and these two methods can be used for the improvement of emotional improvement in patients. 

Iraqi Kurdistan has adopted an independent foreign policy from the Iraqi central government in the past two decades; This foreign policy is based on a different model and strategy that aims at independence. In this regard, considering the importance and determinant nature of Iran’s regional policy in the face of regional developments such as the disintegration of neighboring countries along with Tehran’s position on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil is leveraging a strategic model of balance of threat towards the confrontation between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Accordingly, the present study seeks to explain why and how this strategy is adopted by the Iraqi Kurdistan towards the confrontation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Zionist regime. Therefore, the main question is "what is the rationale for Iraqi Kurdistan to understand Iranian threat?" The hypothesis is that due to its historical components, different organizational and social identities, differences in power levels and personal factors (mindsets of the leaders), The Iraqi Kurdistan sees the Islamic Republic of Iran as an obstacle in the way of realization of the its independence. Therefore, Iraqi Kurdistan in the Zionism-Iranian confrontation pursues a unique strategy based on the balance of threat. This essay is an analytical-explanatory study that has been done through using a combination of theoretical frameworks of balance of threat and constructivism. Furthermore, the research method in this essay is based on trend analysis.

Iraqi Kurdistan has adopted an independent foreign policy from the Iraqi central government in the past two decades; This foreign policy is based on a different model and strategy that aims at independence. In this regard, considering the importance and determinant nature of Iran’s regional policy in the face of regional developments such as the disintegration of neighboring countries along with Tehran’s position on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil is leveraging a strategic model of balance of threat towards the confrontation between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Accordingly, the present study seeks to explain why and how this strategy is adopted by the Iraqi Kurdistan toward the confrontation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Zionist regime. Therefore, the main question is "what is the rationale for Iraqi Kurdistan to understand the Iranian threat?" The hypothesis is that due to its historical components, different organizational and social identities, differences in power levels, and personal factors (mindsets of the leaders), Iraqi Kurdistan sees the Islamic Republic of Iran as an obstacle to the way of realization of its independence. Therefore, Iraqi Kurdistan in the Zionism-Iranian confrontation pursues a unique strategy based on the balance of threat. This essay is an analytical-explanatory study that has been done using a combination of theoretical frameworks of the balance of threat and constructivism. Furthermore, the research method in this essay is based on trend analysis.