“Systemic” and “Family” Constellations
Systemic Constellations is an approach that is used in a wide variety of contexts, not just family issues.
Family Constellations, in turn, represent a specific branch of the approach, often associated with the work of its founder, Bert Hellinger.
Video: What’s “Systemic” in Family Constellations
Both Systemic and Family constellations use bodily sensations and reactions as navigational tools. This serves an educational function: bodily states help us navigate a problematic situation or context.
The goal is for the client to learn a somatic solution to the context that is seen as problematic.
Publication by the order of psychologists of Quebec
In January 2026 the Order of Psychologists of Quebec classified Family Constellations as a kind of psychotherapy. In the same document the organization has named the practice inappropriate for the members of the order (all practicing psychotherapists in Quebec are required to be members of the order by law).
You can read the document here (in French)
The document has raised a lot of questions as it is formulated in a specific way. It may be seen as a restrictive demarche targeting the whole practice and all sorts of Constellations in the province.
An analysis of the above document made by a lawyer, Sylvie Lefebvre (Facebook, in French).
Common observations of the document
The article published by the Order of Psychologists says nothing about Systemic Constellations, as it is focused on Family Constellations.
With regard to the evaluation of Family Constellations done by those who are not members of the order, the article calls for a careful analysis of each case. This implies, obviously, that it is still possible to legally carry out this practice in the province of Quebec.
My practice of Systemic and Family Constellations
I consider it important to outline some of the features of the approach I use:
- Systemic constellations are a supportive practice. It helps to reconsider one’s perspective on a given problem, situation, or life circumstance. Constellations rely on bodily signals and the ability to notice them, drawing on subtle sensations and experiences in a specific moment. These sensations are of a physical, somatic nature.
- The practice of constellations is related to somatic approaches and produces similar results: solutions come not only at the level of consciousness but also through the experience of one’s own body.
- Unlike psychotherapy, constellations are not aimed at correcting mental health conditions and disorders.
- The practice of systemic constellations promotes personal development, the integration of mind and body, and liberation from habitual and stereotypical ways of perceiving situations.
- Constellations help one achieve a state of harmony and better understand oneself.
- Constellations facilitate education about the systemic principles by which we interact with other people and groups, and by which groups and other people interact with each other.
- Unlike psychotherapeutic work of any approach, constellation allows us to explore the relationships between theoretical concepts and the qualities of groups and teams in business (even those we do not belong to), or to help us choose the best decision among several options. All this is achieved through sensations at the level of the body.
- Through constellations, we better understand the patterns and the need for openness, compassion, and acceptance in our interactions with others.
- Family constellations are a subtype of systemic constellations. They are also included in the palette of tools used in individual sessions and groups.
Important
Systemic constellations are not suitable for working with people in states of psychological distress, regardless of their cause.
Despite a number of scientific publications indicating the effectiveness of this approach, some aspects of how constellations work remain unexplained.
