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FAMILY CONSTELLATIONS

Discover Healing and Wholeness through Online Family Constellation Sessions

Are you seeking profound insights into your family dynamics and a deeper understanding of your emotional well-being? Welcome to our online family constellation sessions, where you can embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and healing from the comfort of your own home.

What is Family Constellation Therapy?

Family constellation therapy is a powerful and holistic approach that delves into the interconnectedness of family systems and the emotional dynamics that influence our lives. By examining the hidden dynamics within the family, this therapeutic modality aims to bring awareness to unresolved traumas, conflicts, and entanglements that may impact our emotional and psychological well-being.

The Benefits of Online Family Constellation Sessions:

  1. Accessible and Convenient: Our online platform allows you to participate in family constellation sessions from anywhere in the world, eliminating the need for in-person visits and providing you with the flexibility to engage in the healing process at your own convenience.

  2. Emotional Healing: Through guided exercises and compassionate facilitation, our experienced therapists create a safe and supportive space for you to explore unresolved emotions, trauma, and intergenerational patterns, fostering a deeper sense of emotional healing and personal transformation.

  3. Greater Self-Awareness: Online family constellation sessions offer you the opportunity to gain profound insights into the underlying dynamics of your family system, enabling you to develop a greater understanding of the unconscious influences that shape your thoughts, behaviors, and relationships.

  4. Resolution of Interpersonal Conflicts: By uncovering hidden entanglements and loyalties within the family, you can begin to untangle complex relationship dynamics, leading to improved communication, empathy, and harmony within your familial and social connections.

  5. Promotes Personal Growth: Engaging in online family constellation sessions can empower you to break free from limiting beliefs and emotional burdens, allowing you to cultivate a stronger sense of self-awareness, resilience, and personal empowerment.

How Our Online Sessions Work:

I am experienced and compassionate therapist and i  conduct individual  online family constellation sessions that are tailored to your specific needs and concerns. Through a combination of guided visualizations, role-playing, and systemic constellations, we guide you on a transformative journey toward healing, reconciliation, and wholeness.

Take the First Step Towards Healing:

Join us in our online family constellation sessions and embark on a profound journey of self-discovery, emotional healing, and personal growth. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can support you on your path to holistic well-being and inner harmony.


What are family constellations?

Family constellations is a therapeutic tool systematized by a German priest and psychotherapist, Bert Hellinger, a missionary in South Africa. Man has been greatly inspired by psycho genealogy, as well as by the way the African Zulu tribe is very attached to the worship of ancestors, resolving their problems and conflicts.

It views families, schools, countries and businesses as separate systems with their own rules.

Family constellations  method is based on a psycho-genealogical law that knows that we are all more or less conditioned by our family history. The purpose of family constellations is, to a large extent, to restore order, to put everyone in their place with the responsibilities and traumas they carry. In other words, to symbolically return to those to whom the suitcases we carry for them belong, of unconscious loyalty and following their destiny.

Family constellations is a therapeutic method. We are aware of the hidden family dynamics; we experience them and we free ourselves to move forward with ease and support from our ancestors.

Dr. Irena Vacheva

Family constellations is based on 3 basic principles

 

Family constellations Principle 1 – Belonging

If you were born in a family or married in a family, you belong to it forever. You become one of them. This is you birth right.

Family constellations Principle 2 – Order

Every system, including the family one, has a rule: whoever is born (included) first is bigger. Everyone has their place, even if they are dead. It is important that everyone stays in place.

Family constellations Principle 3 – Balance

The third principle is for balance as much as you give and so much you receive. In this way, the relationships become stable and develop constructively.

How does the “family constellations” method work?

The first step to liberation is awareness, the idea of ​​family constellations is to project a family or systemic problem into three-dimensional space (which will be called the “field” and which will be confined to the therapist’s office or some other suitable place, even in nature). , using a physical representation of its various components to observe how the system is configured, how it develops, what are the interactions and even subtleties between its members, where are the blockages and where love cannot flow.

Family constellations make it possible to distinguish the types of unconscious functioning that are very often trans-generational and bring, repeatedly, into a person’s life conflicts (broken families, inability to form a stable couple to find their place in society или) or uncomfortable or even dramatic situations that can sometimes seem like swearing: serial bankruptcies, suicides, abuse, illness, various addictions (alcohol, drugs, bulimia, ().

“Trauma experienced by ancestors can affect future generations”

Sylvie Brown

And it turns out that no therapy can help until these hereditary traumas are clarified. In order to move, the client must see whose family history he is subconsciously repeating. He can be free and live his own life to the fullest.

How do family constellations work?

A specific problem is stated – it can be a personal impasse, a professional dead end, illness, panic attack, an emotion that is difficult to manage.

Then the family history of the client is analyzed, his birth family is considered, as well as his current one.

You can visit a group for family constellations and or make an individual meeting (maybe online)

Questionnaire for a session on family constellations

Here we work only with facts. What really happened to your ancestors.

Clarification of the terms “current family” and “parental family”

Who makes up the current family?

Spouse, living and deceased children, children who died at birth and as a result of abortion or miscarriage, and children who left the family, children born in previous marriages or by other partners. It is necessary to specify whether any of the spouses in the current family had a serious relationship or marriage before the wedding and what was the reason for the separation, without going into details. It is necessary to know whether there have been significant or tragic events related to this family.

Who makes up the parental family?

Parents, living and deceased siblings, those (if any) who died in childbirth as a result of abortion or those who left the family, uncles and aunts.

With regard to the parental family, it is reasonable to ask the same questions as for the current family.

Who makes up the family system?

Father, mother, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, but not cousins. It is necessary to know whether there are members in the system who are excluded or not talked about. It is also important to know if there have been people outside the family system who have had strong relationships with certain members of the family system, whether those relationships have been positive (the person who helped the family) or negative (the person who who has been robbed or taken advantage of), because even if such people did not have a blood relationship, they belong to the family system.

What information is needed to compile a genogram?

You may often not have access to all the data needed to compile the genogram, and it may be necessary to seek this information from other members of the family system who are still alive.

  • All sisters and brothers
  • Brothers and sisters and adopted children
  • Own children
  • Father and mother, including foster father and mother
  • Aunts and uncles, but without cousins
  • Grandparents, both maternal and paternal
  • All dates of birth and dates of death
  • Dates of divorces and divisions
  • Professions and social status
  • Historical events (wars, emigration, exile, political situations ()
  • Staying in a prison or psychiatric clinic of one of the members
  • Previous partners of the parents
  • Former partners of grandparents
  • Have parents been forced to marry just because of pregnancy?
  • Were grandparents forced to marry just because of pregnancy
  • Stillbirths and abortions
  • Diseases, including hereditary
  • Severe accidents
  • Murders, suicides and violent deaths
  • All members of the system who have died young or have been abandoned and given to other people to raise
  • All forms of difficult life situations

– disability

– depression

– addictions to psychoactive substances, etc.

  • taboo topics and family secrets
  • Sexual abuse
  • Religious and ethnicity
  • Financial failures and successes
  • Cases of overthrow and exclusion of members of the system (black sheep)
  • “Saints” in the family system
  • Cases of mysterious death or death that is not talked about

Family constellations

Family constellations are based on the observance of basic cosmic laws. Disregard for these laws has complex consequences; through energetic work in the field of family order we can contribute to the restoration of natural order.

Two main dynamics take care of the family system: the family conscience and the balance between giving and receiving.

There is a conscience that we feel, and that conscience maintains order in the family system; it is above all an attachment to the group. At the level of the unconscious, the conscience connects different systems, which include the members of the group, the rules of the group and the needs of the group.

 The laws are the following:

1. The need / right to respect / acknowledge what is. What must be allowed to be.

2. The need / right to belong (excluded, forgotten, bad, wrong,…)

3. The need / right to maintain the balance of giving and receiving.

4. The need / right to order. Those who are first (older) are in first place in relation to those who came later in the family.

Respect / recognition of what is

What should be allowed to be.

Reality never makes mistakes, even when it seems threatening. Everything that happened is recorded in the energy field of our family. When we acknowledge what it is and look at it, we come to a solution to the problem. But often we don’t want to look in that direction because we are afraid, ashamed, we don’t want to see, it’s not ours, we wonder what we have to do with it, and so on. We go back to him, thinking he will disappear if we don’t look at him. In fact, in this way we miss the opportunity to solve the problem by spending from a place of repression and denial.

Healing comes only by accepting the truth that comes to the surface. When we give space to what is, then none of the descendants should stand in that place (which has been denied in the past). If this is not done, no matter how much we deny seeing someone or something, there will always be one of the descendants who with his behavior, illness, loss, etc. … Will be forced to look for the cause of his suffering.

For example, when someone is excluded from the family system and he / she is entitled to belong to it, the system seeks compensation and the excluded member is represented by the younger member who does not know what is happening to him or her or whose life he or she is living.

The solution to this is, with the help of energetic work in the field of family constellations, to look at the excluded member and then, the descendant of this or some further generation will not have to energetically represent this person, but will be able to live your own life (not someone else’s).

family constellations

This method is also called “Hellinger constellations”, “family constellations”, “systemic family constellations”, “system-phenomenological approach”.

 

Systemic Constellations Method Basics

In this method, a customer story (problem situation) is described as elements of a system and their interactions. When the method began to develop, client stories were presented only as interactions between members of the family system. Therefore, the method was originally called “family constellations.”

The arrangements were made in a group, the group members were usually located in a circle. The client story, described as the interaction of members of the family system, was placed in space.

At the same time, one participant was selected from the group to represent each family member in the aarrngement . They call him deputy . One deputy replaced one member of the client’s family (let’s call the one who is substituted in the constellation as the prototype). Further, the assignee or client placed (took to the place) each deputy in the room. Determining the place of the deputy is done slowly, silently and with concentration, based on the bodily sensation of where this person should stand. The deputies are not given any posture, they stand (do not sit or lie down), they do not touch each other and do not speak.

The main tool of the method of systemic constellations is

substitute perception . This phenomenon consists in the fact that the substitute in the constellation can, in general terms, feel the state of his prototype and its interaction with other members of the constellation system. In this case, the deputy may not know anything about his prototype. Also, both the client and the constellator may not know anything about the prototype, which is represented in the constellation by their deputy. Ignorance does not interfere with the substitute perception.

This phenomenon has not yet received an explanation recognized by official science. This phenomenon, however, is widely known in unconventional science, practices preserved in traditional cultures (shamanic work), esotericism. The constellators trust the data of the substitute perception, based on the huge number of placements made and the received confirmations about the correctness of the ones broadcast by the substitutes speakers .

The source from which the proxies receive information about their prototypes is called the ” field “. It is also called “morphic field”, “morphogenetic field”, “knowing field”.

Trust in information, feelings and sensations coming from the field through substitute perception is the main feature of the systemic constellation method, which distinguishes it from other methods that use the arrangement of system elements (such as psychodrama, the Virginia Satyr family sculpture, Goering’s test, sand therapy). The facilitator, client, and group observe the interaction of the proxies. Phenomenology, i.e. observation, free from assumptions and interpretations, is the basis of the method. Therefore, the method is also commonly called the “system-phenomenological approach.”

The constellator interacts with the client and deputies, performing work aimed at fully revealing the manifested situation in the constellation and helping the client to achieve deep contact with what is happening.

 

After the deputies are placed in space, they can move with the permission of the constellator and briefly describe in words what they feel (for more details see E. Veselago “On substitution”). In this way, a perception of the situation can be achieved in the constellation that goes far beyond what the client is telling or communicating through non-verbal (body) signals. In particular, one can see the interactions of family members about which the client does not have information or cannot adequately convey it due to his involvement in a problem situation. This opens up therapeutic possibilities that are not yet available in many other helping practices.

Often, what is manifested in the constellation is quite difficult (which is why the client had no previous contact with it) and in the constellation method a wide arsenal of approaches has been developed to help the client assimilate this experience. Constellations also have a variety of techniques that help to adequately express the story unfolding in the constellation – to the extent that it now comes from the field and to the extent that it can now be perceived by the client, deputies, the group and the constellator himself.

A constellation usually lasts from 15-20 minutes to an hour and a half. Some setups last a few seconds, some last a few hours.

In the method of constellations, it is believed that if the client has perceived the story shown in the constellation (its rejection has gone or it has become less), then he no longer needs to reproduce the experience concluded in that situation directly in his life. Thus, the constellations initially contained the assumption that many problem situations in the client’s life are associated with those stories in the life of his family members that have ever been rejected (not lived, not experienced, not mastered).

It is these primary stories that show up in the constellation.

Systemic Conscience, Interweaving, and Constellation Action

The assumption (subject to extensive constellation practice) that the problematic experience in the client’s life is associated with the fact that some experience of a similar nature was previously rejected by his family members is called the “action of a systemic conscience.” In constellations, it is considered that all family members are connected by a single field, which contains all the information about everything that has ever happened to them. If any member of the family (and his life experience) is excluded, rejected by other family members, then later in the family someone is born who will return this experience to the family, living it again in his life. The systemic conscience is thus blind and “unfair” (in the usual sense of justice), since A person who is “not guilty of anything” suffers “simply” because earlier someone lived the same way and his life experience was rejected by his family. [2]

Examples of such repetitions sometimes really look scary and unfair.

