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{{mergeto|Systemic Constellations|discuss=Talk:Systemic Constellations#Merger proposal|date=December 2007}}
[[File:Familie2_de_2_reiter.jpg|thumb|Family Constellations session]]
'''Family Constellations''', /Familienaufstellung/ also known as '''Systemic Constellations''' and '''Systemic Family Constellations''', is a pseudoscientific<ref name="Witkowski"/> therapeutic method which draws on elements of [[family systems therapy]], [[existential phenomenology]] and [[Zulu people|Zulu]] beliefs and attitudes to family.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/1066480706287279|title="Family Constellations": An Innovative Systemic Phenomenological Group Process from Germany|year=2006|last1=Cohen|first1=D. B.|journal=The Family Journal|volume=14|issue=3|pages=226–233|s2cid=145474250|doi-access=free}}</ref> In a single session, a Family Constellation supposedly attempts to reveal an unrecognized dynamic that spans multiple generations in a given family and to resolve the deleterious effects of that dynamic by encouraging the subject, through representatives, to encounter and accept the factual reality of the past.


'''Family Constellations''' is a therapeutic method developed by [[Bert Hellinger]] and practiced by psychologists, psychiatrists psychotherapists and alternative practitioners. Its objective is to release profound tensions within and between people. Those tensions may lie in a personal or professional context.  
Family Constellations diverges significantly from conventional forms of [[Cognitive psychology|cognitive]], [[Behaviour therapy|behaviour]] and [[psychodynamic psychotherapy]]. The method has been described by physicists as [[quantum mysticism]], and its founder [[Bert Hellinger]] incorporated the speculative idea of [[morphic resonance]] into his explanation of it. Positive outcomes from the therapy have been attributed to conventional explanations such as [[suggestion]] and [[empathy]].<ref name=carroll>{{cite web |author=Carroll, Robert T. |title=Bert Hellinger and family constellations |url=http://www.skepdic.com/hellinger.html |publisher=skepdic.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=First Person Jewish |first1=Alisa |last1=Lebow |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8166-4354-7 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SET9W5JTOUMC}}</ref><ref name="Witkowski">{{cite book |title=Psychology Gone Wrong: The Dark Sides of Science and Therapy |edition=illustrated |first1=Tomasz |last1=Witkowski |publisher=Universal-Publishers |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-62734-528-6 |page=261 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruaRCgAAQBAJ}}</ref>


It started with Alfred Adler. see ''Current Pyschotherapies''edition 8.
Practitioners claim that present-day problems and difficulties may be influenced by traumas suffered in previous generations of the family, even if those affected are unaware of the original event. Hellinger referred to the relation between present and past problems that are not caused by direct personal experience as ''systemic entanglements,'' said to occur when unresolved trauma has afflicted a family through an event such as murder, suicide, death of a mother in childbirth, early death of a parent or sibling, war, natural disaster, emigration, or abuse.<ref>Hellinger, B., Weber, G., & Beaumont, H. (1998). ''Love's hidden symmetry: What makes love work in relationships''. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker and Theisen.</ref> The psychiatrist [[Iván Böszörményi-Nagy]] referred to this phenomenon as "invisible loyalties".<ref>Boszormenyi-Nagy, I., & Spark, G. M. (1973). ''Invisible loyalties: Reciprocity in intergenerational family therapy''. Hagerstown, MD: Harper & Row.</ref>


==The method==
==Conceptual basis==
[[Image:Konst1014.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Family Constellations]]
The philosophical orientation of Family Constellations were derived through an integration of [[existential phenomenology]], family systems therapy, and elements of indigenous mysticism.
* A group (workshop participants) is led by a facilitator. In turn, members of the group can explore an urgent personal issue.  Generally, several members will be given an opportunity to set up a Constellation in each session.
 
