The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of motivational psychotherapy on reducing cognitive distortions and readiness to commit suicide in adolescents. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design and control group. The statistical population of this research included all male students of the first secondary level of Qain city in the academic year of 2021-2022. In order to select the sample group, the available sampling method was used along with the simple random method. In this way, 30 male students of the second secondary level of Qain city, who met the criteria for entering the study (56 people), were randomly selected and were placed in two experimental and control groups through random replacement (15 people in each group). The criteria for entering the study were: 1. Obtaining a high score (one standard deviation above the average) in the questionnaire of cognitive distortions. 2. Being a volunteer. The research tools included a cognitive distortions questionnaire and a suicide attempt questionnaire, which was first performed on both experimental and control groups as a pre-test, and then the experimental group was subjected to behavioral psychotherapy (independent variable) (ten sessions of 90 minutes in ten week) and the control group did not undergo any intervention. In the end, a post-test was conducted from both groups. Covariance test was used to analyze the data. Their results showed that motivational psychotherapy significantly reduced cognitive distortions and suicide readiness in adolescents. The results of this research can open the way for counselors and psychotherapists to help teenagers.