For example, a grandmother’s first child died immediately after birth. The grandmother never mentioned him, and there was no way to survive the suffering associated with the loss of the first-born – the times were such that the family was busy with survival. Both of her daughters are also losing their first children. And the granddaughter’s first child is critically ill when she asks about it for constellation.

In the constellation, the primary situation (the loss of children by the grandmother, mother, and aunt) comes to light. The deep grief of the grandmother, felt by her deputy, group, client and constellator, finds acceptance and through this, as it were, ends after decades. The client’s child recovers and the loss of children, repeated over generations, stops.

In some cases, such obvious repetitions at the level of facts are not observed, the situation may be more “blurred”. For example, a client feels that he “has no strength for anything,” and the arrangement shows two figures – one, apparently dead, and one who could not fully mourn her. It is not possible to identify exactly who these figures are in the client’s family. Nevertheless, the client feels a deep connection with these figures, and after the placement, after a while, his strength and energy are added to life.

This relationship of a person with previously lived people from his family system is called interlacing . In the arrangement, weaving is resolved. Interlacing is also known as restoring the visibility of a system event .

The main reasons for rejection of experience and the emergence of weaves:

1) it hurts too much. What happened is so painful that people move away from realizing and living this experience. These are losses, illnesses, breakdowns in relationships. It can also be events of the scale of the country and the people: genocide, war, dispossession, repression.

2) “you are not ours.” A person who lives like this is not ours, we do not accept this and we reject such a life. There may not be pain directly from what is happening, and the person and his life are rejected for socially determined reasons.

For example, “everything in our family is normal,” and a man living in a same-sex relationship is no longer our son. “A woman should have a family and children,” and a girl who has chosen a life without children, who has devoted herself, for example, to a career or creativity, is in the position of a “black sheep”.

It should be specially noted here that constellations have nothing to do with morality, sin, retribution for unrighteous deeds. For example, the situation, “Mom had five abortions, and therefore you don’t have the strength to live” is an incorrect description of what is happening in the constellation. “No strength to live” is not “retribution for the sins of the mother.” Perhaps the mother was so hard that she could not find the strength to bear and raise children. This impotence was not lived through by her, and the daughter became entwined with her, living this experience again. In another situation, the mother “didn’t think about” her abortions, they were not associated with something difficult for her, and interlacing did not arise.

Constellations, as a phenomenological method, do not have causal assumptions and do not have judgment in relation to anything. the unmanifest, whatever it may be, and help restore client contact with it.

The time it takes for the constellation to take effect (the weave is resolved) can vary. Sometimes it is a few minutes (right in the constellation), sometimes several days, weeks or months. It happens that the constellation is valid for several years, during which several weaves disintegrate, and a person organizes his life in a new place in his system.

The constellation, however, is not a “service to the public” in which a solution can be guaranteed. The primary story may come to light in the constellation to a large extent, or it may not come out or come out very limitedly. It depends on the client’s willingness and courage to look at the hidden, on the willingness of the group, the ability of deputies to broadcast and display complex stories, the qualifications and personal maturity of the facilitator. In turn, the revealed story may be rejected by the client for the second time or he may not have enough energy to look at it (and the facilitator and the group will not be able to provide him with sufficient support in this).

And, since in constellations we refer to the third force – the field, we assume that this source also has its own laws, and it may not provide information for reasons unknown to us.

Love orders and the classical family system

In the process of gaining experience in observing constellations, Bert Hellinger formulated several patterns that describe situations encountered in constellations. He called these patterns the Order of Love.

First order, or the Law of Affiliation. Everyone who belongs to the family system has an equal right to belong. This means that no matter how a person lived his life (or even if he did not have time to live it – he died early or was not born on time), he belongs to the system on an equal basis with everyone and cannot be forgotten or excluded. “No one is excluded” – Bert Hellinger formulates this law.

If this law is violated and some experience or a person is rejected, then later someone will appear who will re-incorporate this experience into the system.

This is the action of the systemic conscience, this is how the interweaving is created.

Based on the experience of numerous constellations, Bert Hellinger formulated the definition of the family system, describing who belongs to it (and, therefore, who cannot be excluded without the consequences in the form of entanglement). At present, a lot of questions arise about this list, the answers to which can be given only in the context of the phenomenological approach. In other words, if the question arises “does it belong to the system … ..”, then the answer to this question is always the same: “you need to arrange [this particular system] and look.”

So, according to Bert Hellinger, the human family system includes:

1) His parents. In this case, his biological parents are meant. If a person does not know his biological parents, or they have already died, they still belong to his family system.

In this case, the phrase “they belong to his family system” means “in the constellations, there have been cases when a person was intertwined with them.” This does not mean that weaving always occurs. In a specific situation, you need to arrange and see.

Only such an answer can be given to questions about in vitro fertilization (IVF), surrogacy, sperm donation and other technologies of conception and parenting.

It doesn’t matter how long a person was with their parents or how they treated them or who they called their “real” parents. The system is formed by the fact of physical birth, and not knowledge about it or an assessment of it.

The fact that in constellations there can be a relationship with people who have already died or about whom there is no information, brings constellation practice beyond the boundaries of consciousness and further, beyond the boundaries of the world of the living. “Constellations are shamanic work that opens the boundaries of the world of the dead,” says Stefan Hausner, one of the world’s leading constellations.

2) His brothers and sisters. Relatives and incomplete, living and dead, known and unknown, born and not born for various reasons (abortion, miscarriage, frozen pregnancy, reduction, conservation of embryos, etc. ). For all specific questions about unusual situations, the answer is: you need to place and look.

3) His children. Also: living and dead, born and unborn, famous and unknown (for men).

4) His partners, spouses, lovers. Casual relationships, platonic relationships, long-term relationships, happy and not happy, real and virtual – all these partners can be members of the human system, and in specific situations it is necessary to arrange and look.

5) His uncles and aunts (brothers and sisters of the parents). Relatives and incomplete, living and dead, famous and unknown, born and unborn. In the constellations, it was noticed that weaving with uncles and aunts for some reason is quite common.

6) His grandparents. Alive and already deceased, famous and unknown. Weaving through a generation ago is also quite common.

7) Brothers and sisters of grandparents, great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers, more distant ancestors. Alive and already deceased, regardless of what information is known about them and whether it is known at all about the fact of their existence. Bert Hellinger says that distant ancestors belong to the family system if they had a special or difficult fate. It is impossible to describe exactly which destiny can be called special and which cannot. It can be illness or especially painful death, disability, loss of property, participation in hostilities. On the other hand, what we now consider especially painful was in the old days in the order of things and people did not deny such an experience. For example, hunger, loss of children in infancy, earthquakes (in a specific area) were common everyday experiences and did not form entanglement. In specific situations: you need to arrange and see.

8) And other people connected with members of the family system by relationships of the scale of life and death. What kind of relationship is this? It is a life-saving and life-saving relationship, providing and depriving meaningful resources. Constellations are not related to morality, and systemic relationships are equally formed by events such as the murder of a family member or when a family member committed a murder, robbery or theft committed both by a family member and the one from which the family member suffered, saving a life, helping committed by or against family members. Whether the murders committed in the war or the saving of a life committed by the doctor, as well as many other questions, are created by family relationships only in practice: it is necessary to arrange and see.

Thus, the concept of the family system goes beyond consanguinity or sexual relations. The bond is created by relationships of a life and death scale, including a relationship of love.

The definition of the family system is not “theoretical”, it is simply a description of numerous constellation observations. From time to time these observations are expanded, the definition changes. The interlacing cannot be calculated from this definition, it must be arranged and looked at.

So, the First Order or the Law of belonging: everyone who belongs to the family system has an equal right to belong, regardless of what his life was like and what attitude the people around him / her had to do with his / her life.

Second order or the Law of Hierarchy. The one who came into the system earlier (in time) has priority over those who came into the system later. Older brothers and sisters have priority over younger ones, first spouses – over subsequent ones, parents – over children.

This wording can raise many questions if you evaluate the priority as “more rights” or look at the contribution of each. For example, if the elder brother left and broke off relations with his parents, and the younger took care of them in old age, then why does the older brother have a “priority”? If the first wife in a short student marriage “treated her husband badly”, then why does she have priority over the second wife, with whom the husband has been happily living for 25 years? Why do parents take priority if they have abused their son?

In this case, the word “priority” is not appreciated. It is simply a way of naming each family member’s place , ensuring that no one is excluded, no matter how much their life is judged. The first brother was born and the second brother came to a family where there was already one son. The first wife was, then she left and made room for the second. This place is different, the place of the second wife. Parents were before, they gave birth to children. The children came later.

Everyone has a place, no one is excluded.

Only from practice can one see the priority in such difficult cases as parallel and simultaneous ties, breaks and returns to former spouses, the birth of children from different partners.

The third order, the law of balance between giving and taking. If one member of the system gives something to another member of the system, it must be balanced. In this case: parents give [life], and children take. Life cannot be counterbalanced by a return gift and can only be passed on.

This Order also raises many questions. If the husband paid for his wife’s education and the wife “just” loves and cares for him, is it a balanced gift or not? Is the relationship with the teachers meaningful and can the gifts received from them be balanced, or should they simply be passed on?

As with other orders, the operation of this order can only be seen in practice (in the constellation) and now it is customary to interpret it in a broad sense: the contribution of everyone must be respected and the results of this contribution must be passed on. Everything should be in motion, based on respect for each participant equally.

So this Order is also a way of realizing the First Order: no one is excluded.

Geometry of the Orders in the Arrangement. In the constellations, it was repeatedly noticed that there is a mutual arrangement of figures in space, in which most of the substitutes feel good. And this relative position in space is a reflection of the Orders.

For example, the Law of Hierarchy reflects such an arrangement of the alternates of brothers and sisters, when the elders stand on the right, the younger ones on the left, and they all lined up in a line or arc. Husband and wife (parents) stand side by side, and small children sit in front of their feet. Parents’ parents and distant ancestors stand in the back.

For more complex situations (for example, children from different marriages) there are several geometric schemes, which in most cases are marked by substitutes as convenient and comfortable.

At the same time, in specific constellations, these well-known schemes may not work. Recently, systems with unusual geometric orders, including those directly opposite to the classical ones, have become increasingly common (brothers and sisters stand from left to right, children stand behind their parents).

***

Currently, Orders are not perceived as unambiguously as they were at the beginning of the development of constellations. The spread of constellations beyond Europe (especially to Asia and the East) opened up access to family systems in which other Orders are observed. First of all, this is due to the place given in the family to children (not always according to the time of their appearance in the system), wives (polygamy is a common practice, and not a “violation of order”), the elderly (often their place remains the main one until their death, sons are always subordinate). For example, if a younger sister gives her child to the family of an older sister who has no children, then in European orders this is a big violation, and in some northern peoples – the correct order.

In the modern understanding of constellations, a universal order can be formulated: “Everyone belongs. Everything is moving. ” How exactly the affiliation is arranged in a particular system and what is the direction of movement (or where it was blocked) – we can arrange and see. No assumptions.

Classic constellations and further development of constellations

The arrangements described above are usually called classical. Their distinctive features:

– work is carried out in a group in the presence of a client

– the client’s situation is described through the interaction of members of his family system

– in the constellation, the relationship between the client’s situation and the violation of the Order in his family system and the resulting interweaving is sought

– the arranger corrects the violation and helps the client to resolve the interlacing, i.e. looking for the so-called “good solution”. The client takes away the image of a good solution and gradually it takes a place in his life. The problematic situation is being resolved.

As the systemic constellations developed, they began to move away from the classic family constellations, both in technological aspects (how to describe and arrange client stories, how to resolve interlacing), and, most importantly, in their philosophy (understanding how the client story is connected with past events, that means this connection and how it should be treated).

Technologically, the following directions in constellations have arisen:

1) By the way of describing the client’s situation.

In addition to describing the situation through the interaction of family members, modern systemic constellations use the following system descriptions of client stories:

– through the interaction of other people, not family members . Strictly speaking, these people also appeared in classical family constellations (“and other people connected with family members by relationships of the scale of life and death”), but in this case we are talking, for example, about people with whom we interact at work (boss, colleague), in important household matters (house builders, neighbors), in society (the mayor of the city, social workers, etc.)

In constellations, it turned out that surrogate perception provides access to information about interactions not only between family members – about all the interactions that are currently significant. It is not only the family that is connected by a single field – all people are connected.

The possibility of considering situations related to professional relationships led to the formation of a whole direction in constellations: organizational constellations (organizational constellations). Organizational arrangements or business constellations consider situations related to issues of business, profession, finance, and implementation. [3]

– through aggregated figures . Such as Employees (as a single figure), Germans (fascists), Russians, Muscovites. Substitutive perception of large communities and their general movements turned out to be available.

– through material objects. Figures such as House, Apartment, Land, Profit, Money can also be displayed in the constellations.

– through abstract shapes . Such figures as Fear, Pain, Anger (states and feelings of a person), an organ of the body, its disease or symptom (Liver, Cirrhosis, Dizziness), subpersonalities or internal parts (I am small and I am an adult, I -which-I-fear and I-who-overcome-fear), existential figures (Fate, Destiny, Femininity).

The ability to work with the symptoms of bodily conditions and diseases has led to the emergence of such a direction in constellations as the so-called. symptomatic constellations .