* After a brief interview, the facilitator suggests who will be represented in the Constellation.  These are usually a representative for the seeker, one or more family members, and sometimes abstract concepts such as "depression" or a country.  
The phenomenological lineage can be traced through philosophers [[Franz Brentano]], [[Edmund Husserl]] and [[Martin Heidegger]]. This perspective stands in contrast to the [[positivist]] [[reductionist]] orientation of scientific psychology. Rather than understanding mind, emotion and consciousness in terms of its constituent parts, existential phenomenology opens perception to the full panorama of human experience and seeks to grasp a sense of meaning.<ref name="Cohen"/>
* The person presenting the issue (seeker or client) asks people from the group to be representatives. He or she arranges the representatives according to what feels right in the moment.  The seeker then sits down and observes.
 
* Several minutes elapse with the representatives standing still and silent in their places.  Unlike [[psychodrama]] the representatives do not act, pose or role play.    
Family Constellations take their form from [[Family therapy|family systems psychology]]. Influential figures in this movement include [[Jacob Moreno]], the founder of [[psychodrama]]; [[Iván Böszörményi-Nagy]], the pioneer of transgenerational systemic thinking; [[Milton Erickson]], a pioneer of brief therapy and hypnotherapy; [[Eric Berne]] who conceived the concept of ''life scripts''; and [[Virginia Satir]], who developed family sculpture, the precursor of Systemic Constellations.<ref name="Cohen" /> In the past decade, further advancements in the use of the process have been innovated by practitioners throughout the world.
* Emphasis is placed on intuition in placing the representatives and in subsequent steps of the procedure. The aim is to tap into what the psychiatrist Albrecht Mahr describes as the ''Knowing Field'' ({{harvnb|Mahr| 1999}}). The ''Knowing Field'' is claimed to guide participants to sense and articulate the feelings of the real family members they represent. This is inexplicable because the representatives have never met these people, have been told little or nothing about them and those family members may no longer be living. Nevertheless, the representatives usually will experience feelings or physical sensations which inform the process.
 
* The facilitator may ask each representative to describe how it feels to be placed in relation to the others.  At this point, the facilitator, seeker, and group members may perceive something in the spacial relationships and feelings held by the representatives that is informative regarding an underlying dynamic that relates to the presenting personal issue.
The process draws from indigenous spiritual mysticism to supposedly contribute towards releasing tensions, lightening emotional burdens, and resolving real-world problems. Hellinger lived as a [[Roman Catholic]] priest in [[South Africa]] for 16 years in the 1950s and 1960s. During these years, he became fluent in the [[Zulu people|Zulu]] language, participated in Zulu rituals, and gained an appreciation for the Zulu worldview.<ref name="Cohen" />
* A healing resolution for the issue generally involves the repositioning the representatives and for the facilitator to suggest one or two sentences to be spoken aloud. If the representatives do not feel better in their new position or sentence, they can move again or try a different sentence. Sometimes the process ends before a full resolution is achieved.
 
Of particular importance is the difference between traditional Zulu attitudes toward parents and ancestors and those typically held by Europeans. Heidegger postulated that to be human is to find oneself thrown into a world with no clear logical, ontological, or moral structure.<ref>Heidegger, M. (1962). ''Being and time'' (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, translators). New York: Harper & Row (original work published 1927).</ref> In Zulu culture, Hellinger found a certitude and equanimity that were the hallmarks of Heidegger's elusive authentic Self. The traditional Zulu people lived and acted in a religious world in which the central focal point was the ancestors. They are regarded as positive, constructive, and creative presences.<ref>Lawson, E. T. (1985). ''Religions of Africa''. New York: Harper and Row.</ref> The connection with ancestors is a central feature of the Constellation process.
A ''healing resolution'' is achieved when every representative feels right in his or her place and the other representatives agree. This is claimed to represent, in an abstract way, a possible resolution of the issues faced by the subject of the session.


