Iranian Association for Intelligence and Talent Studies International Journal of Education and Cognitive Sciences 3041-8828 7 July 2026 2026 07 30 Comparison of the Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Therapy and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Symptom Severity and Cognitive Biases in Individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related to the Civil War in Iraq Comparison of the Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Therapy and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Symptom Severity and Cognitive Biases in Individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related to the Civil War in Iraq 1 17 EN Journal Article 2026 03 01 <p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of self-compassion therapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) in reducing symptom severity and modifying cognitive biases among survivors of war in Iraq.</p> <p><strong>Methods and Materials:</strong> This experimental study employed a multi-group pretest–posttest design. A total of 60 individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to the Iraqi civil war were randomly assigned to two intervention groups (self-compassion therapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy) and one control group (waiting-list control). The research instruments included the Mississippi Scale for PTSD and the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and the Bonferroni post hoc test in SPSS version 26.</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong> The results indicated that both interventions significantly reduced symptom severity and cognitive biases (p &lt; .05). The Bonferroni post hoc test further showed that trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy was significantly more effective than self-compassion therapy (p &lt; .05).</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The findings demonstrated that both self-compassion therapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy significantly reduced symptom severity and cognitive biases in individuals with war-related PTSD, whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group. Furthermore, comparison of the two interventions indicated that trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy was more effective than self-compassion therapy in reducing both symptom severity and cognitive biases.</p> https://www.journalecs.com/index.php/ecs/article/download/459/395