It is not uncommon for an individual’s mental illness to be “doctored”, although the cause and maintenance of the problem can be traced back to the system (e.g. family, school, workplace). In psychology, therefore, there has been for many years the so-called “systemic therapy”, in which the individual is not isolated, but understood as embedded in his system. It is not the individual who is pathological, but the system in which he or she is located. But how effective is systemic therapy? For example, how effective is systemic therapy compared to cognitive behavioral therapy for people with social anxiety?

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Studies (small sample only):

Huang, Y., Li, Y., Haun, M. W., Xie, R., Yang, L., Retzlaff, R., & Qian, Y. (2023). Systemic therapy for children and adolescents with depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Current Psychology, 1-13.

Hunger, C., Hilzinger, R., Klewinghaus, L., Deusser, L., Sander, A., Mander, J., … & Schweitzer, J. (2020). Comparing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Systemic Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder: Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial (SOPHO-CBT/ST). Family process, 59(4), 1389-1.
406.

Pinquart, M., Oslejsek, B., & Teubert, D. (2016). Efficacy of systemic therapy on adults with mental disorders: A meta-analysis. Psychotherapy Research, 26(2), 241-257.

Riedinger, V., Pinquart, M., & Teubert, D. (2017). Effects of systemic therapy on mental health of children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 46(6), 880-894.