Along the way to finding this ''healing resolution'', particular attention is paid by the practitioner to configurations of the group that do not feel right or which generate negative feelings or physical sensations. This is because it is claimed that such configurations may represent ''systemic entanglements'' between the seeker's family members. ''Systemic entanglements'' are said to occur when unresolved trauma has afflicted a family through an event such as murder, suicide, death of a mother in childbirth, early death of a parent or sibling, war, natural disaster, emigration, or abuse. Proponents claim that the negative legacy from such events can be passed down to succeeding generations, even if those affected now are unaware of the original event in the past. The psychiatrist [[Iván Böszörményi-Nagy]] referred to this phenomenon as ''Invisible Loyalties'' ({{harvnb|Böszörményi-Nagy & Spark| 1973}})
The term "Family Constellations" was first used by [[Alfred Adler]] in a somewhat different context to refer to the phenomenon that each individual belongs to and is bonded in relationship to other members of his or her family system. One premise of his work is that one can inherit trauma.


==Criticisms==
==The method==
While participants in Family Constellations sessions report positive outcomes ({{harvnb|Cohen| 2005}}; {{Harvnb |Franke| 2003}}; {{Harvnb |Lynch & Tucker| 2005}}; {{Harvnb |Payne| 2005}}), the method itself, practitioners and its inventor have been criticised.
*''This section needs additional citations for verification.''
[[File:Familia_2_2_de_2_reiter.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Family Constellations]]
This description is the prototype group Family Constellation as developed by [[Bert Hellinger]] in the 1990s.<ref name="Cohen" /> Many practitioners have blended Constellation work with psychological aspects of healing. Others have kept the classic form as taught by Hellinger, such as the Constellation Approach.<ref>[http://www.constellationapproach.com/the-approach.html "The Constellation Approach"]</ref> The Constellation Approach merges concepts of Family Constellations, energy medicine, and [[consciousness studies]] to complement the understanding of classic Constellation methodology.


* As a [[Phenomenology (psychology)|phenomenological]] approach, the Family Constellation method does not lend itself to being empirically validated by standard psychotherapeutic research methods.
* A workshop is led by a facilitator who guides a client (or seeker) to set up a Constellation (described below) with regards to the client's personal issue.  Either individually or in a group (a group of any size, but smaller groups may be difficult for some clients<ref>Manne, J. (2009). Family Constellations: A Practical Guide to Uncovering the Origins of Family Conflict. United States: North Atlantic Books., page 16. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BxdlUyIrVLcC&pg=PA16]</ref>), these people can explore the issue. Generally, several members will be given an opportunity to set up a Constellation in each session.
* After a brief interview, the facilitator suggests who will be represented in the Constellation. These are usually a representative for the seeker, one or more family members, and sometimes abstract concepts such as "depression" or a country.
* The person presenting the issue (seeker or client) asks people from the group to stand in the Constellation as representatives. He or she arranges the representatives according to what feels right in the moment. The seeker then sits down and observes.
* Several minutes elapse with the representatives standing still and silent. Initially, unlike [[psychodrama]], the representatives do not act, pose, dialogue or role-play.
* Emphasis is placed on perceptive intuition in placing the representatives and in subsequent steps of the procedure. The aim is supposedly to tune into what the psychiatrist Albrecht Mahr describes as the ''Knowing Field''<ref>Mahr, A. (1999). "Das wissende feld: Familienaufstellung als geistig energetisches heilen" ["The knowing field: Family constellations as mental and energetic healing"]. In ''Geistiges heilen für eine neue zeit'' [''Intellectual cures for a new time'']. Heidelberg, Germany: Kösel Verlag.</ref> and former biologist [[Rupert Sheldrake]] has suggested is [[morphic resonance]].<ref>Sheldrake, R. (1988). The presence of the past: Morphic resonance and the habits of nature. Rochester, VT: Park Street.</ref> The ''Knowing Field'' is claimed to guide participants to perceive and articulate feelings and sensation that mirror those of the real family members they represent; however, ''representative perception'' ([[morphic resonance]]) is not a concept with any scientific basis. The representatives have little or no factual knowledge about those they represent. Nevertheless, the representatives usually experience feelings or physical sensations that are thought to inform the process.
* The facilitator may ask each representative to briefly report how they feel being placed in relation to the others. The facilitator, seeker, and group members may believe they perceive an underlying dynamic in the spatial arrangement and feelings held by the representatives that influence the pertinent personal issue. Often, configuring multiple generations in a family is thought to reveal that traumas continue to unconsciously affect the living long after the original victims or perpetrators have died.
* A healing resolution for the issue generally is supposedly achieved after repositioning the representatives and adding key members of the system who have been forgotten or written out of the family history. When every representative feels right in his or her place and the other representatives agree, the facilitator may suggest one or two sentences to be spoken aloud. If the representatives do not feel at peace with their new position or sentences, they can move again or try a different sentence. This is claimed, in an abstract way, to represent a possible resolution of the issues faced by the seeker. Sometimes the process concludes without a full resolution being achieved.
*When the facilitator feels that the healing resolution has taken hold among the representatives, the seeker is invited to "take the place of his/her representative in the Constellation". This supposedly allows the seeker to perceive how it feels to be part of a reconfigured system. When everyone feels comfortable in their place, the Constellation concludes.


