Process of Change and Effectiveness of Family Constellations: A Mixed Methods Single Case Study on Depression

Abstract

Aims: To analyze the process of change and the effectiveness of five sessions of family constellations (FC) using mixed methods in mixed settings (videoconference and in person). To obtain variables associated with processes and results. Methods: Using an exploratory design with mixed methods, this single case study used a triangulation of data: quantitative ( Escala de Ansiedade, Depressão e Stresse-21) and qualitative (the notes from the consultations and the patient’s responses to the Psychotherapeutic Process Data Mining Questionnaire [PPDMQ]). Results: The patient’s symptoms of depression went from a level of severe to normal, and the posttest results persisted after a 3-month follow-up. The severe depression seems to have been mitigated through interventions that promoted contact with reality, self-determination, the psychoemotional establishment of systemic places, and through finding meaning in autobiographical events. Conclusions: This article may encourage further studies that use the PPDMQ to create a metasynthesis and to gauge whether the effectiveness of FC, as a systemic, intergenerational, and integrative psychotherapy, could plausibly contribute to enrich the body of scientific evidence–based psychotherapies and mitigate the global escalation of depression.