A
technique that might give you insight into unconscious
behaviours – a
modern form of ‘right of passage’.
The systemic family constellation
model is the original form of systemic constellations
in a family and multi generational context and was
originally developed by Bert Hellinger. To find out
more about the history and process of systemic constellations,
read this page or follow the links:
| What are
systemic family constellations? |
|
Systemic family constellation
is a process through which an individual reveals
the hidden dynamics of his or her family,
or any other human system, and finds a way towards
a resolution by changing the inner picture of
the situation. It is:
- A tool for communication
- Spatial representation
of a system
Bert Hellinger ,
the founder of family constellation, explains systemic
family therapy as an interest in discovering a
client's entanglement in the fates of previous
family members. By
bringing these hidden dynamics out into the open, with the help of a family
constellation, a resolution to the entanglement can be found more easily. Hellinger
discovered, from experiences collected in family
constellations, that a system has,
as a governing authority, a common conscience,
common soul or morphic field.
Family constellations have spread widely, particularly in Germany,
over the past twenty years and have generated a great deal of interest in therapeutic
circles. Hellinger's use of family
constellations to restore or create order in
a system, has caused vehement reactions in
the German press, both positive and negative.
This may give the impression that many Germans
harbour a deep fear of controversial authorities
and not-quite-explainable methodologies, possibly
rooted in the experience of the third Reich.
On the other hand, the same press articles
state that, in Germany alone, there are some
2000+ practitioners and that the question 'Did
you set up your family already?' is heard more
and more frequently in conversations.
One of these practitioners, a registered psychologist,
reports that Hellinger's work has helped her to
work as a German with Jewish people in Israel,
where many of the participants in her groups had
lost members of their families in the holocaust. Family
constellations explore the reconciliation of our
deepest wounds, both in a personal and historical
context.
| Philosophical
background of systemic family constellations |
|
The origins of systemic family therapy go
back to the 1950s in Palo Alto where Gregory
Bateson examined the possibility
of connections between family processes and schizophrenic
illnesses. They revealed the significance of the "system" for
the individual.
Boszormenyi-Nagy provided further insight into the basic structures
of systems therapy as he discovered that
sometimes relationship patterns could be traced
back across several generations. These
patterns are not obvious and happen without the
affected family member's awareness of them.
In practice, the family constellation method is
related to psychodrama, introduced by Jacob
Moreno, and family reconstruction,
used by Virginia Satir.
In psychodrama, as developed by
Moreno, emotional information is presented and
acted out on a stage. Thoughts, feelings
and perceptions are externalised and can be altered
in the course of a session. It is assumed
that these alterations have a continuing effect
as an internal image which replaces the image of
the problem situation. This ‘internal image
replacement’ also happens in family constellations,
where a deep understanding of belonging to the
family system and in a larger context, the world,
is created.
The family reconstruction, developed
by Virginia Satir, is a method for making the family
structure more visible. She had as many family
members as possible attend sessions together to
act out typical scenes from their daily life. Relationship
patterns between the family members and their effect
on individuals were revealed and could be modified.
Bert Hellinger himself, now in his eighties, sees
influences on his work from: his parents, whose
faith immunised him against accepting Hitler's
National Socialism; his 20 years as a Catholic
priest, particularly as a missionary in South Africa
to the Zulu; and his participation in interracial,
ecumenical training in group dynamics led by Anglican
clergy. After leaving the priesthood, he studied
psychoanalysis, Gestalt Therapy, Transactional
Analysis and finally, very important in his work,
family therapy.
| How do systemic
family constellations work? |
|
A systemic family constellation session consists
of six basic steps:
1- Definition of a good outcome
for the systemic constellation
In an initial interview we discuss your request
for the constellation to define a good outcome
for the constellation. The conversation is very
focused to find the intention close to your core
and heart and ensures a powerful constellation
process.
2- Decision about who and what
is important for the constellation
After gathering information about who belongs
to the social system relevant to your request,
we decide about who or what is important for the
constellation as a representative. Groups of people,
such as a country or ethnic group can be summed
up into one representative.
3- Constellation setup
Now you choose representatives for each person
or element defined in the initial discussion and
set up the constellation. In a collected state,
you place the representatives in the space available.
