The Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies should analyze, next year, the project that prohibits the use of family constellation in any scope of the Judiciary, including as an alternative method of conflict resolution.
Before going to the CCJ, Bill 2166/2024 proposed by deputy Duda Ramos (MDB-RR), received a favorable opinion from the rapporteur, deputy Silvia Cristina (PP-RO), in the Chamber’s Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and Family Committee in the last days of the parliamentarians’ work, this month.
To become law, the proposal now needs to be approved by members of the House’s CCJ and then go to the Senate.
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The use of family constellation is recognized by the SUS as an integrative and complementary practice, but does not replace formal medical or psychological treatments. And it is used in at least 16 States and the Federal District as an alternative method to resolve conflicts in areas such as Family Courts.
But the National Council of Justice does not recognize the method as a valid legal instrument or as an official method of conflict resolution, nor as a consolidated public policy.
In the health field, family constellation is strongly opposed by entities such as the Federal Psychology Council, which classifies it as pseudoscience and warns of the risk of revictimization, especially in cases of domestic violence.
When justifying the proposal, the author of the project, deputy Duda Ramos, highlights that the technique lacks scientific proof and characterizes its theoretical foundation as “questionable”: “There have been many reports, however, of women in situations of domestic and family violence who were exposed to the use of the ‘systemic family constellation’ technique within the scope of the Judiciary and suffered, during the respective practice, the exposure of violent trauma without the supervision of a qualified professional”, he states.
When presenting a favorable opinion to the proposal, the project’s rapporteur at the Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and Family Committee, deputy Silvia Cristina, drew attention to the scenario of violence against women in the country, citing data from the 2025 Violence Map:
“In view of this alarming scenario, I reinforce that any attempts to bring the victim closer to their aggressor represent an extreme risk and must be avoided at all costs. And the practice of family constellation goes in the opposite direction of this thought.”
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The deputy concludes in the report that the approval of the law is a measure to protect the dignity of vulnerable parties, respecting the constitutional precepts of broad defense and due legal process, as well as aligning the Judiciary with practices supported by science, ethics and human rights:
“Prohibiting the use of family constellation in the Judiciary is to protect the judicial process from mystical, ideological or arbitrary interference, and reaffirm the State’s commitment to evidence-based justice, legal security and protection of life”, he concludes.
Family constellation is a systemic therapy that uses representatives (people or objects) to “stage” family dynamics. It sells itself as a technique capable of revealing patterns and traumas to resolve conflicts.
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Repercussion
The approval of the project by the Chamber’s Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and Family Committee was celebrated by scientific influencers, such as researcher Leonardo Costa, from the Institute of Evidence-Based Practice, and Gabriela Bailas, theoretical physicist and pseudoscience researcher. She, as well as other scientific popularizers, have already been to the Senate to warn about the misuse of the family constellation.
On social media, the scientific popularizer celebrated the report that was approved by a committee in the Chamber:
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“A pseudoscientific technique, which violates human rights, cannot be part of the Brazilian public system – and indeed needs to be banned. For years I have been explaining why family constellation is dangerous and unacceptable. Almost six years ago, I published my first video denouncing this practice. Since then, there have been countless videos, articles, interviews and posts warning about the risks of family constellations. And, finally, a concrete victory”, he concludes.