The use of holistic structures built from abstract elements is explored in structural constellations . Borrowing structures from other methods and approaches opens the way for collaboration with other directions. For example, such a structure as I-child, I-adult and I-parent is taken from transactional analysis and can be investigated through the arrangement of its components.

Constellations with Tarot cards, astrological constellations and other constellations using ancient and esoteric systems are actively developing.

The possibility of a substitute perception of abstract elements gives us knowledge about the field, which is not yet fully realized. Apparently, the field does not consist of elements corresponding to individual people (as was believed in constellations in the first years of their development), but represents an infinite space, access to which is given “only” by our intention. We express the intention, in particular, by the verbal name of the object (more precisely, the area) to which we want to access. For example: mom, boss, fear, stomach, neighbors, something that gets in the way, I am helpless, money, etc.

Further practice has shown that verbal naming is also not necessary.

– through free elements. Unnamed figures can be entered into the arrangement, the so-called. free items. They perceive the role “from space”, directly opening up to those coming from the field.

In this case, one should distinguish between really free elements (which do not have any name) and elements that are not named aloud. All of the above elements can be introduced into the constellation without being named aloud, through the inner attitude or the silent formulation of the constellator.

Sometimes such a free deputy broadcasts several roles at the same time. This substitution is called multilevel .

2) By the way of representation (substitution) of the elements of the arrangement

If in the classical arrangement people were always substituted (group members), then later on, other technologies of substitution appeared:

– large and small objects, figures, any improvised inventory, as well as space markings (so -called floor anchors, indicating the place of a particular figure, lines, ropes, etc.)

The ability to perceive the client story through non-living objects further expanded the understanding of the field. To access information from the field, you do not need a living person-mediator for each object, just the intention of the arranger and his focus on the desired object. Focus can be verbal or non-verbal, as mentioned above.

As a separate direction in the constellations, constellations with figures and objects were singled out .

– in the imagination (facilitator and client at the same time or asynchronously). The arrangement can be done without a physical representation of the elements of the system at all.

Constellations in the imagination are a separate direction in the method of systemic constellations.

3) By the method of presenting the arrangement to the client.

In classic constellations, the client was present directly in the group. In the future, the constellations began to use other methods of the client’s participation in their constellation:

– using telecommunication means: messaging system (chat), e-mail, video, telephone, photo. Communication systems such as ICQ, Skype, etc. are used. The client can participate in the deployment both online (be in touch immediately at the time of the deployment) and offline (receive a report or a record of the deployment after it has been completed).

– without means of communication, i.e. in the imagination (in the unconscious). In practice, it was found that a constellation made in the absence of a client, about which he did not even receive a report or information, acts similarly to a classical constellation.

It should be noted that all of these spread technologies are not mutually exclusive. Symptomatic placement can be structural and family at the same time, done in a group and using figures in the same work. The combination of technologies is determined by the creative potential and qualifications of the constellator, which he applies appropriately to the client’s situation and working conditions.

The division of constellations into “family, organizational, structural, symptomatic, spiritual” accepted in Russia is incorrect , since describes in the same row various constellation technologies that are not mutually exclusive. Spiritual constellations are a separate philosophical direction in constellations, in which a variety of technologies can also be used.

Many of the above constellation technologies, in the strict sense of the word, are not “Hellinger constellations.” For example, Bert Hellinger does not practice constellations with figures and objects, distance constellations. Currently (2011) Hellinger works in large groups, adhering to the philosophy of spiritual constellations and the technology of free (multilevel) substitution, as well as classical family constellations. Hellinger also actively works in the technology of constellations in the imagination, which he calls meditation.

Spiritual constellations

Spiritual constellations is a philosophical direction in constellation work, designed and put into practice by Bert Hellinger by 2008.

The emergence of spiritual constellations is associated with the development and deepening of understanding of the field and the information coming from there. Maximum openness to what comes from the field into the perception of the constellator and the group gives rise to insights and transformations in them, which are deep spiritual work. The idea of ​​causal relationships between the “problem” and the “violation of Orders” is gradually disappearing from the constellations, the constellators stop looking for a “good solution”, and give themselves up to the practice of Movement with the Spirit, as Bert Hellinger called this type of work [4]

Strictly speaking, such an attitude to constellation work was present in Bert Hellinger from the very beginning of the development of the method. Hellinger called the state of maximum openness to the field, lack of intention and acceptance “empty middle.” This state is known from many spiritual practices and religious systems.

At the same time, being open to what really comes from the field is a difficult experience for which the constellator and the community as a whole may not be ready due to various kinds of limitations: technological, personal, social.

Spiritual constellations came into practice when Bert Hellinger finally broke with the international constellation community. This gap occurred precisely for ideological or social reasons – what comes from the field does not always turn out to be acceptable to everyone. As a result of this break, Hellinger was no longer socially constrained and could practice freely with those who were willing to share the experience.

At the same time, constellation technologies appear that are adequate to what can appear from the field. These are, first of all, multilevel constellations , in which substitutes broadcast unnamed roles, often several roles simultaneously for one substitute. In such arrangements, there may not be an explicit request (the request consists in joint Movement with the Spirit) and there may not be a noticeable solution (the “solution” is known to the Spirit and we surrender to its Movement). In spiritual constellations, it can be difficult to understand something with the mind and get some kind of accurate information. At the same time, they give a deep transformational experience, which is essentially a form of meditation, transcendental experience, prayer, conversation with the Supreme.

Modern spiritual constellations are based on the philosophy of “late Hellingerian” spiritual constellations, using the entire arsenal of constellation technologies, including those “not according to Hellinger.”

***

Substitutional perception, discovered by Bert Hellinger and introduced by him through the method of systemic constellations, is a tool that can be used in various fields. Helping practices and research processes based on the phenomenon of substitute perception are actively developing in a variety of areas. An example is the so-called. “Scenario constellations”, when with the help of constellation the script of a film or a play is created and corrected in order to achieve greater vitality and dynamism. Through the arrangement, scientific experiments are modeled, projects and events are planned, sports teams are trained, problems of ecology and environmental protection are solved, and much more.

“Constellations serve life,” says Bert Hellinger.

The use of materials from this site is permitted only for non-commercial purposes, with the obligatory indication of the authors, editors, translators and an active link to www.constellations.ru. More about the rules of using the site materials >>

 

system solutions according to Bert Hellinger

This book presents the systems-phenomenological approach and systemic constellations in an almost encyclopedic breadth. Here is the philosophical basis of the approach, and its technical side, and the relationship with other psychotherapeutic methods, and practical use in various fields and with different categories of clients. From its pages, the voices of the best representatives of the systemic family constellation method, both the founders and their students and followers, who have already gained fame themselves and now teach and widely use family constellations in clinical practice and medicine, social work and pedagogy, in organizational consulting and even when creating literary works (in particular, scripts).

It provides a comprehensive view of systemic family constellations and can be useful both for teaching beginners and for improving already experienced psychotherapists and counselors. And besides, it’s just an interesting reading and an exciting journey into the world of family and human feelings.

Foreword by Science Editor
Foreword by
Bert Hellinger. Psychotherapy and religion

ABOUT THE BASICS OF FAMILY SETUP
Bert Hellinger. Cognition through refusal. Phenomenological way of cognition in psychotherapy on the example of family constellation
Albrecht Map. Wisdom does not come to the lazy. On the statement and technique in family constellations
Efa Madelung. The place of system-oriented psychotherapy by Bert Hellinger in the spectrum of short-term therapy
Matthias Varga von Kibed. Notes on the philosophical foundations and methodological prerequisites of systematic work by the method of arrangement
Rupert Sheldrake. The morphic field of social systems

ABOUT CONTEXTS AND FAMILY SPACING PROCESS 
Hunter Beaumont. Listen to the quiet language of the soul
Peter Kreitz. How to create good conditions for family group constellation?
Berthold Ulzamer. Practical work using the family constellation method. What if I don’t know what to do next?
Jacob R. Schneider. About family constellation technique

SPECIAL TOPICS IN A FAMILY CONSIDERATION
Siegfried Essen . “Where did I get this from?” The return ritual in individual therapy
Barbara and Hans Eberhard Ebershprecher. Access through the body level as an aid to the family constellation of
Brigitte Gross. Fairy tales as an indication of a life scenario, identifications and other adopted feelings

APPLICATION OF THE FAMILY DISTRIBUTION METHOD IN DIFFERENT SETTINGS
System-oriented work in individual therapy
Jacob Schneider. Family Constellation with Shapes in Individual Therapy by
Ursula Franke. Imagine that you are standing in front of your father and looking at him … Systemic interventions in
Heidi Beitinger’s imagination . Do you need additional work after the family constellation?
Family constellation and therapy work with couples 
Margarete Cohaus-Yellowshek and Hans Yellowshek. Family constellation within the framework of group therapy with couples
Johannes Neuhauser. How love works. Bert Hellinger’s work with couples in the circle of
Marianne Franke-Griksch.From couple to family: when the baby is due. Systemic work and family constellations with “pregnant couples”

FAMILY SPACING WITH SPECIAL CLIENT GROUPS AND WITH CERTAIN SYMPTOMS
Family constellation and work with children and adolescents
Thomas von Stosch. Family Constellation in Child Psychiatry: Enriching Therapeutic Work
Family Constellation with Psychosomatic and Somatic Patients
Dagmar Ingwersen and Friedrich Ingwersen. Family
Constellation Experience at Fred Eidmann’s Psychosomatic Rehabilitation Clinic . The experience of using Bert Hellinger’s concepts in medical practice with a specialization in oncology
Christine Essen. Constellations for symptomatology of fears and panic attacks
Family constellation with foster and foster families
Anna Lee Scholz.Identity Problems of Grown Foster Children: Finding Roots
Bert Hellinger. The adopted child arranges his family
Achim Kowalczyk. How does our family become a guardian?
Family constellation with applicants for guardianship

TRANSFER OF THE WORK BY THE SPACING METHOD TO OTHER SYSTEMS
Jacob R. Schneider. Constellation supervision by
Christine Essen and Guni-Leila Bucks. For help! What is help? On the application of systematic work with constellations in supervision and consultation of complex systems (assistants)
Inza Sparrer and Matthias Varga von Kibed. From family constellation to systemic structural constellation
Gunthard Weber. Organizational constellations

LEARN AND LEARN FAMILY STRATEGY
Angelika Glöckner. “Before the eyes are opened, it may take a whole life, but a flash is enough to see”
Guni-Leila Bucks. The study of the unexplored. Experience of conducting a constellation training program
Michael Knorr. The Peer Group as a Market of Opportunities. Learn, Teach and Share Experiences
Special by
Gila Rogers. Bow and internal straightening to
Marianne Franke-Griksch. Systems thinking and systems work at
Matthias Varga von Kibed’s school. Systemic creative training: tetralemmal constellations and constellation work with scriptwriters
Gunthard Weber and Otto Brink.How to deal with some difficult situations during a family constellation
Interview with Bert Hellinger
“I am the follower.” Wilfried Nelles’ conversation with Bert Hellinger|

Systemic constellation – a turning point in life

Even one systemic constellation can change a lot in someone’s life. It may even completely turn everything around, as happened with the person who introduced Russia to this method – Ph.D. Mikhail Burnyashev.

– Mikhail, how did it happen that systemic constellations interested you so much that you decided to bring them to Russia?

– I got acquainted with constellations at the Munich Institute for Integrative Family Therapy, where I studied at the end of the nineties. Then they made me a fairly simple arrangement, with two characters – my father and me …

By that time, my father was no longer alive. I grew up with my mother – when I was six years old, she and my father divorced, and he went to his mother in the Luhansk region. Although later my mother had other men, and I became attached to them, my father, of course, was still not enough for me. So in the late nineties I was 30 years old, and I was still my mother’s son.

That little arrangement lasted no more than fifteen minutes. It seemed to me that an hour, if not an hour and a half. I approached my father very slowly, and we ended up hugging. In fact, it was then that I truly entered the male world … In my soul, I came to my father.

If the family is complete, this process happens automatically. If not, then both boys and girls then seek compensation, project the role of the father onto other people. The connection with the father, both for men and women, is responsible for professional, personal, social success … If it is not there, then many different problems may arise.

Of course, right away I did not fully realize what had happened in this constellation, understanding came later. But even then it shocked me. Inside myself, I kind of connected with something that I had been looking for for a very long time and could not find in any way. Before that, I had already worked as a psychotherapist, and besides, I had been in psychotherapy for about five years, tried different directions as a client. And over the years, I have not been able to find what can help so pointwise. Other techniques that I knew – Gestalt therapy, transpersonal psychology, psychodrama, art therapy – they were somewhere nearby. They work and help in other aspects. And an important life topic for me passed by.

And so I began to carry out constellations, and considered it important that this method be presented in the Russian-speaking space, and presented first-hand – from Gunthard Weber and Bert Hellinger. I began to translate books about this method, together with the translator we smoothed out all the terminology. He organized a publishing house that publishes these books, and later an institute, which is mainly engaged in training specialists in systemic constellations, and not only in Moscow, but also in other cities, including Nizhny Novgorod.

That little constellation was a turning point in my life.

