What Is Family Constellation Therapy?
Over the years people look at me wide-eyed when I‘ve suggest using Family Constellation therapy to address family trauma. It works by revealing unrecognized dynamics that have occurred across generations in a family.
Family Constellation Therapy is different from the standard talk-based Psychotherapy. In a single Family Constellation workshop it is possible to identify and even resolve the negative effects of relational dynamics. Participants are encouraged, through representatives, to meet and accept the actual reality of that past.
This holistic healing approach is sometimes described by physicists as Quantum Quackery, which works by the scientific theory of Morphic Resonance. Despite this scientific notion increasing in popularity both with practitioners and participants, this incredibly powerful and mystical therapeutic approach is often misunderstood. Sometimes it is even mistaken with star-signs astrology and other scientifically unfounded practices.
And yet in many cases I’ve witnessed such clear breakthrough moments on the part of the subject, and have even personally experienced them myself. I’ve seen uncannily prescient ‘downloadings’ on the part of the participants. For me to disbelieve the efficacy of Family Constellation Therapy would be absurd.
A key therapy in my personal development and one Art Of Being hosts, Family Constellation addresses any entanglements within family dynamics; which are challenging relationships between members in a family, hindering the overall functioning of a family.
In reality, this system ‘maps’ the family members onto a real-life interconnected web, similar to stars in a constellation. This solutions-oriented intervention gives the participants tools to let love flow between the family members, healing relationships.
In ode to self development, its ultimate goal is for the participant identifying relational life issues, and to take steps for their relationships to become healthier.
Background Of This Holistic Healing Intervention
First developed by German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger, Family Constellation factors in the family an individual belongs to, which is their family system. Though Hellinger may be somewhat controversial, as a Transpersonal Psychologist I am a big fan of Family Constellation Therapy. The underlying theory is that all families have unwritten rules and codes of conduct, most of which are never explicitly communicated to one another. When these rules are disregarded, it influences family dynamics — potentially leading to disharmony. By unveiling these dynamics, we can focus on how to heal them and potentially treat trauma.
How Does Family Constellations Work?
It goes like this: people who are not related join a Family Constellations Workshop. After being led through a deep mediation, members of the group are given roles within the participant-in-question’s family. However, this participant remains an objective viewer. Throughout the holistic experience, members are placed in relation to one another based on how the participant-in-question feels, and then they are free to improvise their roles through movement. In my experience, perhaps because of energy fields, group members behave very similarly to the real family members even though they had not been instructed.
The Role Of Holistic Counsellors
The therapist intervenes in destructive family dynamics, when they become apparent. Their job is mainly about holding space for the participant, guiding the session and gently asking questions the participant may need to hear. The holistic counsellor also suggests things members can say to one another, and new behaviors they can adopt to restore harmony, mental and emotional wellness. Coordinating with the participant, together they rearrange the group for ultimate healing, such as moving in missing family members.
Use For Personal Development
After the Family Constellation session, everyone in the family feels a shift in energy to some degree — whether they were aware of the session or not. For me this is where the wonder of this Transpersonal Psychology modality unfolds. During the therapy, the participant and group members tune into higher levels of consciousness outside of the individual and that family, they access the dimension where we energetically are all one. Holistic counsellors agree that Family Constellations Therapy is where it is at. It is a powerful holistic healing intervention ultimately leading to personal development, inner child healing, and better mental and emotional wellness for both the participant and their family.