These representatives will now be in immediate
contact with the larger field of your family system.
Once the constellation is set up, you can sit down
and watch.
4- Study of the presented picture
A picture is presented by the representatives
standing in the room in a characteristic relationship
to each other. This picture represents your inner
image of the situation and can show unconscious
elements or reveal hidden dynamics. One can feel
where there is strength in the system and where
not. For example it can be seen:
Who is respected in the system
Who might be excluded
Where there are points of disturbance
5- Development of a movement towards
a solution
We then follow steps to bring the constellation
to a place where movement towards a solution starts
to happen. Representatives are rearranged and we
suggest structured sentences (link to below)
to be repeated by the representatives, to either
create more clarity of the current situation or
as a resolution for a new inner image for you.
In this process, we are in constant contact with
you and the representatives to receive feedback
about the interventions and find information for
the next step.
6- Completion of the constellation.
To complete the constellation,
you might be placed directly into the constellation,
replacing your representative to ‘feel’ the position
in the resolved constellation. Then the constellation
is dissolved. In the final conversation, some ideas
and suggestions might come up as to how the solution
just seen can be transferred into reality. However,
it is very important to let the constellation do "its
work" unconsciously. Analyses of what has
happened might diminish its strength, as language
used may not exactly match the experience – emotions
are after all, extremely difficult to articulate.
Don’t worry – we
will guide you through this process and nothing
needs to be consciously remembered.
The original group setting of family
constellations can be adapted to a one-on-one counselling
setting, by using multiple forms of placeholders
for the representative. (see
also personal transformation)
For ways to apply systemic constellations to systemic
organisational consulting, refer to tools and
techniques and to Organisational Constellations.
Even though the practice of family constellations
was originally referred to as psychotherapy, the
originator Bert Hellinger now distances himself
from this categorisation. He prefers to
refer to this work as ‘applied philosophy’.
So what is this unexplainable method now? Perceiving
systems in relationships. People are moved around
in space. Ritualistic sentences are spoken. Talk
about ancestors. Is it a ritual then?
There are similarities between shamanic rituals and systemic family
constellations. Daan van Kampenhout entered
into a correspondence with Hellinger to explore the relationship between shamanism
and family constellations. In the book, Images of the Soul that
followed, van Kampenhout describes the spiritual principles which form the
basis of both shamanic practice and systemic family constellations.
Bert Hellinger’s 16 years as a missionary
to the Zulu, deeply influenced his family constellation
work. He learned the Zulu language and, with time,
came to feel as much at home with the Zulus as
is possible for a European. He saw that many Zulu
rituals and customs had a structure and function
similar to elements of the Catholic Mass, pointing
to common human experiences, and he experimented
with integrating Zulu music and ritual form into
the Mass.
The process of leaving one culture to live
in another sharpened Hellinger’s
awareness of the relativity of many cultural values.
With religion and religious practice loosing its attraction in the
modern world, people are loosing purpose and depth. It is clearly
shown in the soulless shopping malls and the alienation of the nuclear family.
At the same time we see miscommunication and war resulting from extreme religious
self-righteousness from politicians all over the world.
Indigenous communities are getting lost in alcohol and domestic violence,
desperately trying to find an external power having lost the internal richness
and belonging, stripped away by colonial imperialism. It has been suggested
that ritualistic initiations into manhood and womanhood can help bring back
the strength that has been lost.
Such programs being offered are spreading from
the indigenous people in Australia to trauma work
with Vietnam war veterans in California. Family
constellation can be one of the programs that can
help in many different contexts.
| Other
aspects of life that can be investigated |
|
It is notable that some health
issues run as consistent themes in some families – and
whilst it is very tempting to say that these
issues must be genetic, it is quite clear that
genetics do not lie at the root of all of these
issues.
When looking at health issues, a constellation
can be set up to try and establish what is going
on. Usually, the constellation is started
by setting up two representatives, one person for
the client and another one for the diseased organ
or illness. These constellations can either stay
on the level of the illness and sometimes show the
client a movement to a solution, or evolve into a
family constellation and place the client with the
illness into the larger family context.
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