– Only fifteen minutes – and such an incredible result …

– This is how the constellation method works – it helps to quickly find pain points and quickly work with them. But if we do not understand what is happening and how it works, then it really may seem to us something incredible, even supernatural. Once, when mobile phones first appeared, we talked with a colleague. And she said: “The other day I see a man on the street, he walks back and forth and says something. The psychiatrist immediately turns on in me, and I think: he has the same nonsense, with whom he is talking! And only then I noticed that he was holding an object near his ear. I didn’t immediately realize that it was a mobile phone. ” What happens in family constellations resembles that kind of thing. When an ignorant person looks from the outside, he cannot understand how it is, some people who represent the client’s family members,suddenly they begin to say something, move somewhere, do something, and all this has to do with the client … And does it have any relation?

But it is important to understand that the phenomena that are in family constellations are almost everywhere, starting with shamanism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism … That is, for example, our ancestors knew well that the feelings that we experience can be not ours. In Orthodox culture there is such a phenomenon – the praying of the sins of the ancestors, the idea that God punishes the sins of fathers and grandfathers up to the seventh generation. This is a phenomenon that very clearly shows that feelings, or consequences of certain kinds of actions that are associated with guilt, are transmitted within family systems.

When we ourselves are faced with such phenomena for the first time, it causes either denial, or surprise and a feeling of a miracle, something mystical. Although in fact there is no mysticism in this – these phenomena can now be explained with the help of all the knowledge that is in culture, in psychotherapy, in modern sciences.

– It turns out, we can say that constellations generalize the spiritual experience and knowledge of our ancestors, coupled with the discoveries of modern science. Because of this, they can often work more quickly and more precisely than other types of psychotherapy?

– Constellations work with layers of our unconscious, and this is often not only the personal unconscious. It is in some way such an archive of memory, in which information is recorded not only about personal experience and experience, but also about family, birth processes, and so on. 

Remembering the history of our country in the 20th century, we can see a huge number of events that traumatize not only individuals, but also families, and entire peoples, cultures, and religious systems. The number of difficult events that happened to our Russian and Soviet people exceeds the number of difficult events that other peoples have experienced by an order of magnitude. Remember at least two world wars, two revolutions, civil war, famine, collectivization, repression … This is a huge collective trauma, and not only for people who were direct participants in these events. This is a trauma for children who were often left orphans and grew up in inhuman conditions. And for us, this collective trauma is very shallow. For some it’s one generation, for some it’s two, three.

There is not a single family that has not gone through these events to a greater or lesser extent. The only quiet time we had was that stagnant Brezhnev period, which we all scolded so much. And then it started again: perestroika, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the lost nineties, when the birth rate fell to zero, and other problems that we know very well …

There is a lot of research now being done in a science called epigenetics. And it is very clearly confirmed that the injury is hereditary. And traumatic events are a barrier to more normal experiences. Our normal experience, as you understand, is somewhere far away, before 1913. By removing this barrier, that is, those painful and unpleasant feelings that are associated with traumatic events, we simultaneously draw from them a useful experience for life.

– Mikhail, judging by what you said, constellations are in great demand in Russia now, and the popularity of the method will continue to increase in the coming years.

– I believe that all methods of psychotherapy will be in demand in Russia. Help for the soul has always been necessary, and for many years this has not happened in our country. Religion, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis were banned. In fact, spirituality itself, various kinds of knowledge about our souls were forbidden, but a person is not only a body … And now it is like a broken dam.

And there are not so many good specialists in constellations yet. Although only at our institute we have already trained about two thousand people, but all the same, for the 143 million inhabitants of our country, two thousand constellators is less than a drop in the ocean.

– Is it possible to somehow assess the changes that have occurred due to constellations in our society, over the twelve years when the method appeared, began to work and develop in the Russian space?

– It is not easy to assess this, the only thing I can say for sure is that a large number of people got the opportunity to really solve their current life problems, including getting rid of their fears, anxieties, problems in their personal life, psychosomatic diseases.

I alone conducted constellations for about 20 thousand clients, and most of them are very happy with the results of their work. If at least half of the specialists trained by our institute conducted a thousand constellations, there will already be a million … It cannot be said, of course, that this is a million happy destinies, rather, it is a million resolved problems that are vital for the people they faced … And those people who were helped by this invested this resource in their lives – in their family, children, in relationships with people, in their work. I believe that this is such a thin stream, which will eventually become a small river, and then a river.

Lipovskaya Lyudmila

Center for Contemporary Psychological Technologies “Art of Living” Nizhny Novgorod

Family Constellations – Psychotherapy or Philosophy? // Psychological newspaper

It is difficult for me to write this article, but it is necessary.

First, it is necessary to inform psychologists, psychotherapists and all potential users of family and systemic constellations about the real state of affairs in this area, which has become very popular in our country in recent years. And also to warn about the hidden dangers and “pitfalls” that are in this work. Many of them have emerged only recently. I believe that clients, and even the constellators themselves, should know the full truth about the method they use or want to use, as well as about its varieties.

I am a pioneer in the field of family constellations in the Russian-speaking space and exactly the person who did more than anyone to ensure that the system-phenomenological approach and systemic constellations were so widespread and recognized in Russia, the CIS countries and the Baltic states. I feel a special connection with this way of working, and I am far from indifferent to the direction in which the systemic constellations will develop further. Will they serve all people as a method of psychotherapy and counseling, will they fall under the control of a small group of people who will derive the maximum benefit from it, or perhaps become a marginal sect that will simply be banned, time will tell.

I believe that the potential of family constellations as a tool with which people can change their personal, family and ancestral destinies for the better and reduce the number of human suffering in this world is very great and has not yet been fully explored and realized. Therefore, my work and the work of the Institute for Consulting and Systems Solutions is aimed at unleashing this potential and making it serve all people.

I personally knew Bert Hellinger at the time when he called himself a psychotherapist, and when he performed family constellations helped and served many people. Therefore, now it is very difficult for me to look at the changes that have occurred to him over the past few years and have made him more of a philosopher than a psychotherapist. Of particular concern are the attempts to bring systemic constellations under the control of organizations such as Hellinger Siencia (Hellinger Science) and Hellinger Sсhuelle (Hellinger School). Although, thanks to the clear position of many psychotherapists and professional associations around the world, these attempts have not been successful, and I hope that the main danger is over.

Now let’s talk about everything in order. I got acquainted with the family constellation method more than 15 years ago, and then it impressed me, already an experienced psychotherapist, with its depth, effectiveness and quick results. Subsequently, I repeatedly received confirmation of this my first impression in my practice, from the reviews of my clients and in communication with many colleagues, domestic and European psychotherapists, who said that in terms of accuracy and depth of penetration into the human unconscious, family systemic constellations have no equal. It is deeper than hypnotherapy, deeper than transpersonal psychotherapy and much more. Having experienced the healing effect of this method on myself, I began to actively promote and disseminate it. I have published more than 25 books on this method, conducted more than 1000 client seminars, educational and training programs.I myself have become a leading professional in this field, and this is confirmed by my personal contribution to the official recognition of systemic constellations as a method of psychotherapy and counseling in Russia.

The first book on family constellations in Russian was published by me in early 2001, it was Gunthard Weber’s book “Two Kinds of Happiness”. In the same year, the first visit of Gunthard Weber and Bert Hellinger to Russia took place. Time flies quickly, and in September 2011, at the Second International Eurasian Congress on Systemic Constellations “Time for Change” in Moscow, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of systemic constellations in Russia. Since then, in different cities of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the Baltic States, etc. I have organized international training programs conducted by the most eminent specialists from Germany and other European countries, such as Gunthard Weber, Bert Hellinger, Hunter Beaumont, Gunthild Baksa, Jacob and Sieglinde Schneider, Albrecht Mara, Marianne Franke-Griksch, Stefan Hausner, etc. …

However, what is happening with the method now causes me severe pain and great concern. This is due to the position currently held by one of the founders of the family constellation method, Bert Hellinger. It is important to note that initially, family constellations were created exclusively as a psychotherapeutic method. It is based on such well-known and recognized worldwide psychotherapeutic methods as:

  • Analysis of life scenarios (script analysis) by Eric Berne.
  • Primary therapy of Artur Yanov.
  • Family sculpture of Virginia Satyr.
  • Group dynamics of Kurt Levin.
  • The concept of equilibration (give-take) by Ivan Buzormeni-Nagy.
  • Classical family therapy by Mary-Selvini Pallazolli, Helm Stirlina
  • Hypnotherapy Milton Erickson.
  • Frank Farrelli’s provocative therapy.

Hellinger himself in the mid-1980s (at the time when the family constellation method was being created) called himself and, in fact, was a psychotherapist. He received worldwide recognition thanks to the efforts of many systemic psychotherapists, such as Gunthard Weber, Hunter Beaumont, Jacob and Sieglinde Schneider, Albrecht Mar, Heinrich Breuer, Gunhild Bucks, Marianne Franke-Griksch, Stefan Hausner, Jan Jakob Stam and many others who, through their practice and discoveries have enriched the method. Hellinger integrated many of these discoveries into his practice. With the help of family constellations, a huge number of people received real help, they brought relief and relief from suffering to many.

However, 20 years after the creation of the method, in the mid-00s, changes began far from for the better. This happened gradually. In 2004, Hellinger was widely criticized in Germany for the authoritarianism increasingly manifested in his work and for pushing clients to submit to the ideas of the totalitarian regimes of the past. The reason for this was the suicide of a client who was making arrangements at Hellinger’s, as well as the fact that Hellinger lived in a house in Berchtesgaden, where during the war there was a branch of the Nazi Reich Chancellery. Hellinger at this time increasingly shows disrespect for the professional psychotherapeutic and systemic community and reacts to criticism in a far from constructive way. From that moment on, he begins to move away from psychotherapy and increasingly speaks of himself as a philosopher.He begins to create a kind of constellation work that he calls “spirit movements” or “new family constellations.” This type of work was created gradually based on the classic family constellation and direction of work, which is called “movement of the soul.”

The changes took place in stages. In the beginning, a work arose that was called the “movement of the soul”, which, in fact, is the transfer of the classical family constellation to broader social contexts and systems, such as clan, people, state, etc. This type of work has indeed expanded the traditional context of classical family constellations and has greatly enriched them with the discovery and understanding of the dynamics operating at the level of social and religious systems that unite large numbers of people. The systemic and family underpinnings of collective traumas, such as wars, repressions and other tragic historical events, began to be recognized. A study of the influence of such events on subsequent generations began, as well as the study of systemic dynamics that are manifested in the descendants of participants in such events. Basically, this applied to speakers,arising in the interaction between the aggressors and their victims. It became clear that the victims belong to the ancestral systems of the aggressors, and the aggressors to the victim systems, and this has an impact on subsequent generations in these systems.

In some of these setups, the deputy aggressors said they felt led by some larger force that they were unable to resist. Hellinger would later refer to this power as “spirit.” In addition, often substitute aggressors in constellations felt that they were attracted to their victims, and they wanted to share their fate with them or go to death in order to unite with their victims. They felt this craving as coming from the depths of their soul – hence the name “movement of the soul.”

Later, to explain this kind of processes, Hellinger puts forward a very controversial concept or model of explanation, which he subsequently carries over to life as a whole. He calls this model “applied philosophy”. The constellations in this model began to be called “movements of the spirit”, and later the name “new family constellations” appeared. With the emergence of “applied philosophy” Bert Hellinger positions himself less and less as a psychotherapist and more and more calls himself a philosopher, and later even declares that he left the field of psychotherapy. In Russia, he announced this at the “Walk with the Spirit” seminar in May 2009.

I will briefly point out some of the dangerous positions of “applied philosophy”. The central thesis of this philosophy is as follows: “There is no difference between good and evil, behind everything is the Spirit (everything comes from the Spirit (God)).” In Russia, this statement was voiced by Hellinger at a training seminar for professional constellations in May 2008 in Moscow. Then he said: “God is behind all the most difficult events in this world. When terrible things happen in the world, God shouts to us, people: “I am here.” Hellinger argues that aggressors, rapists, murderers, including well-known world tyrants such as Hitler or Stalin, are led by a spirit (God) that operates beyond Good and Evil, and beyond human conscience.

This is a simplification and flattening of the understanding of God. Indeed, according to the Christian tradition in which Hellinger was raised, God is above good and evil. However, this does not mean that an equal sign can be put between Good and Evil, and this does not mean that evil comes from God. Evil and those who are led by evil forces have nothing to do with the designs and actions of God. According to Christian tradition, God does not create evil, evil arose as a result of the fact that people turned away from God and thus deprived themselves of his presence, protection and grace. Evil very quickly enslaves a person who turns away from God, and the result is suffering and death. Thus, in Hellinger’s “applied philosophy” there is an obvious substitution, it contradicts both the Christian tradition and fundamental human values, and just common sense. Nevertheless,Hellinger elevated it to the Absolute and broadcasts it in his seminars.

The fact that aggressors, rapists, murderers and tyrants themselves do not know what they are doing, that they are often really led by some “greater force” – this is often true. But the question is: is this “force”, this “spirit” that moves the aggressors, rapists, murderers – God? Of course not! In most cases, these people are led by “dark” forces, the forces of Evil, which opposes Good and tries to resist God. Equalization of God and “spirit” is a veiled substitution. Substitution, which is used by the forces of Evil, because in this case their deeds are passed off as the deeds of God. For them, such a philosophy is very beneficial, any human suffering, calamity of any scale can be passed off as “good coming from God.” Passing off this substitution as truth, the forces of evil multiply the suffering of a large number of people.