* Accreditation of practitioners is claimed not to be consistent and credible. {{Fact|date=June 2007}}
A constellation session is a one time event with no follow up.  It may take place in front of a large audience. <ref name="Talarczyk"/>


* Some practitioners claim the process can resolve profound issues in subject's lives in a single session.  This seems implausibly short to defenders of empirically validated psychotherapeutic methods ({{harvnb|Singer & Lalich| 1996}}).
==Results of Randomized Controlled Trial of Efficacy==
In 2014, Christina Hunger, et al., of the Institute for Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, [[University Hospital Heidelberg]] ran a randomized controlled trial to demonstrate that participants in family constellation seminars, on average, showed "improved experience in personal social systems" relative to a control group.  The effects of the seminars were measured 2 weeks and 4 months after the seminars.
<ref name="Hunger">{{cite web|url=https://wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=production&url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=96323779&site=eds-live&scope=site|title=Improving Experience in Personal Social Systems through Family Constellation Seminars: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.|author=Christina Hunger, Annette Bornhäuser, Leoni Link, Jochen Schweitzer, Jan Weinhold|journal=
Family Process. Jun2014, Vol. 53 Issue 2, p288-306.}}</ref>  Hunger, et al., followed up at 8 months and 12 months and found participants still "showed improvement of psychological functioning" relative to the control group.<ref name="Hunger 2">{{cite web|url=https://wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=production&url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=103143366&site=eds-live&scope=site|title=Mid- and Long-Term Effects of Family Constellation Seminars in a General Population Sample: 8- and 12-Month Follow-Up. |author=Christina Hunger, Jan Weinhold, Annette Bornhäuser, Leoni Link, Jochen Schweitzer|journal= Family Process, 00147370, Jun2015, Vol. 54, Issue 2}}</ref>
==Criticism==
Małgorzata Talarczyk of The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic,
[[Poznań University of Medical Sciences]] in Poland has criticized the family constellation method as not meeting many of aspects of the Polish Code of Ethics for Psychiatrists.  In particular, she found that it was inadequate in the areas of "the process, contract, diagnosis, supervision, confidentiality, alternativeness."  Thus it is difficult to consider it as "psychotherapy". <ref name="Talarczyk">{{cite web|url=https://www.archivespp.pl/Family-Constellation-Method-of-Bert-Hellinger-in-the-context-of-the-Code-of-Ethics,153318,0,2.html|title=Family Constellation Method of Bert Hellinger in the context of the Code of Ethics for Psychotherapists|author=Małgorzata Talarczyk|journal=Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy|date=2011|pages=65-74}}</ref>


