Intro into Systemic Constellation
We live in a time where complexity, turbulence and uncertainty are more the norm than the exception. Many of us are faced with how to navigate complexity and work with emergence in creative ways. There are system sensing approaches that can allow groups and organizations to operate with more alignment and coherence within these larger transitions. Systemic Constellations is a process of creating a model of a particular system in order to reveal and transform hidden patterns. It is based on a living and whole systems approach and can offer a grounded way of illuminating pressing personal, professional and collective issues.
“We can’t control systems or figure them out.
But we can dance with them!”
~ Donella Meadows
Background and Origins
“A living system is defined not by the individual parts,
but also by the relationships between them, i.e. the flow of energy.”
~ Unknown
Systemic Constellations is a way of working with issues within human-related systems using our felt-sense and wider ways of knowing and perceiving. Developed by Bert Hellinger, a German psychotherapist, and strongly informed by his experience with the Zulus, they originally focused on family systems to disclose the deeper forces that unknowingly influence our thoughts, behaviors and emotional experiences through multiple generations. Family Constellations create a model of the family system to reveal and transform hidden patterns that are difficult to understand and change.
Over time, this systemic approach has been applied to other human-related systems including organizations and larger societal issues in our communities and the world. These various applications share a common purpose to explore ways for understanding our relationships with each other and the contexts we are interacting.
Systemic constellations are particularly useful when the source of the issue or the solution is not clear, where previous attempts to change have not endured or where there is a sense of ‘stuckness’ in the whole or part of a system. By understanding the nature of the patterns and dynamics, systemic constellations can offer information and options of how to resolve our most complicated problems and complex challenges. Acknowledging the “what is” in a system tends to soften hidden loyalties, completes missing conversations and opens up new paths towards resolution and balance.
Process
In Systemic Constellations, we set up a model of a system with volunteer representatives, objects or guided visualizations. In a typical session, participants are chosen to represent members or elements of the family, the organization or the context that is being addressed.
In this process, hidden and unexpected dynamics operating within the system are revealed and acknowledged in a way that aims to find a healthy and respectful place for all members of the system in question.
A powerful insight of Bert Hellinger is that each family system has a conscience that requires that all members be connected and remembered in a particular way. If someone in the system is not remembered correctly then the younger members, out of love or the need to belong, can become "entangled" with their ancestors, particularly with those who have been excluded, forgotten or shunned or have experienced a difficult fate. Unconscious entanglements, such as the need to belong, are behind many of the issues that are explored in constellations.
Another very important input informed by Zulu traditions is that every element of a system being it a family, community or organisation is interrelated with all the other elements. (Like a mobile.) If one or several elements are out of balance due to conditions, an event or an emotional instability, then the system will find ways to express this imbalance so it can be acknowledged and healed. Zulu traditions believed that these “expressions” or challenging situations that occur are not the problem one, but of the whole system. In other words, if one or more elements are out of balance, then it is the co-responsibility of that system or community to understand how the elements are out of alignment in order to create the conditions for healing to take place.
During the process, we search for possible movements that can release entanglements and restore order and balance to the system of focus. The process provides the client or the community that requested a Systemic Constellation with new insights and a new image of their place and the dynamics in the system. This may include the proper acknowledgement and honor to a related lineage, to the land or to past events.
In summary, exploring what is hidden in the systems we are part of – from family, to work, community and society - can help us to understand what is at the root of the symptoms such as. inequality, division, mistrust, illness, depression, harassments etc. New awareness and insight provides a chance to heal “our” deepest wounds, both individually for ourselves as well as collectivity to the systems in which we are part. We can see how lasting change can begin and can be carried forward.