In fact, “applied philosophy” justifies aggressors, murderers, rapists; if it is followed, they appear to be almost heroes, doing the will of God, and the victims, their families and other people should simply agree and accept everything that the aggressors do. Taking the statements of “applied philosophy” seriously and starting to apply them in constellation work (as some “special believers” in Hellinger and “applied philosophy” constellators are already trying to do), then this leads to painful distortions in therapeutic work and to retraumatizing clients. But this work was created and is being done primarily in order to help people.

What happens to a person’s soul when a “particularly religious constellator” unconditionally, without understanding the intricacies of what happened in his client’s system, requires him to “take into his heart” an aggressor, rapist or murderer? After all, if the aggressor, rapist or murderer did not repent after their deed and stubbornly stand their ground, then the reflection of their energy in the family and family soul of the client is charged with the same persistence and the same murderous rage. If the client says “Yes” to this reflection, then he can become a slave to this energy in his own soul, because often this energy has great power. This means that knowingly or unknowingly, the “constellator” can push the client to become an aggressor, rapist or murderer. And if the client does not accept the aggressors, then on the basis of “applied philosophy” conclusions are often drawn from this,that the client does not agree with the will of God.

Let us ask ourselves a simple question: why change, why strive for something, do something or achieve something, if nothing depends on a person, if everyone is driven by “spirit”? A person who accepts “applied philosophy” as his new faith turns into a robot, into a machine that carries out the instructions of the one whom he considers close to the “spirit”. All the mistakes of constellators can be attributed to the “spirit”, because it drives everything, including constellators. Unscrupulous constellators can use this idea to pressure and manipulate clients, to push their own ideas in constellation work, passing them off as “spirit” and having nothing to do with clients.

If everything that happens in a person’s life must simply be accepted, then the therapeutic work, in fact, loses all meaning. People come to a psychotherapist in the hope of coping with difficulties, solving problems, achieving positive changes, gaining new strength, a state of happiness and harmony – that is, making a step from under the destructive power of evil to good, to light, to happiness, to truth. In classic family constellations, the therapist guides the client step by step towards these positive changes in his life. But if, following the “applied philosophy”, instead of positive changes, we offer a person to simply agree that Evil rules over him and destroys his life, and moreover, if we offer a person to integrate evil and destruction into his soul, to let them into his heart , – psychotherapeutic work will lose its content, meaning and purpose.If instead of helping people, we leave them to live under the rule of evil, we will cease to be psychotherapists, we will become someone else; maybe we’ll turn into adherents of another strange sect. Whatever religious views the psychotherapist holds, be he a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, if he stops helping the client, if he stops promoting good changes in his life, that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he stops being psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.we will leave them to live under the rule of evil, we will cease to be psychotherapists, we will become someone else; maybe we’ll turn into adherents of another strange sect. Whatever religious views the psychotherapist holds, be he a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, if he stops helping the client, if he stops promoting good changes in his life, that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he stops being psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.we will leave them to live under the rule of evil, we will cease to be psychotherapists, we will become someone else; maybe we’ll turn into adherents of another strange sect. Whatever religious views the psychotherapist holds, be he a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, if he stops helping the client, if he stops promoting good changes in his life, that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he stops being psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.we will cease to be psychotherapists, we will become someone else; maybe we’ll turn into adherents of another strange sect. Whatever religious views the psychotherapist holds, be he a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, if he stops helping the client, if he stops promoting good changes in his life, that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he stops being psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.we will cease to be psychotherapists, we will become someone else; maybe we’ll turn into adherents of another strange sect. Whatever religious views the psychotherapist holds, be he a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, if he stops helping the client, if he stops promoting good changes in his life, that is, if he does not take the side of Good versus Evil, he stops being psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.Whatever religious views the psychotherapist holds, be he a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, if he stops helping the client, if he stops promoting good changes in his life, that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he stops being psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.Whatever religious views the psychotherapist holds, be he a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, if he stops helping the client, if he stops promoting good changes in his life, that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he stops being psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he ceases to be a psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.that is, if he does not stand on the side of Good versus Evil, he ceases to be a psychotherapist. One way or another, the opposition between Good and Evil, human happiness and suffering cannot be excluded from psychotherapeutic work. And it is not surprising that “applied philosophy” evokes criticism and protest from many professionals who are sincerely concerned about the fate of their clients and the state of their soul.

What could have happened to a person who at first was a Christian missionary, then worked in psychotherapy for almost 40 years, who called for open-mindedness, did so much good in his life both for psychotherapy in general and for clients, and at the end of his life became a philosopher, like a murky esotericist? This question worries many who work with the human psyche and soul. Maybe in this metamorphosis great popularity and fame, which Hellinger could not cope with, played an important role? Perhaps the huge fees that the former missionary and humble psychotherapist began to receive, when his views won the hearts and minds of fellow psychotherapists and clients, played a fatal role? Maybe we are talking about a split personality, as many former friends and colleagues who knew Bert say,when was he not yet so famous? After all, Bert is only a pseudonym, and the real name of this person is Anton Hellinger. Maybe the fatal role was played by his new wife Sophia, in whose presence Bert begins to behave as if he is a different person? Perhaps … But most likely, these are just circumstances, without which the metamorphosis would not have been possible. In the Christian tradition, one important pattern is described (in other traditions it also exists): when a person on the path of his spiritual development reaches great heights, and his life and activities can really change the life of a large number of people for the better, then they come to him in different guises. messengers of the dark forces. They tempt him and, under the most plausible pretexts, seek to lead this person away from the path leading to spiritual realization. Was it this way or something different – we,most likely we will not find out. But I want to believe that the provisions of “applied philosophy” are just a delusion of the soul, looking for a way in our difficult world, which is the arena of the struggle between the forces of Good and Evil.

What I also want to write about here is the Hellinger Siencia organization, which is actually run by Bertha’s new wife, Sofia Hellinger. What is this organization and what does it teach? In The Love of the Spirit, Hellinger writes about Hellinger Siencia as the universal science of human relationships. The question is: is it really so? Now Hellinger talks a lot in his seminars about “new family constellations”, what are they and how do they differ from the classic ones? We could observe this at the seminars “walking with the spirit” in May 2009 in Moscow. It was originally planned that these seminars would be led by Bert Hellinger. Later he asked me if it was possible that next time his new wife would come to Moscow with him. I, of course, agreed, naively believing that during the seminars,and even more so it will have little effect on work with clients. It was a mistake, and in reality everything happened very differently. Bert held seminars in Moscow with his wife. It would be more correct to say that the seminars instead of Bert, with his presence and tacit consent, were conducted by his wife, and they actually turned into an advertisement for Hellinger Siencia. Sofia Hellinger tried to position herself as a connoisseur of the Russian soul. For this, she included, as a musical accompaniment to the arrangements made by her, “Lord, have mercy” and other Orthodox prayers and chants. As “new techniques” of family constellations, it was shown how to bang a microphone on the client’s head if his opinion differs from the presenters, how to put seminar participants out the door, how instead of therapeutic work to offer clients to simply agree with their problems,despite the fact that the clients themselves are ready to work with them. In many of the works done, elementary respect for the human dignity of clients was completely absent. Instead of clear and laconic family constellations, various cloudy group processes, energetic and shamanic techniques were demonstrated at the seminars under the general title “Walking with the Spirit”. And these are not the techniques that are in white shamanism and which open the unity of man with nature, with all living things, with the upper worlds, which spiritualize and enlighten man. These were the techniques of “black shamanism” that connect a person with the lower worlds, with his dark forces, which ultimately make a person their slave. It is important to note that we experimented with some of these processes back in the mid-90s at the Transpersonal Institute.At that time, no one had ever heard of the “movements of the spirit”, and we called these processes “initiation into madness.” It turned out that as a result of these processes, the emotional and physical state of the participants deteriorated, and we quickly abandoned such practices, although outwardly it looked impressive and made an impression on the participants of the seminar. I immediately reported this experience to Bert, he was surprised, but began to insist that the techniques demonstrated here are really “new” and that many who saw the “movement of the spirit” take them for transpersonal techniques; Bert refused to change anything during the workshop. As expected, after the Walking with the Spirit workshops, many participants worsened their emotional and physical condition, and a number of people developed illnesses and symptoms. Some of the participants had to undergo long-term therapy,so that they return to the state they had before these works. In fact, clients were used by the presenters to achieve their own goals and solve their own problems, and family constellations were turned from a tool of assistance into a tool for conducting a show. There are videos about these seminars where you can see all this.

Both the participants and the organizers of the seminar turned to B. Hellinger with a request to influence the situation with his authority, but he did nothing real at the seminars in Moscow. In fact, a repeated scenario was repeated, the purpose of which was an attempt to put the constellation movement in Russia under the control of the Hellinger Siencia organization, and if this does not work out, then cause a split in it. Bert and his wife have already done this procedure in a number of other countries where systemic constellations have gained popularity. Using his authority, Bert imposes on all those interested in constellation work as a “constellation teacher” his new wife Sophia Hellinger, who has no real merit in the constellation movement. As a traumatized person, she passes her fantasies as reality and imposes them on clients.Using the position of Hellinger’s wife, she is trying in different countries of the world to put the constellation movement under her personal control and to get as much money and power as possible through the popularity of her husband’s old ideas. This is another substitution.

If we take a look at the Hellinger Siencia website, we can see that Sofia Hellinger teaches “new family constellations”, “movement of the spirit” and energy practices. However, in fact, she is trying to primitize family constellations and teaching them, stating that teaching systemic constellations is possible without professional education in the field of helping professions, that is, anyone who wants to can learn and then work with people; that anyone can learn family constellations simply by observing how other facilitators do constellations, and at the same time there is no need to work on their own personal themes, there is no need to supervise their work.

It is important to understand that the main tool of assistance in psychotherapy and counseling is the soul of the helper, it is like a mirror reflecting the client’s reality. But if the mirror is dirty or damaged (injured), then all the unresolved topics of the assistant are unconsciously transferred and projected onto the client. Long-term and often many years of training in psychotherapy and counseling is necessary to “cleanse” and heal the helper’s own soul. Ask yourself a question: will you give your car to a novice trainee for repair, or will you agree to an operation with a “surgeon” without medical education just because he promises to cure you quickly and from everything at once? Hellinger Siencia issues certificates to anyone who pays money, completely unconcerned about what will happen to the clients of its graduates.Unfortunately, the negative consequences of the work of these graduates already exist in our country.

Thus, dear readers, if you hear the phrases “spirit movement” or “new family constellations”, Hellinger Siencia (“Hellinger Science”), Hellinger Sсhuelle (“Hellinger School”), then do not take everything that is said about this as face value. Don’t be overly gullible, treat everything with a grain of sane skepticism, and trust your feelings, intuition and common sense more. Remember the simple biblical truth that you can only judge something by its fruit, i.e. by result, not by words.

Over the 30 years of his work, Hellinger therapist has collected many discoveries and effective examples of psychotherapeutic work, and they can be trusted. But Hellinger the philosopher has created something that needs repeated verification, and this must be approached with great care. Once, in a conversation with me, Bert admitted that he always followed power, he was led by this power and was in her service. He told with special pride and ecstasy that the book “Bogomysli” was written by him through automatic writing (this is an altered state of consciousness in which a person writes automatically, without passing the meaning of what has been written through his consciousness, and he can comprehend what he has written only at the moment when he himself read what he wrote in a trance). Observing him at this moment, I noted that Bert, as it were, informs us: “You see, I am the chosen one,”and at that moment he seemed to admire himself. He looked like a man who was so passionate about his game that everything that happened around him, except for the game itself, did not matter. This confirms the thesis that he has repeatedly voiced that he is a follower. But here other questions arise: by whom he was elected, what kind of power leads him, is this power in the service of people, does it reflect the plan of God, or is this power on the other – the “dark side” and serves it?or is this force on the other – the “dark side” and serves it?or is this force on the other – the “dark side” and serves it?

Of course, the presence of such different trends in one of the creators of family constellations creates duality, but such is the reality of our difficult world. Staying in duality is not easy, so you have to make a choice. This is especially important for those who are serious about their work and respect their clients. This choice was in front of me in 2009 after the seminars “Walk with the Spirit”, and it was very difficult for me to make it, because my loyalty to Hellinger the psychotherapist and confidence in his ideas were very high. But facts are stubborn things, and I will briefly talk about what determined my choice and changed my attitude towards Hellinger the philosopher.

The first thing that alerted me happened when B. Hellinger published in his magazine a report on constellation with Stalin, which was made at a seminar on family constellations for experienced constellations in Vladivostok in 2008. I then accompanied Hellinger on a trip to Russia, and this seminar was organized by me and Igor Klimenko from Vladivostok. On the second day of the seminar, B. Hellinger decided to make an arrangement related to the study of the Stalin era in the USSR. In this arrangement, I was Stalin’s deputy. In the report, Hellinger is silent about the facts that appeared in the constellation. The report said that “now we know everything about Stalin, he was just a follower.” It is implied that it was “spirit” that guided him. However, at the same time, Hellinger for some reason does not mention the important things that manifested itself in this arrangement and which I talked about after the arrangement,having been in the role of Stalin’s deputy. I spoke about the constant fixation of Stalin’s attention at a certain point, located quite low above the horizon line, and the inspiration of his actions came from this point. This inspiration definitely felt like the inspiration of a dark force, it was almost completely devoid of any human feelings. This inspiration had nothing to do with genuine (Divine) spirituality. In this arrangement, I realized that the Higher (Divine) forces carry out their inspiration from the higher points of the horizon, which are above our head, closer to the zenith. Their presence was also felt in the arrangement, but the attention of Stalin’s deputy was clearly fixed at one point on the horizon.Why doesn’t Hellinger write about this in his report on this constellation? This experience calls into question his philosophical concept that there is no difference between good and evil and that everything comes from God. There is a difference, and the division into good and evil exists, including beyond the boundaries of human conscience. This experience confirms the long-known truth that good and evil also exist outside the human world. The human soul is the arena of the struggle between the forces of good and evil, but the final choice of which forces will lead it in life is made by the person himself.The human soul is the arena of the struggle between the forces of good and evil, but the final choice of which forces will lead it in life is made by the person himself.The human soul is the arena of the struggle between the forces of good and evil, but the final choice of which forces will lead it in life is made by the person himself.

The next thing that changed my attitude towards the philosopher Hellinger was the results of the constellations made by him and his wife at the “Go Place with Spirit” seminars in Moscow in 2009. It was impossible not to notice this: many clients came to me and other therapists and told me that they had no results after the constellations done at the “Go in a Place with the Spirit” seminars. For some clients, the emotional and physical condition deteriorated greatly, including myself and my wife, as we were also overly gullible and attended that seminar as clients. Then I realized that one of the ideas of “applied philosophy” that you don’t have to ask about the consequences of constellations is fundamentally wrong. This idea makes the constellator “infallible” and the clients hostage to the constellator’s errors of perception. And mistakes in constellation happen,and are not so rare. If you do not discuss the consequences of the work, the constellator has no opportunity to correct his mistake, and the client will again turn to him for help. But most importantly, there is a lack of feedback through which the constellator can learn and grow professionally. This creates “constellation gurus” who know better than the client what they need.

Then a number of related events took place, which changed my attitude towards “applied philosophy”. I have already mentioned that in 2004 in Germany there was a big scandal related to the fact that Hellinger lived in a house in Berchtesgaden, where during the war there was a branch of the Nazi Reich Chancellery. Then Hellinger was accused of sympathizing with Nazism, after which many psychotherapists openly broke off relations with him. Bert claimed that then he had nowhere to live, because his new house had not yet been completed, and he was simply offered to live in a house in Berchtesgaden on favorable terms. I then treated this fact as a simple misunderstanding, from which the press fanned a scandal, perhaps in order to discredit a well-known psychotherapist.However, during his visit to Moscow in 2008, Hellinger, in a personal conversation with me and Albina Loktionova, casually started a conversation about this topic. He once again repeated his version that at that time he and Sofia had nowhere to live, and the offer to rent a house was very profitable. “Strange, – I thought, why is he talking about this?” – but again did not attach much importance to it. The answer to this question came to me later, in 2010, after our family trip to Stalin’s dacha on Lake Ritsa in Abkhazia. The four of us went there – me, my wife, our 14-year-old daughter and our three-year-old son. Accompanying us on the trip was a driver-guide, a young Abkhaz, 30-35 years old. We arrived at Stalin’s dacha in a surprisingly good mood. It was a beautiful sunny day, magnificent nature, mountains, forest, alpine meadows,an amazingly beautiful mountain lake, magnificent views of mountain gorges – in a word, an idyll. We did not specifically plan to visit Stalin’s dacha, we just wanted to see nature and relax on the high-mountainous lake Ritsa. But it turned out that the excursion route starts there. Out of curiosity, we decided to take a look at this place. At the dacha, we were offered a tour of the house where Stalin and other general secretaries of the former USSR lived. The dacha itself is two small one-story houses, connected by a passage. It stands on the very shore of the lake in a gorge between the mountains and is surrounded by a park laid out around it. The excursion began, and we were invited inside the house. When the door closed, our little son suddenly began to cry and shout: “Let’s get out of here, let’s go outside.” It took a long time to calm him down.I listened to the feelings and felt pressure and oppressive heaviness in my body, and especially in my head. The excursion did not last long, but the feeling grew stronger, and it was already difficult to endure it, in the end a feeling of hidden danger and fear was added to it. When after 20 minutes we went outside, it seemed to me that a couple of hours had passed. It felt better in the air, but the oppressive feeling and fear did not disappear. My wife and I exchanged impressions: she felt the same as me. This sudden contrast of the transition from a feeling of lightness to oppressive pressure and fear – and in just some half an hour! I walked along the cypress alley where Stalin walked. The Star of David was laid out on the concrete slab walkway in the park. According to the stories of the guide, the Star of David, laid out from cut pieces of stone, was made specially at the direction of Stalin,so that when he walked along this alley, he could trample underfoot the symbol of the Jewish people. He believed that the Jewish people possessed secret divine knowledge, and therefore destroyed him as the bearer of this knowledge. Incidentally, Hitler did the same. Strong anger and fear were clearly felt in this place. We went to the car, and although our guide did not walk with us inside the dacha, but was waiting for us in the parking lot, he suddenly began to tell us that every time he comes here he feels depression, fear and an oppressive feeling of heaviness. It became clear that what we felt was also felt by other people. Many people, and not only those who, by virtue of their profession, are used to focusing attention on sensations in the body. The more I felt, the more heaviness and fear became. There was a desire to leave here as soon as possible.could trample underfoot the symbol of the Jewish people. He believed that the Jewish people possessed secret divine knowledge, and therefore destroyed him as the bearer of this knowledge. Incidentally, Hitler did the same. Strong anger and fear were clearly felt in this place. We went to the car, and although our guide did not walk with us inside the dacha, but was waiting for us in the parking lot, he suddenly began to tell us that every time he comes here he feels depression, fear and an oppressive feeling of heaviness. It became clear that what we felt was also felt by other people. Many people, and not only those who, by virtue of their profession, are used to focusing attention on sensations in the body. The more I felt, the more heaviness and fear became. There was a desire to leave here as soon as possible.could trample underfoot the symbol of the Jewish people. He believed that the Jewish people possessed secret divine knowledge, and therefore destroyed him as the bearer of this knowledge. Incidentally, Hitler did the same. Strong anger and fear were clearly felt in this place. We went to the car, and although our guide did not walk with us inside the dacha, but was waiting for us in the parking lot, he suddenly began to tell us that every time he comes here he feels depression, fear and an oppressive feeling of heaviness. It became clear that what we felt was also felt by other people. Many people, and not only those who, by virtue of their profession, are used to focusing attention on sensations in the body. The more I felt, the more heaviness and fear became. There was a desire to leave here as soon as possible.as the bearer of this knowledge. Incidentally, Hitler did the same. Strong anger and fear were clearly felt in this place. We went to the car, and although our guide did not walk with us inside the dacha, but was waiting for us in the parking lot, he suddenly began to tell us that every time he comes here he feels depression, fear and an oppressive feeling of heaviness. It became clear that what we felt was also felt by other people. Many people, and not only those who, by virtue of their profession, are used to focusing attention on sensations in the body. The more I felt, the more heaviness and fear became. There was a desire to leave here as soon as possible.as the bearer of this knowledge. Incidentally, Hitler did the same. Strong anger and fear were clearly felt in this place. We went to the car, and although our guide did not walk with us inside the dacha, but was waiting for us in the parking lot, he suddenly began to tell us that every time he comes here, he feels depression, fear and an oppressive feeling of heaviness. It became clear that what we felt was also felt by other people. Many people, and not only those who, by virtue of their profession, are used to focusing attention on sensations in the body. The more I felt, the more heaviness and fear became. There was a desire to leave here as soon as possible.that every time he comes here, he feels depression, fear and an oppressive feeling of heaviness. It became clear that what we felt was also felt by other people. Many people, and not only those who, by virtue of their profession, are used to focusing attention on sensations in the body. The more I felt, the more heaviness and fear became. There was a desire to leave here as soon as possible.that every time he comes here, he feels depression, fear and an oppressive feeling of heaviness. It became clear that what we felt was also felt by other people. Many people, and not only those who, by virtue of their profession, are used to focusing attention on sensations in the body. The more I felt, the more heaviness and fear became. There was a desire to leave here as soon as possible.

The memory of the place keeps the feelings of those people who, unwittingly, turned out to be connected with the former owner of this place. Indeed, by his order, they were shot, repressed, exiled to Siberia, died in the camps … Tormenting feelings and pain of millions of people with crippled lives were present here. They were constantly reminded of what the owner of this place had done. Could the former owner of this summer residence not feel this? Of course, if the dark force that guided him maintained a state of insensibility in him so that he was able to fulfill her will, multiply the suffering and torment of millions of innocent people. After all, all dark forces are interested in increasing the energy of suffering, because it is this that they feed on and thanks to it they replenish their strength.

The characteristic feeling of heaviness and fear passed as suddenly as it had arisen, as soon as we drove away from the dacha.

A little later, I suddenly remembered a conversation with Bert two years ago at a seminar in Moscow. After all, he also lived in a similar place and could not help but feel what I felt at the former Stalinist dacha. After all, the place in which he lived also probably has a similar memory and keeps the feelings of a huge number of victims of the Nazi regime, relating to the former owners of this house. Hellinger was in this house for more than one hour, as I was at Stalin’s dacha. He lived with his new wife in a house in Berchtesgaden, in the former branch of the Nazi Reich Chancellery. How could he endure all this? How did the feelings of the victims of the Nazi regime go unnoticed by him? In The Long Journey, Hellinger writes that the former Reich Chancellery is now just a residential building. I used to believe it, now I don’t.

Today I still respect Hellinger the psychotherapist, whose ideas I made popular in Russia and other Russian-speaking countries, and I recognize his great contribution to the development of family constellations. However, I cannot agree with the current position of Hellinger the philosopher, who has become a hostage to his new ideas and his leading force. His wife Sophia transformed Hellinger’s “new family constellations” from a tool for psychotherapy and helping people into the Hellinger Show, where presenters seduce clients with the promise of a miracle of healing, use them to achieve their dubious goals, and then just throw them away like used material. Today, unfortunately, the “Movements of the Spirit” and “new family constellations” according to Hellenger have become a tool of seduction and “honest” withdrawal of money from people who trust the ideas of Hellinger therapist. Be carefull!

If you are doing Hellinger family constellations, do you realize what you are really doing? Do you conduct family constellations according to Hellinger the psychotherapist or Hellinger the philosopher? Are you in the business of helping people and therapy, or giving out empty promises to your clients? How honest are you with your clients? Stefan Hausner, systems therapist and family constellation practitioner, said wonderful words: “Everyone who does constellation work must decide for himself what he does in therapy or ‘applied philosophy’.” Personally, I teach systemic-phenomenological psychotherapy and counseling. I am engaged in helping people when I conduct family, organizational, structural, symptomatic and other systemic constellations, and they have nothing to do with “movements of the spirit”,nor “new family constellations” according to the philosopher Hellinger. If you are serious about working with people and using family constellations in your work, then sooner or later a similar choice will arise before you.

And the last thing, if you are engaged in constellations, then you probably know one of the important rules operating in systems, it is balancing in relationships (the balance between “give” and “take”). This rule applies between you and your customers. If you deceive clients and, in addition, do not realize or, even worse, do not recognize it (i.e., repress or exclude), then they themselves or their feelings related to you will be stored (belong) to the memory of your ancestral system. Sooner or later, some of the younger members of your system will counterbalance this. Do you want this for your partners, children and grandchildren?

The decision will always be yours.

Mikhail Gennadievich Burnyashev – Director of the Institute for Consulting and System Solutions, Ph.D., Corresponding Member. MAPN, member of the Central Council of the PPL.

A source

“Constellations are work aimed at solving a specific problem” // Psychological newspaper

We bring to your attention an interview with Svyatoslav Anatolyevich Shekh. Svyatoslav Anatolyevich – Executive Director of the Guild of Psychologists, Psychotherapists and Trainers named after Professor V. A. Ananyeva, consultant at the IPP PGUPS JSC Russian Railways, leading (together with O. I. Abdurashitova-Shekh) the author’s program “The practice of short-term systemic family therapy based on the Bert Hellinger approach.”

– Svyatoslav Anatolyevich, are there any categories of people who are undesirable to participate in constellations?

– There are, but there are not so many of them: as a rule, children and mentally ill people do not participate in constellations. Although even in the case of a mental illness, a family member of the patient may come to the table to find ways to help this person, and parents or those who replace them can always help the child. Before assigning a constellation, the therapist should talk with the client and determine whether he can help in this particular case, whether he has sufficient qualifications to work with this or that client, whether this method is suitable for working with the indicated request. It is important to pay attention not only to what the client says about his request, but also to what emotions he is talking with, and whether he has enough motivation to change. You need to realize that constellations are work aimed at solving a specific problem. It happened more than oncethat people wanted to come to see – I do not invite such people, because in the therapy group everyone should be on an equal footing. Sometimes it turns out that the client’s request is focused on long-term therapy. Then I clarify the situation for the client and encourage him to assess whether he is ready to undergo psychotherapy. The specialist must understand that the constellation cannot “cure” everything – this is not a panacea, it is a method that can be very effective if applied correctly. It is not suitable for all clients and not for all situations.that the constellation cannot “cure” everything – this is not a panacea, it is a method that can be very effective if applied correctly. It is not suitable for all clients and not for all situations.that the constellation cannot “cure” everything – this is not a panacea, it is a method that can be very effective if applied correctly. It is not suitable for all clients and not for all situations.