==References==
==Further reading==
<references />
* {{cite book | last1=Boszormenyi-Nagy| first1=Ivan| last2=Spark | first2=G. M.
* {{Harvard reference | Surname1=Boszormenyi-Nagy| Given1=Ivan| & | Surname2=Spark | Given2=G.M.| Year=1973.| Title=Invisible loyalties: Reciprocity in intergenerational family therapy.| Place=Hagerstown, MD| Publisher=Harper & Row.| }}
  | year=1973
* {{Harvard reference | Surname=Cohen| Given=Dan Booth | Chapter= Begin with the work: Constellations in large group sysyems. | Editor=E.J. Lynch & S. Tucker | Title= Messengers of healing: The family constellations of Bert Hellinger through the eyes of a new generation of practitioners.| Publisher=Zeig, Tucker & Theisen| Place=Phoenix | Year=2005 }}.
  | title=Invisible loyalties: Reciprocity in intergenerational family therapy
* {{ Harvard reference | Surname=Franke| Given1=Ursula.| Year= 2003|  Title= The river never looks back: Historical and practical foundations of Bert Hellinger’s family constellations  |  Publisher=Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag | Place=Heidelberg, Germany}}.
  | publisher=Harper & Row}}
* {{Harvard reference | Surname1=Lynch| Given1=Ed | & | Surname2=Tucker | Given2=Suzi | Title= Messengers of healing: The family constellations of Bert Hellinger through the eyes of a new generation of practitioners.| Publisher=Zeig, Tucker & Theisen| Place=Phoenix | Year=2005 }}.
* {{cite book | last1=Singer | last2=Lalich | first2=Janja
* {{ Harvard reference | Surname=Mahr| Given=Albrecht| Year=1999| Chapter= Das wissende feld: Familienaufstellung als geistig energetisches heilen (The knowing field: Family constealltions as mental and energetic healing).| Title=Geistiges heilen für eine neue zeit| Place=Heidelberg, Germany| Publisher=Kösel Verlag }}
  | title= [[Crazy Therapies]] | publisher=Jossey-Bass | year=1996 }}
* {{Harvard reference | Surname=Payne| Given=John | Title= The Healing of Individuals, Families and Nations: Trans-generational healing & family constellations| Publisher=Findhorn Press| Place=Forres, Scotland | Year=2005 }}.
* {{cite journal | last1=Konkolÿ Thege | first1=Barna | last2=Petroll | first2=Carla | last3=Rivas | first3=Carlos | last4=Scholtens | first4=Salome | title=The Effectiveness of Family Constellation Therapy in Improving Mental Health: A Systematic Review | journal=Family Process | publisher=Wiley | volume=60 | issue=2 | date=2 February 2021 | issn=0014-7370 | doi=10.1111/famp.12636 | pages=409–423| pmid=33528854 | s2cid=231752236 | url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/177231226/famp.12636.pdf }}
*{{Harvard reference | Surname=Payne| Given=John | Title= The Language of the Soul: Trans-Generational Healing & Family Constellations| Publisher=Findhorn Press| Place=Forres, Scotland | Year=2006 }}.
* {{Harvard reference | Surname=Singer| Given=Margaret Thaler | & |Surname2=Lalich| Given2=Janja| Title= Crazy Therapies| Publisher=Jossey-Bass| Year=1996 }}.


==See also==
== See also ==
* [[Systemic Constellations]]
* [[Family systems therapy]]
* [[Psychodrama]]
* [[Internal Family Systems Model]]
==External links==
==External links==
{{linkfarm|date=January 2010}}
* https://en.everybodywiki.com/Edithistory:Family_Constellations
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xwTGAHeZx8 Short Film Example (in German)]
* https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q870444
* [http://www.hellinger.com Homepage of Bert Hellinger]
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Family_Constellations
* [http://www.familyconstellations-usa.com/ Family Constellations USA]
==References==
* [http://www.annieblockpearl.com  Systemic Family Constellation workshops and individual sessions, US and International].
{{Reflist}}
* [http://www.familyconstellations.net/ Family Constellations UK & International]
* [http://www.seattleconstellations.net/ Seattle Constellations Network, Seattle, WA, USA]
* [http://english.constellations-lahore.com/ French Institute of Family and Systemic Constellations]
* [http://www.familyconstellationwork.com/ SW Center for Systemic Constellation Work,Krista Jarrard, Santa Fe, NM]
* [http://www.xs4all.nl/~afa/alert/engels/hellinger_e.html Article on Bert Hellinger and his method]
* [http://www.indymedia.ie/article/76002 Article on the workings of the method]
* [http://www.gailcloud.com/familyconstallations.shtml Gail Cloud, D.C. Facilitator in Behavioral Genetics, and Family Constellations]
* [http://www.anzjft.com/pages/sample_articles.php?oldcommand=article_search&id=395&searchtext=stiefel&category=&page=1 Article from ANZJFT providing an overview of the model]
* [http://www.talentmanager.pt/talent_manager_1_000038.htm More than 200 links for Constellations sites all over the world]
* [http://www.constellationsusa.com 2nd USA Conference on Systemic Constellation Work]
* [http://www.spiritmind.us, Spiritmind Constellations, Richard L. Brown Jr., Crested Butte, CO]
* [http://www.essl.pro Homepage of Dr. Brigitte Essl, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA]
* [http://www.tanjameyburgh.co.za Family Constellations South Africa]
* [http://http://www.nuevasconstelaciones.com/en/new-constellations.htm "New Family Constellations. Hellinger Sciencia"] Bert Hellinger's new approach


