Family Constellation
Family constellation facilitators near you
How can family constellation nourish you?
Family constellations[1], also known as systemic constellations, help a person to uncover, understand and resolve relationship problems. It can assist in healing relationships as it helps to reframe family dynamics and view them from a fresh perspective.
The therapeutic effect is achieved by creating a ‘constellation’ or arrangement using things or other people to represent real people in their lives. As a person creates their constellation, suppressed emotions about relationships may be unearthed and analysed. A person can then explore their place within the group by rearranging them until they feel harmony. This may help to release inherited psychological patterns and to connect positively with the family lineage.
This alternative counselling approach was developed in the 1990s by former priest and German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger[2]. After spending 16 years as a missionary with the African Zulus, Hellinger was convinced that people take on their generational energy, thus impacting our beliefs, burdens and potential happiness. Hellinger developed family constellations by blending Freudian psychoanalysis[3], bodywork, family therapy[4], gestalt therapy[5] and tribal rituals.
For therapy of the best quality, choose a qualified family constellations facilitator who has completed a certified course. The accredited Australian course[6] conducted over 12 days requires a pre-requisite status of already working in a field in which you can readily apply constellation work. The Hellinger Institute offers a 12-module family constellations training[7] both in person and online.
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Practitioners offering Family Constellation
Benefits of family constellation
The family constellation process is designed to release limiting patterns from past and present relationships. A family constellation session can assist in exploring a range of personal issues[8] such as adoption, parenting, career, divorce, health and finances, as well as professional relationships.
Due to the subjective therapeutic process and experiential nature of family constellations, it is not an evidence-based approach. An academic review[9] of family constellations based on case studies suggests it may have a positive impact on reducing intergenerational trauma transmission by improving social relating.
A study of family constellations seminars[10] concluded that they potentially improve individuals’ psychological functioning, psychological distress, motivational incongruence, and individuals’ experiences in personal social systems. Another study[11] suggested family constellations could bring new solutions to unresolved emotional issues by approaching situations in an objective manner.
Family constellations may assist in relieving symptoms related to:
What to expect from a family constellation session
A family constellation session may occur in a private or group setting where participants are not related to each other. Each begins with the client being briefly interviewed about their problems. The aim of this is to identify the family members that may be crucial for maintaining the problem. Participants then take turns to explore their relationship dynamics and concerns.
Group members represent a person or emotion. The person whose turn it is to explore their situation (seeker) will place the other group members (representatives) into an arrangement (constellation) and move them until they feel harmony. By observing the constellation from outside they can gain insights into issues. The facilitator repositions members and may ask them to share their feelings.
The representatives are believed to be able to feel and experience the emotions of the person whose role they have taken on. Hellinger calls this sense of connectedness the ‘morphogenic field[12]’. There may then be a feedback circle where everyone discusses the experience.
A similar process takes place in private sessions with objects taking the role of representatives or clients visualising them. A single session is often considered sufficient to shed light on the concern and clear it.
As with any wellness program, please consult your medical professional before commencing family constellations. If you have any concerns at all, also speak to your facilitator, who will be happy to address these and evaluate whether this is a suitable treatment for you.
References
1. Family Constellations. GoodTherapy; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
2. Family Constellation. Hellinger; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
3. Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Psychoanalytic Approach To Therapy. SimplyPsychology; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
4. What is Family Therapy? Australian Association of Family Therapy; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
5. Gestalt Therapy. Psychology Today; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
6. Systematic Structural Family Constellation Training. Maria Dolenc; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
7. Upcoming Family Constellations Training. Hellinger Institute; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
8. What Issues can Family Constellations Help with? Family Constellations; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
9. Responding to intergenerational psychological trauma: A literature review paper on the place of Family Constellation Therapy. Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
10. Mid- and Long-Term Effects of Family Constellation Seminars in a General Population Sample. Family Process Journal; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
11. The Principle of Feeling - the Method of Structural Systemic Constellations for Technical Problem Solving and Decision Making. Procedia Engineering; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
12. Morphogenetic Fields of Body and Mind. Quantum University; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
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