WHAT IS FAMILY CONSTELLATIONS?
Constellations is an approach applied therapeutically and in organisations, which shows how hidden dynamics in our family & wider systems, might be playing out in our life. It makes visible maps of what is held on the inside to create new insights and solutions.
It could show maps of relationship bonds and fractures, loyalty and exclusion, of trauma carried quietly through time, recurring patterns in love or work, and the unseen team dynamics that can undermine groups and businesses.

WHAT'S THE PHILOSOPHY?
Think of relational dynamics as an ecosystem or "field" of different people and parts. All of life is interconnected. The parts affect the whole and the whole affects the parts.
Radical inclusion of every person and every phenomenon is a hallmark of this work, and there is a deep sensing awareness, a drop out of ordinary consciousness into what's called the “knowing field”, where unconscious and somatic information can come forward. Here, time seems to slow down to the point that past, present and future feel as one - what the ancient Greeks called Kairos time (as opposed to Chronos).

A constellation goes wider than the realm of personal experience. It’s a systemic and trans-generational approach which allows hidden loyalties and rules of belonging to be seen. It includes what is personal, and it also includes what may be impacting you from previous generations and other systems, e.g. the archetypal and divine.

It creates deep acknowledgement of things as they are, which might not sound that radical, but it really is, since many of us would rather waste a lot of energy wishing things could have been different. There's no room for moralising, blaming or finger pointing - life goes on irrespective of our judgements. We look at the brutal and beautiful aspects humanity with a certain dispassion, directness and agreement, for which you need a readiness to step into deeper self-responsibility.
It can feel quite different to be on the receiving end of systemic therapy compared to other talking therapies. It depends on the facilitator, but it tends to be more direct, aims for the roots, and doesn't necessarily empathise with or validate narratives that have little resonance.

WHY THIS APPROACH?
Something is weighing heavily, you have an issue that is stubbornly persistent no matter what you've tried, and you have the beginning of an inkling it didn't start with you. You want to explore a problem with relationships, family, health, symptoms, creative projects, work, money or personal fulfillment.

Your regular therapist or coach suggested it!

You're ready to gain insight on hidden loyalties, and be responsible for enjoying your own life.

WHAT HAPPENS IN A WORKSHOP?
We get together in a circle, do a short meditation to tune in, then someone comes forward to look at an issue they'd like to explore. They pick representatives from the group to begin to create a map of the connections and disconnections. The facilitator works to support interpretation, movements, and sentences to reveal the dynamics.

WHO AND WHAT CAN BE REPRESENTED?
I won't make an exhaustive list, but people such as partners, parents, grandparents or siblings are often represented, unborn or lost children, those who died young, the mentally ill, the forgotten, the war dead and so on.  It's also common to see countries, symptoms, workplaces, emotions, concepts, and societal events represented, e.g. guilt, future possibility, migration, wars, religions. It depends on what's ready and invited to be seen in the clients system.

IS IT ALWAYS IN GROUPS?
The work can happen 1-2-1 or in groups.
In groups, the representatives are usually other group members, who become like vessels of information in the system. In private sessions we use objects or imagination just as well. Anything from cushions to felt floor markers, stones, little wooden people, or whatever is to hand.

HOW AM I GOING TO FEEL?
It's impossible to say.  Participants often report feeling deeply moved, connected to each other and something greater, grateful, stirred, inspired, tired.  Be prepared for others' systems to have deep resonance with yours, to let things be as they are, and to hold your feelings with kind eyes.

ANYTHING ELSE?
Most likely!
Feel free to share your own questions, reflections or experiences in the comments.
Life is beautiful when we are all learning together.