[[Category:Family therapy]]
{{Alternative medicine}}
{{Authority control}}
{{wikidata|Q870444}}


[[bg:Фамилна констелация]]
[[Category:Family therapy|Constellations]]
[[ca:Constel·lacions familiars]]
[[Category:Mind–body interventions]]
[[cs:Rodinné konstelace]]
[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[de:Familienaufstellung]]
[[Category:Psychological theories]]
[[es:Constelaciones familiares]]
[[fr:Constellation familiale]]
[[hu:Családfelállítás]]
[[nl:Familieopstelling]]
[[no:Familiekonstellasjoner]]
[[pt:Constelações familiares]]
[[ru:Системно-семейные расстановки]]

Latest revision as of 16:09, 17 August 2024

Family Constellations session

Family Constellations, /Familienaufstellung/ also known as Systemic Constellations and Systemic Family Constellations, is a pseudoscientific[1] therapeutic method which draws on elements of family systems therapy, existential phenomenology and Zulu beliefs and attitudes to family.[2] In a single session, a Family Constellation supposedly attempts to reveal an unrecognized dynamic that spans multiple generations in a given family and to resolve the deleterious effects of that dynamic by encouraging the subject, through representatives, to encounter and accept the factual reality of the past.

Family Constellations diverges significantly from conventional forms of cognitive, behaviour and psychodynamic psychotherapy. The method has been described by physicists as quantum mysticism, and its founder Bert Hellinger incorporated the speculative idea of morphic resonance into his explanation of it. Positive outcomes from the therapy have been attributed to conventional explanations such as suggestion and empathy.[3][4][1]

Practitioners claim that present-day problems and difficulties may be influenced by traumas suffered in previous generations of the family, even if those affected are unaware of the original event. Hellinger referred to the relation between present and past problems that are not caused by direct personal experience as systemic entanglements, said to occur when unresolved trauma has afflicted a family through an event such as murder, suicide, death of a mother in childbirth, early death of a parent or sibling, war, natural disaster, emigration, or abuse.[5] The psychiatrist Iván Böszörményi-Nagy referred to this phenomenon as "invisible loyalties".[6]

Conceptual basis

The philosophical orientation of Family Constellations were derived through an integration of existential phenomenology, family systems therapy, and elements of indigenous mysticism.

The phenomenological lineage can be traced through philosophers Franz Brentano, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. This perspective stands in contrast to the positivist reductionist orientation of scientific psychology. Rather than understanding mind, emotion and consciousness in terms of its constituent parts, existential phenomenology opens perception to the full panorama of human experience and seeks to grasp a sense of meaning.[2]

Family Constellations take their form from family systems psychology. Influential figures in this movement include Jacob Moreno, the founder of psychodrama; Iván Böszörményi-Nagy, the pioneer of transgenerational systemic thinking; Milton Erickson, a pioneer of brief therapy and hypnotherapy; Eric Berne who conceived the concept of life scripts; and Virginia Satir, who developed family sculpture, the precursor of Systemic Constellations.[2] In the past decade, further advancements in the use of the process have been innovated by practitioners throughout the world.

