Just like group Constellations, individual practice is associated with the name of Bert Hellinger, the founder of the approach. His view on life events, symptoms, difficulties was to see the relationship of those to what is happening or has happened in the past in the systems (families, groups, nations and peoples, cultures) to which a person belongs.

What is the outcome of Family Constellations?

Those who try Family and Systemic Constellations often report better contact with themselves as a result of the work. They mention feeling more physically present and grounded, better prepared to deal with difficult situations, and having greater freedom of expression. These changes might not seem to be directly related to family or systemic dynamics. However, impressions of this kind repeatedly show up in the feedback the clients provide after sessions.

Work in the individual setting (one-on-one) can be applied to a multiplicity of issues: from creative self-realization and relationships, careers, to the contexts related to wealth and money or purely physical symptoms.

A different view

In shamanism there is an idea that in the world of the soul or spirit, unlike the physical world, time does not exist in the form in which we know it. The capacity of the effects of trauma, or injustice, to pass through generations was a known phenomena even before Family Constellations were introduced as a method (See, for example, Anne Ancelin Schutzenberger, in book reviews). Some Constellations practitioners speak about some sort of Knowing Field that permeates our lives, actions and inactions and in a way has influence on what is being realized in the physical world and what is not.

The role of the excluded

Everyone in the system has the right to belong

Bert Hellinger

An important discovery associated with the method is related to understanding of the role that the excluded play in human groups and collectives. People, experiences, events that are denied the right to be part of the whole, excluded from view, in the past or in the present, have a significant influence on the system where they initially openly belonged. That which, for one reason or another, is rejected, forgotten or not noticed, gives rise to repeating scenarios, episodes of the past are reproduced by members of the system, sometimes generations, or even centuries later. This leads to strange, recurring circumstances, difficult-to-explain changes in relationships, emotional reactions and loyalties among relatives, group members or descendants of witnesses.

The ability to suppress, reject or forget certain elements, to make them invisible, is inherent in human systems (families, professional groups, national communities). Repressed, unspoken and invisible often manifests itself as a symptom, a mistake made in public, or a repeated pattern of behaviour. Such as a specific attitude towards some of the groups that we so often see in the political life of countries or in implicit strategies of exclusion, silencing of the positions of individual members of society, group or team. Constellations may involve bringing these events to light, making them visible and seeing the injustice of the current or past status quo, due to which some group members suffer or pay for what others ignored or turned a blind eye to. Systemic and Family constellations allow the wounds of collective dynamics to heal and help the subtle process of reconciliation take place.

The process of Constellation

During a constellation, just like in shamanic rituals the boundaries between past, present and future are dissolved.

Daan Van Kampenhout. The Workings of the Soul in Shamanic Rituals and Family Constellations

Constellation work is somewhat reminiscent of reconstruction or modelling of the structure of current forces in relation to the client’s request: a symptom, a feature of a relationship or events of the past or present. It could be done by involving other people, as in group constellations, or through the use of objects, figurines, or floor anchors, as is often done in one-on-one sessions.

The “excluded material” finds its place in the system and becomes what it was before it was excluded: emotions that were too difficult to bear are fully experienced; people whose actions or inactions made them outcasts are allowed to occupy their proper place — place in a team, family, or group. Events that were never openly remembered reappear and shed light on what they really were; house that had to be abandoned many years earlier due to insurmountable circumstances returns to the history of the family with all its emotional value.

Using the tools of a Family/Systemic constellation to reconstruct the disposition that lies behind a difficult situation or a symptom, we can rework the original, often dramatic or tragic context so that hidden, excluded elements can finally take their rightful place. This in turn often has a profound and long-lasting effect, as if a solution that had been needed (sometimes for a long time) had finally been proposed and accepted. This, in turn, can cause changes in the current situation, reduce the weight of a symptom, group of symptoms or circumstances that otherwise cause uncomfortable experiences and conditions.

Figurines can be used to set up a Constellation

Belonging to systems and exclusion

I had the opportunity to study Family and Systemic Constellations in Canada, Russia and also in Latin America. The places that my clients call their homeland are Western and Eastern Europe, Middle and Far East, Southeast Asia, South and North America. This allowed me to develop some understanding of cultural, or better said, systemic differences. Cultures are large systems, and when we interact with relatively small entities such as families or teams, we need to remember that they are parts of larger systems. For example, while conducting seminars in Canada, and South America, it was possible to observe that group processes and dynamics that occur in South-American groups would happen less frequently in Russia or almost never – in Canada. What is normal for some groups and systems may be exceptionally unusual for others. This is true with regard to such examples as sexual orientation or religion, as well as less clearly defined categories such as successful people or persons of the same gender: belonging to a group can cause difficulties or, on the contrary, makes the task easier when performing certain actions, when interacting with other groups and those who consider themselves to be part of them.

Influences and sources

The workings of the people I consider my teachers have had significant influence on my practice. To mention some of them: Jan Jacob Stam (Netherlands) with his practice oriented on social systems and groups, Stefan Hausner (Germany) – and new perspectives in understanding the sickness and health in its systemic aspect, Daan Van Kampenhout (Netherlands): seeing the spiritual dimension in routine experiences, Anna Evstratova-Strougalskaya, Anna Petrovskaya, Elena Veselago, Sergey Krinitsyn (Russia) have all committed in my present understanding of this work. Claire Dagenais has influenced my view on how this work can be done on the North American continent.

Among those who have had a significant influence on my practice are also my clients. Those who allowed me to touch those systems to which they themselves belong – without this I would not have had the experience that I happened to acquire.

Timing and Setting 

A constellation session in an individual setting usually takes between 1.5 and 2.5 hours. A feature of the one-on-one format is that the session lasts longer due to the sequential nature of the constellation, compared to working in a group. The work unfolds in space on the side of the therapist in presence of the client. 

Process Description

Session starts with a brief clarification of the theme of the work. Client’s request may be rather specific “I would like to address…, I have such and such a difficulty, problem, symptom” or look more like a direction: “I notice similar scenarios in my family”, “it seems to me that these events are not random”, etc. To concretize the focus of attention or highlight what seems to be more important or relevant, therapist may ask some additional questions.

One-on-one sessions are sequential, as opposed to group work, where representatives act more spontaneously and the picture unfolds synchronously. Working step by step, we can quite accurately identify problem areas and focus on them. In addition, this form of work often seems safer: unlike working in a group, in a one-on-one setting, we can pause work if the content seems to be a bit too emotionally intense, allow the nervous system to calm down and then resume the process when it feels appropriate. 

The session ends when we reach a new state, a different attitude towards the situation on which the work is focused – “problem transformation”, as it is sometimes called. 

Client-Therapist Relations

Confidence is a necessary condition of this work. As a therapist, I remain in a supportive, sympathetic attitude towards the client. Work cannot take place if there is no trust between therapist and client. Before and during work, I try not to form expectations of greater results than those that a specific session or cycle of therapy can provide. To clarify the “internal picture” of an evolving process, sometimes there is a dialogue between the client and the therapist, client’s remarks are of a great significance as it is the client who is familiar with the context of the work.

Disclaimer

Family Constellations and Systemic Constellations do not replace any kind of psychotherapy or medical treatment. 



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