Re: [ConstellationTalk] Research Project
- From: Ingeborg Stiefel <istiefel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 13:30:05 +1000
Hi Dan
Very exciting that you are planning to do treatment outcome research. I
think it is desperately needed in the world were everything gets
measured.
Do you have a network of people who are working in this area (of
grief)? It might be worthwhile to ask when they think constellation
therapy might be indicated, eg at which stage of
grieving/counselling/therapy. Is some client centred individualised
approach needed first/ should be offered first (eg to be understood, and
empathically reflected).
Is it necessary to categorise clients and differentiate between those
that experience a more complicated grief reaction due to previous
trauma?
The 6 week, 6/12 and 12/12 follow up sounds good. You probably need to
account for other variables during that time, such as other therapy
received and significant life events.
Is randomisation needed? I would try to go for something simpler as it
is hard enough to do 'clinical' research. Short term gains could
possibly be measured with a 6 week wait (measure once they agree to be
wait listed, measure after 6 weeks waiting - design).
There could be various options for a control group, eg no constellation
therapy, other treatment = whatever is defined as 'standard' vs
constellation therapy.
The palliative care teams might be interested in this work.
I am currently involved in a multi-centred trial (different field) and
it was worthwhile to go to various centres, to introduce the research,
and discuss ideas with other people who are working in my area.
Quantitative research may count more in the current funding climate and
could add something to your clinical impression that clients find this
therapy helpful.
Good luck, regards, Ingeborg
danbcohen@xxxxxxx 10/12/04 11:39am >>>
To members of Constellation Talk,
I am entering the research phase of my Ph.D. program and am beginning
to
formulate the direction of my dissertation. The text below is a
summary
of my initial concepts. I am expecting that the members of our group
with support me with feedback, guidance and might also participate
directly in the research, as described below.
The aim of my dissertation is to provide the professional and
scholarly
communities with both an introduction to the principles of
Constellation
work and a credible piece of research to suggest its promise as a form
of treatment.
When I facilitate a constellation for a client, very often the
immediate
and short-term results are extraordinary. Since the process is a
single
session intervention and I am not a psychotherapist, I do not maintain
an ongoing relationship with the clients. However, I generally
contact
them 4-6 weeks afterwards for feedback on their experience and whether
the presenting issue has shifted. The responses have been remarkable
and consistent with the results obtained by other professional
practitioners worldwide in thousands of constellations conducted over
the past 10 years.
However, there are no credible English-language outcome studies to
independently confirm these results. For my dissertation, I am
intending to pursue this question: Do clients who participate in a
constellation process show improvements in their presenting issues
after
one year?
My research study as currently envisioned would be to establish a
protocol to test the longitudinal impact of constellations on clients
suffering from acute grief. I would solicit participation with a
number
of constellation practitioners from the U.S. and Australia. They
would
offer a constellation workshop to members of a pre-existing group,
such
as a church, hospice or hospital bereavement group for widows and
widowers. We would use an established instrument scale to measure
grief
prior to the workshop and again in the future, say 6-weeks and
6-months
afterwards. We could also test a control cohort of members of the
bereavement group who do not participate in the constellation work.
The
data would be analyzed to isolate changes in the grief scale that can
be
ascribed to participation in the constellation. An alternative or
supplement, we could work from a case study perspective to collect
subjective interview data from the participants.
My first question is what type of research methodology is most
appropriate at this stage? A randomized controlled trial is
considered
the "gold standard" for judging clinical treatments. However, it may
be
premature to attempt this at the outset. There is a progression from
case study, to pilot study to randomized controlled study. Also,
since
I do not expect to receive grant support, I need to formulate a
question
and methodology that fits within an unfunded dissertation.
Another question involves the suitability of using traumatic grief as
a
presenting symptom for studying the effects of the Constellation
process. As with most therapies, Constellations can be used for a
broad
range of symptoms and conditions. I am targeting grief for two
reasons:
first, as an existential therapy, Systemic Constellations deal
directly
with healing relationships between the living and dead. Second,
traumatic grief seems to be a concrete and measurable condition that
does not ordinarily yield to conventional psychotherapy and
medication.
Can traumatic grief can be segregated and studied on its own?
I look forward to working together with you to bring these ideas to
fruition.
Dan
Yahoo! Groups Links
Disclaimer: This message is intended for the addressee named and may
contain confidential information. If you are not the intended
recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. Views
expressed in this message are those of the individual sender,
and are not necessarily the views of NSW Health or Cancer Institute
of NSW.
Other related posts:
