Awareness ∙ Healing ∙ Growth
Vera Brok
Systemic Constellations
Systemic family constellations are a way to gain quick insight in the core of an issue, reveal underlying dynamics that prevent you from moving forward or reveal where movement is possible.
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How Systemic Family Constellations Work
Systemic family constellations were developed by German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger in the 1990s. This approach is unique in that it combines elements of psychotherapy, philosophy, and spiritual healing with a focus on how family relationships and loyalties influence personal problems. The goal is to address and resolve issues rooted in one’s family system that may be unconsciously impacting well-being.
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1. **Setting Up the Constellation**: In a typical session, the facilitator and participant discuss the issue the participant is facing, whether it's a personal struggle, a health problem, relationship conflict, or career challenges. This helps uncover potential family patterns that could be affecting the present.
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2. **Representation**: In a group setting, other participants are chosen to "represent" family members or significant elements, such as emotions, events, or beliefs related to the issue. In one-on-one sessions, objects can be used to represent these elements. These representatives are then placed in a spatial arrangement that mirrors the participant's family dynamic.
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3. **Observing Dynamics and Energy Shifts**: Through the setup, the facilitator and participant observe how the "representatives" interact, express emotions, or even shift positions. This process can reveal hidden loyalties, unresolved traumas, or unspoken emotions that are affecting the participant's life. By observing these dynamics, participants gain insight into underlying family tensions and issues.
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4. **Resolution and Releasing Patterns**: Through guided dialogues or adjustments, the facilitator may help shift the positions of representatives, encouraging the release of burdens or unresolved emotions. This symbolic restructuring of the family system often brings a sense of relief, as participants recognize and release patterns that no longer serve them.
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When Family Constellations Are Useful
Family constellations can be especially useful in a variety of personal, relational, and even physical health situations, including:
1. **Relationship Challenges**: Whether in romantic partnerships, friendships, or parent-child relationships, family constellations can help uncover underlying familial influences and reveal how unresolved family dynamics impact one's approach to relationships.
2. **Patterns of Mental and Emotional Distress**: Family constellations can be beneficial in understanding recurring feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, or even self-sabotaging behaviors. Participants can explore the source of these feelings within family loyalties or generational patterns.
3. **Career or Financial Blockages**: Individuals struggling with a lack of fulfillment or progress in their career, or financial instability, can gain insights into whether their family history holds unconscious blocks around success, wealth, or independence.
4. **Health Issues**: In some cases, physical symptoms or health conditions have been observed to correlate with unresolved family trauma. This approach can support the healing process by addressing emotional or psychological dimensions of physical ailments.
5. **Major Life Transitions**: During times of significant change—such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or the death of a loved one—family constellations can offer support, allowing individuals to process transitions by examining familial influences.
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Why It Works
Systemic family constellations work because they address an often-overlooked part of healing: our connection to family and inherited experiences. By exploring and understanding these dynamics, participants often find a new sense of freedom and clarity, releasing familial patterns that may have been holding them back.
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Please note, that a systemic constellation in a group is a once off intervention. During a workshop, there is time for a limited amount of constellations. You can choose to be a representative, or an issue holder. Please contact me if you have any questions or interest to attend a workshop either as a representative or an issue holder.