The constellation process is a tool, a multi-dimensional mapping of the client’s inner landscape (of an issue), to make visible what has previously been hidden, or unconscious. These processes take any where from 15-45 minutes, sometimes a bit more or less. We use pieces of paper, objects, figures, footprints or people – when facilitated in a group setting – that represent the aspects of the issue. This is usually a combination of people and elements (Grandma, Mom, me, headaches; Dad, siblings, The Depression, work scarcity; e.g.). The starting point, when the client sets up the representatives, provides a map, or picture, of what is going on related to their current concern and historical, systemic events within the system (family, organizational, collective). Then the representatives (people), may want to move – away from, or closer to one another; they might wish to make statements. In object or paper set-ups, the client may see that some need to be shifted, or, the facilitator may choose to test out different placements and see what causes a change in the client.
 

One-on-one work in private consultation, whether for team leaders or for individuals, is sometimes preferable to a group workshop setting. However, groups can very often provide powerful and wonderful containers in which to expand our lens of awareness. The Family Constellation work, as brought to the world by Bert Hellinger, originated as a group process. Judy’s group workshops are facilitated monthly (see events page).

The Constellation approach, using representatives in a group, or markers/objects, sets up a kind of map where hidden patterns can be seen, revealing the effects of a number of dynamics on an individual and their family, or other system. Businesses and organizations make use of this kind of resolution, or re-solving of current problems, and clarification and expansion of goals. A systemic understanding of a hindrance or stricture will always bring a wider view and with this lens, a richer landscape.

  • A relationship - Self and other
  • Family situation - Self, parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.
  • Health - Self and illness, self and bodily parts or systems
  • Work - Self and project, self and colleagues or self and organization
  • Other Types of Issues - It could be something more abstract – “I want to explore this feeling of _____ that I always seem to be experiencing
  • Intense Circumstances - traumatic events in the past forge a bond between the families of perpetrators and victims; these often need to be set up to be acknowledged. If they remain unresolved, the complex dynamic becomes locked in the system, without rest.

Representatives

The facilitator and client choose markers to represent the people or things that make up this issue. A representative can be named people, abstract words, emotions or patterns, written on pieces of paper, identified using objects, or chosen to be represented by people in a group. The client places the representatives in relation to one another in the space, including one to represent him/herself (most importantly).

Footprints

A client sets up their issue using footprints to represent people or elements in the issue. The photos on this page show the use of footprints and figurines used as resources in one to one constellations; the size, colour, and placement offer us information right at the outset of a process. Throughout, the client may shift some of these, or, in the case of using human representatives, they will see how these people may decide to move (and what they might want to say). Human representatives bring information to light that is true to the client’s system because they are connected in the knowing field that has been established by facilitator and client.

We set up constellations to explore what in the family, or organizational history, may be having an underlying impact in the current environment. Some critical historical event may require acknowledgement. Through traumatic and unresolved events there is often residue which finds its way through the generations, leaving a trickle or flood of unsettled debris. The re-solutions from these processes – perhaps simple acknowledgement and acceptance of what happened in an earlier time – offer the client a new understanding and outlook. Did you know that immigration is often a trauma field in a family? Reincluding the country of origin into the modern family scenario can be an emotionally healing and heartwarming event. One small “re-solutionary” step can potentially carry the client a giant leap forward. A wider sense of space, freedom, clarity and energy is created. Now possessing greater capacity, and aligned in a truer way with life goals, perhaps, our feet are met with more solid ground, which includes resources from the ancestral footsteps of previous generations.

Footprints

The Unfolding Experience ...

A constellation can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more. The unfolding experience is like a pebble going into a pond and ripples move outward for a while after the process has ended. We encourage the client to allow the rippling and sense the birthing of new momentum. Because everyone in the system belongs, there may be new communications, revelations, and comprehension stemming from the process which initiates, not finalizes the original question or issue that brings the client to a Constellation session or workshop.

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Constellation Work is not a replacement for therapy or medical diagnosis; the process is designed to be informational for people seeking personal and/or community opportunities for exploration and growth.