– How much a psychologist should work with a recruited group – do you need one meeting, several meetings, or does it depend on the client’s task?

– I share the approach that was formulated by the author of the method – Bert Hellinger. He said that after the alignment, the dynamics go on for some time, usually several months, and all this time the person changes. You have to respect the process and give it time to take place. You can, of course, make an arrangement for any reason, but nevertheless it is a powerful tool for deep work and it is better to use it for its intended purpose. In any case, at each moment of time a person experiences some one internal conflict, solves some vital task for himself, and, therefore, no matter how many constellations we do, we will again and again come to this actual conflict. Therefore, frequent spreads do not make sense. Frequent calls indicatethat a person needs professional support for his changes and he is shown individual prolonged psychotherapy.

Since the effect of the placement is not formed immediately, sometimes clients call me after a while to share the results, if they have such a need. I don’t ask anybody questions about the results. Of course, if a specialist works in a clinic with somatic patients, he can observe the dynamics of the patient and judge the effectiveness of the work by it. I have been conducting constellations for more than ten years – I know from experience: if clients come again, then every few years and already with new requests.

– How appropriate is it to look for generic problems and interweaving in the case of somatic diseases? Perhaps sometimes a headache is just a headache …

– For different people, the causes of the same somatic disorder may be different. Some authors try to classify bodily symptoms, but this is impossible, the mechanisms of the formation of symptoms are complex, non-linear. A person is influenced by many factors and the responses of the psyche to their influence are individual for each person. If my head hurts once, I wouldn’t do the alignment. But if it hurts periodically and for a long period of time, if the doctor says that there is some kind of psychological problem, then I think it makes sense to make an arrangement. Today, many doctors are quite literate in matters of psychology and often refer patients with psychosomatic symptoms to psychotherapists. By the way, if a client comes to me and complains of bodily ailments, I always ask first whether he has consulted a doctor. If not,then I definitely recommend to undergo a medical examination, and only then I undertake psychotherapeutic treatment.

– Please provide an example of how the constellation works.

– I’ll tell you one curious case: a businessman turned to me, who could not get along with chief accountants – he had no complaints about their competence, but once a year he always fired another specialist with a scandal. We made an arrangement. It turned out that this not very young unmarried man had the difficulties of separating from his mother and the difficulties that he had at home, he transferred to work, separating from the accountants instead of the mother. After the placement, he was able to work with the new accountant, got married and forgot about this problem. This case is indicative in that not everyone can complain about their parents and, therefore, it is often easier to come with a request for a relationship with a stranger. Most often, in constellations, we come to a solution to a problem related to loved ones. Hellinger argues that love is at the core of everything:when we restore the order of love, a person has the opportunity to show this love, at the same time becoming independent, and everything falls into place.

– You have been teaching constellations for many years. What do students most of all lack for successful work, what do you want to give them during their studies?

– First of all, vision and methodology. This, it seems to me, is the most important thing. And not only Hellinger’s methodology, but, first of all, the methodology of family systemic psychotherapy. Specialists will learn about the essence of this method, gain technical competence through training in different types of work, personal practice as deputies, clients and consignors, and at the end of the training, if they have the desire and courage, they will receive supervision. During the training, specialists must understand what the family as a system is, what the therapeutic process is, be aware of the dynamics of working with the client, how exactly changes occur and who is responsible for making the client change.

– Who’s in charge?

– In the constellation, the main one is the client. He will look for what kind of figures appear in his arrangement, and he will, if desired, change his attitude towards them, if there were any interweaving in his destiny. We cannot cure a client by force. The psychotherapist is responsible for the process – for organizing it correctly, for seeing, hearing, understanding the client, conducting a conversation with him technically competently, reformulating the request if necessary, conducting the correct diagnosis, choosing the appropriate methods for eliminating violations in the family system for the client. …

During the training, specialists begin to better understand the processes that take place in the constellation, and how to properly structure these processes for the client. On the first day of training, they often think that constellation is when everyone just walks back and forth. And by the end of the course, they not only begin to see what is really going on, but also define their own style of work. The training takes place as follows: the methodological part, the technical part, and then practice as a client, substitute and therapist conducting the constellation. When we study, we must be a client, a substitute, and a therapist. Also at the end of this course I give supervision to those who are ready to carry out the work.

– Is supervision required?

– She’s very important! Olga Igorevna Shekh and I, our supervisory group on the method of systemic constellations, has been working for more than ten years. Supervision is a necessary part of our profession, it not only helps to check the correctness of the tactics chosen by the therapist for working with the client, it helps to see and understand the psychotherapeutic process as a whole: what happens in the therapist-client relationship, what happens to the therapist, his countertransference. A healthy, that is, a self-aware therapist, will help the client much better. Of course, there is no absolute health, but if the therapist at the beginning of the session has emotions that he cannot cope with, it is impossible to work. Supervision helps to understand all this. I constantly work with a personal therapist, attend two supervisory groups, and all this helps me to interact effectively with clients.No matter how experienced a psychotherapist is, he cannot avoid emotions in a relationship with a client, psychotherapy is always a relationship and it is a therapeutic relationship, a conscious countertransference that is the main tool of work in psychotherapy. Therefore, constant work on yourself makes it possible to stay healthy emotionally and develop. It is also important to improve your skills, learn new things. As soon as the thought arises: “I already know everything,” this is a very bad sign for a specialist. We always encourage our students to undergo personal therapy in the future, to visit supervisory groups in their regions. The intensive gives an introduction to the method, an understanding of the processes occurring in the family system, the methodology of the systemic constellation, teaching the technique, then the specialist will need several years of practice and work on himself,so that he can freely and effectively use this tool.

– Are there any ethical problems in working with the Hellinger constellation method, and if so, which ones?

– I think that the Hellinger method is environmentally friendly and safe, since the request is indicated very briefly and without unnecessary questions. The constellator does not need a lot of information, it can be limited to voicing the request. You cannot see some secrets that both the client and the system are not ready to show. The client will be able to see the situation as much as he is ready for it. Participants will not know what exactly happened in the client’s system a hundred years ago, or a specific situation in the client’s life. We will see at the constellation that there was, for example, violence, but that’s all. The constellation language is the language of semantics, meanings. Constellations have a different purpose – not to find out the details, as in the TV series, in order to enjoy them, but to smooth out the disturbed orders. We treat the system with respect, we say that everything that happened is right, and everything happened in order toso that the system can survive and move forward. It is not for nothing that the orders are described by Hellinger in this way: a therapist who does not respect these orders will not be able to use this method. First you need to learn to accept, respect, treat with care, and only then start working with people. And when we treat the system with respect – we don’t look for the right and the wrong, we don’t look for specific details, we approach without judgment and respect what happened – we will only define what was violated. And the system will show the way to healing and restoring balance.And when we treat the system with respect – we don’t look for the right and the wrong, we don’t look for specific details, we approach without judgment and respect what happened – we will only define what was violated. And the system will show the way to healing and restoring balance.And when we treat the system with respect – we don’t look for the right and the wrong, we don’t look for specific details, we approach without judgment and respect what happened – we will only define what was violated. And the system will show the way to healing and restoring balance.

– Does it happen that there are no paths to healing?

– Can not be. There are clients who are not willing to make a sincere contribution to making the change happen. Even in the event of a severe physical illness, a person can find resources in his family system that will help him. The family system is a living, open, self-organizing system, in itself there are always enough resources for “healing”. We do not say that the client will necessarily heal in a certain way (if his leg is amputated, it will not grow) and we do not promise to cure the cancer. We are talking about the fact that the path can be found that will be most favorable for this person and this system, and what this path will be like, what kind of soul movements it will require from the client, depends on the specific situation. The client will receive certain resources, and how he will use them depends only on himself. I think,that it is very important to respect the wishes and attitude of the client. Sometimes he will see his situation and want to leave it as it is. This happens in therapy. If the therapist cannot accept this position of the client, he begins to persuade him – this is countertransference. A person has the right to live the way he wants, and not the way I want, and it will be violence on my part to convince him to be treated “correctly”. In therapy, the client chooses what he needs. Perhaps after a while the client himself will make another decision, this is his choice. At the constellation, a person receives an impulse to move, and then resources, and the consciousness of this person, and his deepest emotions and his soul begin to work. This is a lengthy process. At the constellation, he, with the help of a specialist, unravels what he is confused in, and he will choose the direction of further movement himself.The constellation method helps a person see powerful system resources, gain personal strength and accept his own, conscious and free choice!

Interviewed by Yulia Smirnova

Getting rid of dependencies using the method of system constellations

The method of systemic constellations is a helping practice introduced into wide circulation by the German philosopher, theologian, psychotherapist, spiritual teacher Bert Hellinger. The method was introduced around the beginning of the 1980s.

Systemic constellations are one of a large number of tools for getting rid of dependencies. It is precisely the combination of it with other instruments of psychotherapy and medicine that opens up additional opportunities and creates a synergistic effect.

In almost all clearly dependent people, the main, often unconscious, mood is “the desire to leave”. Addiction appears as a “suicide by installments”, continuous suicide, and in the case of drug addiction – daily. Balancing on the thinnest line between life and death, which, nevertheless, and maybe even therefore, sometimes becomes especially desirable.

How can this be explained?

What inexplicable force pushes people to self-destruction up to complete destruction?

How can addicted people often fully consciously experience this process, observing their own self-destruction from the outside, like an indifferent spectator?

Unwillingness to feel or unwillingness to feel itself is the central operating model of drugs, which, combined with a minimized sense of self-worth, leads to the fact that the addicted patient, even during periods of sobriety, is often afraid to allow unpleasant sensations to him.

Systemic constellations manifest the unmanifest, whatever it may be, and help to restore patient contact with it. And if he really feels something, then this can be seen as a big step towards trusting his own perception!

Systemic constellations open up a new perspective on the concept of restoring health and releasing addictions and activating a person’s inner resources for self-healing.

Operating principle for group and individual therapy

Before conducting the placement, it is necessary to clarify the request of the patient or a relative of the patient

  • What does he expect from the constellation?
  • What result would he like to get?
  • Is he ready for what will happen in the end?
  • Is there enough energy to create a “knowing” field?

The main tool of the method of systemic constellations is substitutive perception.

This phenomenon consists in the fact that the substitute in the constellation can, in general terms, feel the state of his prototype and its interaction with other members of the constellation system. In this case, the deputy may not know anything about his prototype. Likewise, both the patient and the constellator may not know anything about the prototype that is represented in the constellation by their substitute. Ignorance does not interfere with the substitute perception.

The constellator trusts the proxy perception data, based on the huge number of placements made and the confirmation received about the correctness of the proxy speakers broadcast by the proxies.

The source from which the proxies receive information about their prototypes is called the “field”. It is also called “morphic field”, “morphogenetic field”, “knowing field”.

Trust in information, feelings and sensations coming from the field through substitute perception is the main feature of the method of systemic constellations.

Thus, in the constellation, a perception of the situation can be achieved that goes far beyond what the patient is telling or what he conveys through non-verbal (body) signals. In particular, one can see the interactions of family members about which the patient does not have information or cannot adequately convey it due to his involvement in a problem situation. This opens up therapeutic possibilities that are not yet available in many other helping practices.

In the method of constellations, it is believed that if the patient perceived the story manifested in the constellation: its rejection has gone or it has become less, then he no longer needs to reproduce the experience (dependence) concluded in that situation, directly in his life.

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ARTICLE “PLACEMENT IN BUSINESS TRAINING” -3 | effectivtrening

Part 3.

 

How is the systemic constellation carried out?

When conducting a systemic placement, it is necessary to adhere to an approximate algorithm or an alignment map. In this part, we will consider a constellation map using the example of working with systemic structural constellations, since it is they that are used by the author in the training of professional and personal growth.

It is important for the author to emphasize that this description is not capable of replacing professional, practical training in the method of systemic constellations and in-depth study of professional literature.

 

Constellation map.

Step 1. Identify the client’s request. The client’s request should be formulated as clearly as possible, positively, in an affirmative form, realistic, in one or two sentences.

Step 2. The consultant or the leader of the constellation (constellation, coach) invites the client to decide what his constellation will be: open or closed.

Open placement – when all group members, including the leader, know which elements (figures) of his personal or professional situation the client is placing. Closed placement – when no one, including the presenter, knows which elements of his situation the client is placing.

Step 3. The client thinks over (within 2-3 minutes) and names the main elements of his arrangement. Due to the fact that we use systemic structural constellations in our work in training, there are only 3 (three) such elements: this is the Goal (as the client sees and formulates it), the Main Obstacle on the way to achieving the goal, the Main Resource for overcoming the main obstacle and the fourth the element is unchanged – the Client itself.  