The process draws from indigenous spiritual mysticism to supposedly contribute towards releasing tensions, lightening emotional burdens, and resolving real-world problems. Hellinger lived as a Roman Catholic priest in South Africa for 16 years in the 1950s and 1960s. During these years, he became fluent in the Zulu language, participated in Zulu rituals, and gained an appreciation for the Zulu worldview.[2]

Of particular importance is the difference between traditional Zulu attitudes toward parents and ancestors and those typically held by Europeans. Heidegger postulated that to be human is to find oneself thrown into a world with no clear logical, ontological, or moral structure.[7] In Zulu culture, Hellinger found a certitude and equanimity that were the hallmarks of Heidegger's elusive authentic Self. The traditional Zulu people lived and acted in a religious world in which the central focal point was the ancestors. They are regarded as positive, constructive, and creative presences.[8] The connection with ancestors is a central feature of the Constellation process.

The term "Family Constellations" was first used by Alfred Adler in a somewhat different context to refer to the phenomenon that each individual belongs to and is bonded in relationship to other members of his or her family system. One premise of his work is that one can inherit trauma.

The method

  • This section needs additional citations for verification.
Family Constellations

This description is the prototype group Family Constellation as developed by Bert Hellinger in the 1990s.[2] Many practitioners have blended Constellation work with psychological aspects of healing. Others have kept the classic form as taught by Hellinger, such as the Constellation Approach.[9] The Constellation Approach merges concepts of Family Constellations, energy medicine, and consciousness studies to complement the understanding of classic Constellation methodology.

  • A workshop is led by a facilitator who guides a client (or seeker) to set up a Constellation (described below) with regards to the client's personal issue. Either individually or in a group (a group of any size, but smaller groups may be difficult for some clients[10]), these people can explore the issue. Generally, several members will be given an opportunity to set up a Constellation in each session.
  • After a brief interview, the facilitator suggests who will be represented in the Constellation. These are usually a representative for the seeker, one or more family members, and sometimes abstract concepts such as "depression" or a country.
  • The person presenting the issue (seeker or client) asks people from the group to stand in the Constellation as representatives. He or she arranges the representatives according to what feels right in the moment. The seeker then sits down and observes.
  • Several minutes elapse with the representatives standing still and silent. Initially, unlike psychodrama, the representatives do not act, pose, dialogue or role-play.
  • Emphasis is placed on perceptive intuition in placing the representatives and in subsequent steps of the procedure. The aim is supposedly to tune into what the psychiatrist Albrecht Mahr describes as the Knowing Field[11] and former biologist Rupert Sheldrake has suggested is morphic resonance.[12] The Knowing Field is claimed to guide participants to perceive and articulate feelings and sensation that mirror those of the real family members they represent; however, representative perception (morphic resonance) is not a concept with any scientific basis. The representatives have little or no factual knowledge about those they represent. Nevertheless, the representatives usually experience feelings or physical sensations that are thought to inform the process.
  • The facilitator may ask each representative to briefly report how they feel being placed in relation to the others. The facilitator, seeker, and group members may believe they perceive an underlying dynamic in the spatial arrangement and feelings held by the representatives that influence the pertinent personal issue. Often, configuring multiple generations in a family is thought to reveal that traumas continue to unconsciously affect the living long after the original victims or perpetrators have died.
  • A healing resolution for the issue generally is supposedly achieved after repositioning the representatives and adding key members of the system who have been forgotten or written out of the family history. When every representative feels right in his or her place and the other representatives agree, the facilitator may suggest one or two sentences to be spoken aloud. If the representatives do not feel at peace with their new position or sentences, they can move again or try a different sentence. This is claimed, in an abstract way, to represent a possible resolution of the issues faced by the seeker. Sometimes the process concludes without a full resolution being achieved.
  • When the facilitator feels that the healing resolution has taken hold among the representatives, the seeker is invited to "take the place of his/her representative in the Constellation". This supposedly allows the seeker to perceive how it feels to be part of a reconfigured system. When everyone feels comfortable in their place, the Constellation concludes.

