Attend a three-day family constellation seminar

Join a short group seminar in which family relationships are set out and watched, in either the active or the observing role.

Warum es wirkt

The trials measured outcomes but did not test why those outcomes occur. The seminar is described as a group, usually of about 20–25 participants, led by a trained facilitator (Cápec et al., 2022), and as a short-term group intervention “aiming to help clients better understand and then change their conflictive experiences within a social system” (Konkolÿ Thege et al., 2021). Those are descriptions of the format, not tested causes of change.

So gehst du vor

1. Choose whether you will join as an active participant or as an observing participant. The 2013 trial had participants make this choice (Weinhold et al., 2013).
2. Plan to attend the whole three-day format. The 2013 randomised trial ran a three-day seminar (Weinhold et al., 2013).
3. Work in a group of about 20–25 participants led by a trained facilitator, usually a psychotherapist or clinical psychologist (Cápec et al., 2022, section “Family constellation seminars as a candidate method”, paragraph 1).

Evidenz

The seminar format has been tested in two randomised trials. The 2013 trial of 208 adults found the seminar group improved on psychological functioning compared with a wait-list (Weinhold et al., 2013), and on experience in personal social systems (Hunger et al., 2014). The 2024 trial of 80 adults used a single-day version and found the intervention group improved on overall psychopathology, but no significant benefit emerged in the time-by-group comparison (Konkolÿ Thege & Szabó, 2024). Both trials compared the seminar as a whole, not the two roles separately. (rct)

The 2013 trial was monocentric; the site of the 2024 trial is not stated in its abstract. The 2013 trial (n = 208, three-day seminar, wait-list control) is reported in two papers from one sample; its 2015 follow-up included only the seminar group, so it has no comparison. The 2024 trial (n = 80, single-day, pre-registered) reports within-group improvement on the primary outcome (d = 0.41 at one month, d = 0.31 at six months), but the authors describe the gains as small, mostly gone by six months, and not significant in the time-by-group comparison, and they say pandemic-related deviations from the protocol may limit generalisation (statistical power was low). The 2021 systematic review found nine of twelve studies showing improvement. It reads the data as pointing toward benefit but judges the quantity and overall quality of the evidence low, and reported minor or moderate negative effects in 5–8% of participants in four studies. The 2013 and 2014 trial abstracts report no adverse events; the 2024 abstract does not report on them. This is done with a trained facilitator, never alone. Stop signs: feeling flooded, losing track of where you are, or images that will not settle. Step out of the group and take that to a trained therapist.

Quellen

• Weinhold, J., Hunger, C., Bornhäuser, A., Link, L., Rochon, J., Wild, B., & Schweitzer, J. (2013). Family constellation seminars improve psychological functioning in a general population sample: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(4), 601–609.
• Hunger, C., Bornhäuser, A., Link, L., Schweitzer, J., & Weinhold, J. (2014). Improving experience in personal social systems through family constellation seminars: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Family Process, 53(2), 288–306.
• Hunger, C., Weinhold, J., Bornhäuser, A., Link, L., & Schweitzer, J. (2015). Mid- and long-term effects of family constellation seminars in a general population sample: 8- and 12-month follow-up. Family Process, 54(2), 344–358.
• Konkolÿ Thege, B., & Szabó, G. S. (2024). The efficacy of pandemic-adjusted family/systemic constellation therapy in improving psychopathological symptoms: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Psychiatric Research.
• Konkolÿ Thege, B., Petroll, C., Rivas, C., & Scholtens, S. (2021). The effectiveness of family constellation therapy in improving mental health: A systematic review. Family Process, 60(2), 409–423.
• Cápec, S., Petřek, M., Cápec, G., Yaremkevych, R., & Andrashko, Y. V. (2022). Psychologic interventions in patients with the chronic dermatologic itch in atopic dermatitis and psoriasis: A step forward with family constellations seminars. Frontiers in Medicine, 9, 965133.

Häufiger Fehler

Expecting one seminar to settle a family question. The trials measured change in psychological functioning over months, not a resolved family situation, the later follow-up had no comparison group, and the second trial’s gains were mostly gone by six months.