Process of change and effectiveness of family constellations: “On the verge of divorce, I glimpse my finitude.” A mixed methods single case study on suicidal ideation.

Abstract

This article analyzed the process of change and the effectiveness of 10 sessions of Family Constellations (FC), explored elements that may aid reconciliation effectiveness, and decrypted factors underlying four variables of interest: suicidal ideation, verge of divorce, depression, and anxiety. Using a mixed methods design, this single case study used a triangulation of data: quantitative (DASS-21) and qualitative (the notes from the consultations and the patient’s responses to the Psychotherapeutic Process Data Mining Questionnaire, or PPDMQ). The Reliable Change Index (RCI) was used to gauge clinical change in the DASS-21 scores. RCI analysis showed a clinically and statistically significant change at process termination, and at the 6-month follow-up, on the patient’s symptoms of anxiety and depression. As a member of a couple on the verge of divorce, by undoing that drive to divorce, the suicidal ideation of the patient seemed to stop. Two focuses of interventions are proposed to mitigate divorce rates, suicide rates linked to divorce, as well as depression and anxiety levels associated with divorce and suicidal ideations. FC, as a psychotherapy, seems to possess a substantial financial and societal positive change potential (e.g., at the judicial sphere) and perhaps needs to be addressed from an unbiased perspective.