A constellation session is a one time event with no follow up. It may take place in front of a large audience. [13]

Results of Randomized Controlled Trial of Efficacy

In 2014, Christina Hunger, et al., of the Institute for Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg ran a randomized controlled trial to demonstrate that participants in family constellation seminars, on average, showed "improved experience in personal social systems" relative to a control group. The effects of the seminars were measured 2 weeks and 4 months after the seminars. [14] Hunger, et al., followed up at 8 months and 12 months and found participants still "showed improvement of psychological functioning" relative to the control group.[15]

Criticism

Małgorzata Talarczyk of The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, Poznań University of Medical Sciences in Poland has criticized the family constellation method as not meeting many of aspects of the Polish Code of Ethics for Psychiatrists. In particular, she found that it was inadequate in the areas of "the process, contract, diagnosis, supervision, confidentiality, alternativeness." Thus it is difficult to consider it as "psychotherapy". [13]

Further reading

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Witkowski, Tomasz (2015). Psychology Gone Wrong: The Dark Sides of Science and Therapy (illustrated ed.). Universal-Publishers. p. 261. ISBN 978-1-62734-528-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=ruaRCgAAQBAJ. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cohen, D. B. (2006). ""Family Constellations": An Innovative Systemic Phenomenological Group Process from Germany". The Family Journal 14 (3): 226–233. doi:10.1177/1066480706287279. 
  3. ↑ Carroll, Robert T.. "Bert Hellinger and family constellations". skepdic.com. http://www.skepdic.com/hellinger.html. 
  4. ↑ Lebow, Alisa (2008). First Person Jewish. U of Minnesota Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8166-4354-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=SET9W5JTOUMC. 
  5. ↑ Hellinger, B., Weber, G., & Beaumont, H. (1998). Love's hidden symmetry: What makes love work in relationships. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker and Theisen.
  6. ↑ Boszormenyi-Nagy, I., & Spark, G. M. (1973). Invisible loyalties: Reciprocity in intergenerational family therapy. Hagerstown, MD: Harper & Row.
  7. ↑ Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, translators). New York: Harper & Row (original work published 1927).
  8. ↑ Lawson, E. T. (1985). Religions of Africa. New York: Harper and Row.
  9. ↑ "The Constellation Approach"
  10. ↑ Manne, J. (2009). Family Constellations: A Practical Guide to Uncovering the Origins of Family Conflict. United States: North Atlantic Books., page 16. [1]
  11. ↑ Mahr, A. (1999). "Das wissende feld: Familienaufstellung als geistig energetisches heilen" ["The knowing field: Family constellations as mental and energetic healing"]. In Geistiges heilen für eine neue zeit [Intellectual cures for a new time]. Heidelberg, Germany: Kösel Verlag.
  12. ↑ Sheldrake, R. (1988). The presence of the past: Morphic resonance and the habits of nature. Rochester, VT: Park Street.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Małgorzata Talarczyk (2011). "Family Constellation Method of Bert Hellinger in the context of the Code of Ethics for Psychotherapists". pp. 65-74. https://www.archivespp.pl/Family-Constellation-Method-of-Bert-Hellinger-in-the-context-of-the-Code-of-Ethics,153318,0,2.html. 
  14. ↑ Christina Hunger, Annette Bornhäuser, Leoni Link, Jochen Schweitzer, Jan Weinhold. "Improving Experience in Personal Social Systems through Family Constellation Seminars: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.". https://wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=production&url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=96323779&site=eds-live&scope=site. 
  15. ↑ Christina Hunger, Jan Weinhold, Annette Bornhäuser, Leoni Link, Jochen Schweitzer. "Mid- and Long-Term Effects of Family Constellation Seminars in a General Population Sample: 8- and 12-Month Follow-Up.". https://wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/login?auth=production&url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=103143366&site=eds-live&scope=site. 

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