What is Family Constellation?

Family Constellation Workshop

For those who are not familiar with it, here’s a brief description. For example someone is working on an issue in his/her family, he might be working on his family of origin i.e. his parents, brothers and sisters, current family wife, son or daughter, or some of his ancestors etc. this someone is called an ‘issue holder’.

In a group of participants attending with a facilitator/therapist. The facilitator invites an issue holder who will describe his/ her issue in a few sentences.

Then from the participants, representatives are chosen according to represent either family members or aspects.

Once the representatives are in position a movement starts to happen (tuning in the fields of the family system).

Then through these phenomenological movements, we can observe the hidden dynamic of the family system. Effectively, it creates a kind of a field of the family and representatives who are standing in for the members of family often feel emotions that are appropriate to the person in that position in the family system.

For an example, if the parents are close, we will often observe them (the representatives) standing close together. Furthermore, if a member of the family was very distant, excluded or disconnected, we will observe his place further away, sort of facing away from the family.

Next, the facilitator offers the possible healing solution and ends the constellation with a few healing sentences acknowledging our true soul state.

I heard the expression Family constellation is like physiotherapy for the soul, I like that very much firstly because it benefits the issue holder and the representatives, not only the issue holder. Secondly, because it describes that it takes time and can take more than one session to let the soul be touched and not the logic mind, which usually sees things from one side failing to notice the light in the pain we go through. This is work of the soul, which for the logic, often does not make any sense.