Step 4. The client looks at the group members, establishes contact with them with a glance and invites four group members, at his will and, of course, taking into account the willingness and desire of the participants themselves, as substitutes for the role of “goal”, “main obstacle”, ” main resource “and for the role of” client “.

Step 5. The group members selected by the client stand up, and the client takes turns approaching them, and with maximum concentration, in silence, arranges them, holding them by the shoulders or by the forearms, in the group space, in accordance with their inner understanding, feeling or image: how the situation is at the moment.

Step 6. After the last element of the client’s system has been placed, the presenter asks the client to sit down so that he can observe everything that happens from the side as best as possible.

Step 7. Work begins with the arrangement as such. The presenter asks the substitutes for the constellation to take time for themselves, take their time and listen to themselves, to their feelings, feelings, thoughts, impulses for action, and at the same time do nothing, but only track, notice, be aware of what is happening to them. It is also important to ask whether this or that substituent feels a connection with some other substituent or not, and where his gaze is directed. The presenter asks the deputies to let him know by raising their hands that they are ready to talk about what is happening to them.

Step 8. The deputies take turns speaking, naming their role at the beginning, and then, designating their feelings, feelings, thoughts. impulses. For example: “I am the Goal. I look straight ahead, I feel, in general, comfortable, but at the same time I do not feel any connection with other figures standing here and I have a feeling that I am not needed here at all and, if it were possible, I would move away from this place for a couple of steps to the right. “

Step 9. Note. Strictly speaking, starting from the ninth step, it is practically impossible to predict exactly how the constellation will develop and to what decision all those who take part in it will lead. After all, the situation of a particular person (client) is always unique, as well as the reactions given by the deputies. However, it is worth identifying what, first of all, the leader of the constellation (coach) should pay attention to, and through what steps the group and the leader should go in order to increase the likelihood of effective implementation of the constellation. It is worth noting that the constellator should be able to see if the client wants to continue the constellation or if he has enough information about the problem and situation for now, and be ready to stop the constellation at any time. 

So, step 9. At this stage, the facilitator should guess what is the main dynamic manifested in the constellation? In other words, what do the reactions of the substituents indicate? What does the spread indicate? It is worth noting here that dynamics, from the point of view of a systematic approach, is always an attempt to return what was lost, to restore balance. Let’s go back to the Goal example. The facilitator should pay attention to the statements of the deputy in the role of the Target. He can assume that the Goal does not want to go aside by accident, but because he feels superfluous in this system and wants, as it were, to “make room” for his predecessor, the previous Goal, which was “abandoned”, excluded by the client, whose arrangement held in a group.

Step 10. Tests, checks, interventions.

At this stage, the coach must, of course, test his hypothesis with the help of substitutes. For example, he can propose to the deputy of the Goal to go where he wants, and in the vacant place to put a new figure – Another Goal, inviting any of the group members to her role. Such a test can show that the participants in the constellation and the group as a whole really opened up a reality: Another Goal (previously denied, and now returned to the system) feels comfortable in the place of the first Goal and in good contact with all other elements of the system.

Step 11. Solution orientation, future orientation.

At this stage, the trainer can offer the Client’s deputy and other substitutes to perform a certain ritual, with the help of which a new attitude to the revealed reality can be developed and consolidated. For example, the Deputy of the Client can approach the deputy of the Other Goal, establish contact with her with a glance and say: “I am a Human, in you are my Other Goal. I forgot about you – I did not do justice. And I want to return you and I ask you – come back into my life, stay with me. ” I would like to emphasize that this is just one of dozens of possible forms of rituals that can be used at this stage of the constellation.

Step 12. The coach can offer a real client to take the place of his deputy and take part in a particular ritual. This is done if the client makes it clear, answering the coach’s questions, that he needs a more complete immersion in what is happening in the arrangement, that it is not enough for him to observe the process from the outside.

Step 13. The facilitator asks the client to remember and take all the best from the constellation. After a short pause, the coach asks all participants in the formation to remove roles and sit in a common circle.

Step 14. The facilitator asks all group members to share their feelings, feelings and thoughts after the placement, answers questions from the participants, summarizes this part of the group work.

 

Place of arrangement in the training of professional and personal growth.

The version of the training of professional and personal growth developed by us using the above method of systemic structural arrangement has been carried out from 2002 to the present. During this period, more than 30 (thirty) groups of professional psychologists, managers and business trainers have completed this training. Duration of training: two days, from 11.00-19.00. A typical training day includes two coffee breaks of 15-20 minutes and a lunch break of 60 minutes. Average number of group members: 10-12 people. In this version of the training, the work by the placement method takes the central part, which in practice means from 60-70% of the study time of the group. Such time for work by the placement method is not allocated by chance, as it is necessary,so that each training participant has the opportunity to present their request and work with it using the placement method. The remaining time is distributed evenly between telling in a group specially selected teaching stories in the Ericksonian tradition (M. Erickson, 1980), group discussions and various constellation exercises conducted in small groups (twos, threes, fours).

It is important to note that the basic training block includes a number of sequential stages. The first stage is “Listening to the group members of Ericksonian teaching history.” The second stage is “Discussion of Ericksonian teaching history.” The third stage “Conducting constellation exercises in small groups.” The fourth stage is “Conducting a systemic placement at the request of a training participant.” Depending on the group dynamics and the participants’ requests, the third stage can be carried out before the participants of the group listen to the Ericksonian teaching story, and in a situation where there are many individual requests for a constellation, it can be canceled altogether.

Training results.  

The results we have observed and systematically conducted surveys of the participants in the training of professional and personal growth (using the systemic constellation as the main method of this training), allow us to draw the following conclusions. Active participants in the training, who presented their personal problems for consideration in the group (and this is 70-80% of the total number of participants in our standard group), claim that they felt an improvement in mental well-being, a decrease in mental stress, and an increase in compatibility with other group members. and the degree of comfort in the group.

Thus, the empirically obtained information on the effectiveness of the training for its participants corresponds to the results of studies of the effectiveness of systemic constellations known in the foreign professional community (Krüger & Schmidt-Michel, 2003; Mraz, 2006, Jost, 2007, Chu, 2008; Sethi, 2009, Lairaiter & Mitterhuemer, 2011) also reported positive effects of constellations (see Reinhard, 2012).
The authors of one of the newest studies of the effectiveness of constellations: Jan Weinhold, Christina Hunger, Annette Bornhäuser, Jochen Schweitzer (2012), suggest that the stability of the positive effect for participants in constellation seminars, 4 months after the seminar, is due to the fact that “systemic constellations can trigger both personal and interpersonal processes that go beyond the immediate positive experience in the group during the constellation. ” The authors believe that “hypothetically, this includes: clarification of relations within the system in which a person lives at the present time, and the system from which he comes, developing a view of his system as a source of resources, striving to overcome the biographical past, as well as the formation of prospects for future”.

 

Conclusion.

In the first part of this article, we examined the definition of the system-phenomenological approach of Bert Hellinger and the basic concepts that make up the core of the method: communication, basic orders (rules), conscience and illustrated them with cases from real counseling and training practice and the life of people.  

In the second part of the article, we tried to describe what the Bert Hellinger’s method of systemic constellation is and revealed those basic concepts, the knowledge of which is necessary to explain the effects of constellation.

In the third part of the article, we described the algorithm for conducting a systemic constellation and showed what is the place of Bert Hellinger’s systemic constellation method in the training of professional and personal growth developed by the author of the article, and also considered the issue of the effectiveness of using systemic constellations in this type of training.

 

In the 21st century, interest in the world of practical and academic psychology in the system-phenomenological approach and method of systemic constellations by Bert Hellinger is enormous and continues to grow. In most European countries and far beyond its borders, dozens of institutes and centers have been opened that offer training in the systemic constellation method, conduct seminars, trainings and provide advice to people, families and organizations using this method. The number of doctoral dissertations devoted to this approach and scientific research of its effectiveness in various areas of psychological practice is increasing: from pedagogy and management to clinical psychotherapy. All this, as well as the long-term practice of the author of the article within the framework of this approach and the positive feedback from his clients and participants of training groups, allow us to assert thatthat Bert Hellinger’s concept can really claim the “title” of innovative and make a tangible contribution to the formation of the image of the psychology of the future.

 

Bibliography.

  • Bert Hellinger. Orders of love: the resolution of systemic family conflicts and contradictions / Publishing house of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2001, 2007.
  • Bert Hellinger. Orders of love: the resolution of systemic family conflicts and contradictions / M .: Publishing house of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2007.
  • Bert Hellinger. And in the middle it will become easy for you. The book is for those who want to find harmony in relationships, love and become happy. – 2nd ed. – M .: Institute of Counseling and System Solutions: Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2006.
  • Bert Hellinger. The source does not need to ask the way. – M .: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, Graduate School of Psychology, 2005.
  • Bert Hellinger. Help orders. – M .: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2006.
  • Bert Hellinger. We’re going forward. A course for couples in difficult situations. – M .: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2007 ..
  • Bert Hellinger. Big conflict. – M .: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2009.
  • Bert Hellinger. The happiness that remains. – M .: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2009.
  • Bert Hellinger. Spirit love. – M .: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2009.
  • Bert Hellinger. Et al. with Gabriel ten Hofel. Long way. – M .: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2009.
  • Bert Hellinger. Healing. Get healthy, stay healthy. – К .: Hellinger Publications, 2011
  • Bert Hellinger. Success in life / Success in the profession. – К .: Hellinger Publications, 2010
  • Ursula Franke. When I close my eyes, I see you. Moscow: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2007.  
  • Claude Rosselet, Georg Senoner. In search of meaning … Systemic constellations in the context of management. Moscow: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2011.
  • Jan Jakob Stam. Relationship fields. The practice of organizational constellations. Moscow: Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2012.

 

Family constellations

Family Constellations is a therapeutic approach designed to help uncover hidden dynamics in a family or relationship in order to eliminate and heal any stressors that affect that relationship.

This alternative approach can help people seeking treatment see their problems from a different perspective, and therapists can offer a family constellation approach as a treatment for problems that are difficult to treat with conventional therapy.

Developing family constellations

This alternative approach was developed by German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger in the mid-1990s. Family Constellation Therapy arose out of his work as a family therapist and his belief in the energies, both positive and negative, inherent in family ties. Nearly 50 years of studying and treating families led to his observations of patterns of mental health, disease, negative emotions, and potentially destructive behaviors in families, and he suggested that people might unconsciously “accept” these fears as a way to help other members cope. believe this method is less restrictive than other therapies and support its ability to allow people to see different perspectives and alternative solutions.

This approach is based on a number of other methods, including Gestalt therapy, psychoanalysis, Virginia Satir family modeling, psychodynamic therapy, hyponotherapy, systemic family therapy, and Zulu beliefs.

Theory and methodology of family constellations

A family constellation session usually takes place in a workshop with a group of disconnected people who replace family members of the person or couple who present a problem or concern. The person seeking a solution to the problem, called the seeker, or the group facilitator selects these representatives and places them in the position of that person’s family members, also choosing one person as the seeker to complete the family dynamic. Using other people to represent the family is believed to shed light on disharmony in the family, and people acting as family members are believed to be able to feel and experience the emotions of the person they have assumed. Hellinger, a developer of family constellations, calls this a sense of connectedness said to be sensed telepathically by group members,morphogenic field.

Although representatives say very little, the sense of knowledge that is believed to be the result of the process is obvious to everyone involved. The seeker observes what is happening from the side in order to take a fresh look at the situation. Even if the problem is not completely resolved through the constellation process, the person presenting the problem may still gain an understanding of the problem for which he is seeking help. No member of the constellation knows the seeker or is aware of the underlying problems posed to him, but they often report awareness of certain emotions and feelings directly related to a person’s situation. The facilitator may ask participants to explain how they feel, especially about their relationship to other family members. It can shed light on certain emotions and aspects of a relationship,which may be clearly related to the problem in question.

The solution may not be immediately clear to the person presenting the problem. The facilitator changes the position of the participants, sometimes asking them to express their feelings out loud. Members can move from place to place in the constellation until they find a position or can make a verbal statement expressing a sense of comfort from their place in the constellation.

Problems Solved with Family Constellations

Working with family constellations is considered the most effective in solving systemic problems. These fears can include problems in the family of origin, difficulties in the relationship between parents and children, and problems in intimate relationships.

Can be used as a potential therapy for people who:

  • Seek to eliminate negative or harmful relationship patterns
  • I want a romantic relationship
  • Trying to solve family difficulties
  • I want to overcome my inner turmoil
  • Are seriously injured or lost
  • In search of personal and professional success

Are family constellations effective?

Family constellations are gaining popularity as an alternative approach to therapy, especially in Europe, America, Asia and Australia, where they are considered by many to be a powerful and cost-effective method of solving relationship problems. Its popularity may be partly due to the short-term nature of the therapy and its unique solution. problems that others are involved in without the need for them to be present.

The family constellation approach believes that every family member, adult or child, strives to feel valued and find a place in the family structure, and they endorse this method as a useful step in the process of achieving that sense of meaning and belonging. often show surprisingly emotional reactions to their relationships, family or otherwise, regardless of their age.

Many people report achieving significant understanding and clarity through constellation work, but due to the subjective therapeutic process and the empirical nature of family constellations, family constellation therapy is not an evidence-based approach.