Bert Hellinger is the creator of family constellations. In a German psychotherapist and family therapist who was a priest. He developed his method in the mid-90s from his experience working with families as a family therapist. Family constellations is a therapeutic approach designed to help reveal hidden dynamics in a family in order to address and treat stressors affecting those relationships.
Family constellations is a dynamic therapy that continues to evolve, although its basic principles remain the same and constitutes an alternative to traditional methods that is not exempt from criticism due to the lack of scientific evidence. In this Psychology-Online article, we explain What are family constellations in psychology.
Family constellations: what they are
Family or systemic constellations is a form of emotional therapy and a group process that allows us to discover the underlying or hidden dynamics present in the family, whether present or of origin. It is a method that allows us to identify family conflicts, both in the family of origin and in the present, and change the suffering or other problems present in different generations of the family. Hellinger observed that many of us unconsciously “take on” destructive family patterns of anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, loneliness, and even illness as a way of “belonging” to our families.
What is a family constellation session like?
Therapy is usually carried out in one or two sessions with a A group of people. In a group workshop, the client chooses other participants to represent the people involved in their problem. Participants take turns representing the people involved in each other’s problems. Some deeper conflicts may require more sessions.
Although a family constellation seems similar to a , it is not since it does not select particular events in the client’s life to reproduce them, it is about highlighting the family dynamics without any sense of drama and with little or almost no information about the topic or the lives of the people affected. The person with the problem does not participate in the representation in order to be able to observe the process from the outside and thus see it from another perspective and be able to consider other alternative solutions.
Are family constellations dangerous?
Conducting a family constellation has some benefits compared to other traditional methods. A family constellation is a short and deep experiential process that allows internal changes to occur so that external change can take place, for this the person has to be really ready for the change. For this reason, preparation is very important and allows space for:
- Contemplate new perspectives on the problem
- Acceptance: which requires maturity, compassion and leaving past wounds aside. Acceptance of what we cannot change is the goal.
- Gratitude for what we have
- To love for oneself and others: to accept ourselves we must accept where and who we come from. This may involve resolving unfinished business from our previous experiences and releasing family and systemic trauma.
Benefits of family constellations
In summary, the benefits would be the following:
- It’s a very fast process. Some people solve their problems in one or a few sessions
- The people involved in the problem do not need to be present
- You don’t need to know what happened, that is, you don’t need to know the problem, just some uncovered facts.
- The resolution or the change (not always) usually affects or modulates the others involved in the problem
This therapy is based on the fact that relationships are perhaps the most important aspect of the human experience since we are individual and relational in nature. We need time alone and we also have an innate need to belong to a differentiated group, at first they were tribes and as we have evolved extended families. A healthy sense of belonging gives us warmth, satisfaction and peace of mind.
Topics covered by family constellations
Family constellation therapy is considered appropriate for addressing concerns that are systemic or relational in nature. These concerns may include problems in the family of origin, difficulties in the parent-child relationship, and in the intimate relationship of the couple.
It can be used as a method of potential therapy for people who:
- Are seeking help to address negative or harmful relationship patterns
- They want to solve their
- They are trying to solve family problems
- Have experienced significant trauma or loss
- They want to achieve personal and professional success
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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