System arrangement method. Bert Hellinger. Family constellations. Hellinger arrangement: description of the method
The psychological method of the German doctor Bert Hellinger has earned recognition from specialists in various fields: pedagogy, psychotherapy, sociology, marketing. The uniqueness lies in the simplicity of the method, the ability to find the root of problems in various areas of a person’s life, as well as determine ways to solve identified negative conditions and situations. Hellinger constellations have been successfully used for several decades. However, this method has not only admirers, but also opponents who believe that the system causes harm to program participants.
What are system arrangements
The teaching is an effective practice that was introduced in 1925 by the German philosopher and psychotherapist Bert Hellinger. Systemic constellations are the ability to feel, “scan” the energy and information field problematic situation. Hellinger's method is based on people's innate ability to feel. Its proof is our feelings after chance meetings with people. Some awaken exclusively positive emotions in us; after communicating with others, we want to take a shower and wash away the negativity and irritation.
Hellinger constellations involve working with a group of people. Each participant must use the natural ability to “feel” people and the problem situation that was given by the leader. As a rule, people easily read information about difficulties in different areas life of the main participant (the person whose problem is being worked on).
Each of us is a complementary part unified system. People are connected by ancestral programs, family relationships, religion, national traditions, friendships, business partnerships. We influence and depend on each other, we seek mutual understanding and love, but among a huge number of people we often feel lonely. This sense of self is dictated by a state of isolation: a person extols suffering and pain, his own exclusivity.
The Hellinger installation serves simple method, helping people realize the commonality of their problems. With the help of constellations, program participants can get rid of many far-fetched problems and mental beliefs, revealing their root causes. As a rule, they are destructive family programs and unfinished problematic situations in the family that have a negative impact on a person’s fate. With the help of Hellinger's constellations it is possible to reveal the root causes:
- diseases (drug addiction, alcoholism, genetic diseases);
- difficulties in family relationships, in relationships with the opposite sex;
- various phobias, depression, panic attacks;
- childlessness (if there is no infertility);
- business problems;
- unfulfillment in life.
What are the types of constellations using Bert Hellinger's method?
Psychological consultation, based on any approach (classical or systemic), begins with identifying the client’s problem. At this stage, the specialist determines which placement method is best to use. Hellinger's system involves several main types: family, structural, organizational, client and spiritual constellations. What are their features and differences?
Family
This type of arrangement involves working with family problems. Family constellations according to B. Hellinger, include the elaboration of intrapersonal conflicts, generic messages that negatively affect a person’s life. Experts are convinced that the difficulties of many clients are explained by traumas that were suffered within the boundaries of the family system in the past. Problems are often associated with a failure of the hierarchy order or the “take-and-give” principle (parents’ desire to take from children, children’s awareness of their superiority over their parents, and the like).
Bert Hellinger believed that family trauma - main reason any health problems, in your personal life or financial sphere. The psychotherapist is convinced that the root of any problem is the desire to cross out (forget) the participants in the family trauma - both the perpetrators and the victims. This desire to exclude what happened from memory becomes the “causative agent” of various problematic situations and incorrect mental programs in subsequent generations of the family. The Hellinger constellation method helps to find the hidden causes of the client’s unhealthy state and get rid of them.
Structural
This type Hellinger's constellations help to improve areas of life such as work, finances, illness, and get rid of fears. The method is extremely effective if it is impossible to logically justify the reason for the repetition of the same problem. Structural arrangements help to bring to the level of consciousness the underlying causes of problematic situations. The program involves the transformation of a person - this allows him to independently change at a deep level.
Organizational
Designed to solve problems among participants labor collectives. Special areas of application of the program are working with business consultants, script writers, and scientists. Organizational constellations using the Hellinger method involve “playing out” roles, main character traits, and specific stories. The purpose of the method is to unite the team to increase the productivity of the team or to resolve internal conflicts. The priority of organizational arrangements is the employees themselves and their community.
Client
Constellations using the Hellinger method are aimed at people whose professions involve helping others (doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers). This type of program helps to consider the relationship between helpers and recipients of help. Through client constellations, it is possible to see how effective this support is, what motives drive the helper and, if desired, adjust them.
Spiritual
The teaching positions the spirit as something that stimulates development. This Hellinger constellation identifies the therapist and participants as tools for the manifestation of the spirit. The technique somewhat contradicts therapeutic constellations, where the main role is assigned to the therapist looking for a solution to the client’s problem. The system does not use the concepts of “problem” and “solution”. Spiritual constellations view the situation through the free movement of consciousness.
Laws of order of love
The family constellation method is based on two main concepts - conscience and order. The psychotherapist in personal philosophy relies on the aspect of conscience, which acts as an analyzer and “organ of balance” of a person. The system will work well only if the conscience is calm - then there is internal confidence that family life has developed. Anxiety means that a person can no longer belong to the system. This concept is a degree detector internal balance.
Hellinger divides conscience into unconscious and conscious. If an individual acts in accordance with the latter, he violates the rules of the unconscious. Thus, the conscious conscience gives us excuses, and the unconscious makes us feel guilty. The psychotherapist says that conflict between them often causes problems in the family. The relationship between husband and wife in such a conflict will be destroyed even if there is strong love.
Many people believe that established family routines can change under their influence or that they can be easily defeated with some effort. However, love is not capable of giving order, since the latter serves as a fundamental principle, and love is only a component of order. Thus, love is formed exclusively within any order, and it is impossible to change it through one’s own efforts.
How is system placement carried out?
Group therapy involves working with each participant, which can last from 30 to 90 minutes. Duration system arrangement determined depending on the number of requests. The person whose problem is being worked through determines who from the group will play the roles of members of his family. For example, a woman who has a problematic situation with her husband chooses participants to play the role of herself and her husband. The client, under the guidance of her own ideas and feelings, according to the instructions of the psychotherapist, arranges the participants around the room.
During the program, amazing things happen: “deputies” (aka participants) own experience feel the feelings and emotions of family members whose roles they perform. Thus, strangers are immersed in a situation so deeply that they can clearly express the situations happening to someone. Thanks to this effect, there is no need to talk a lot about the events that took place in the client’s family.
What is the danger of the method
Every profession is associated with danger to some extent. For example, an unprofessional driver can hit a pedestrian, an inexperienced lawyer will deprive a person of his freedom, and an unqualified doctor will allow the disease to kill the patient. Due to the lack of experience or low qualifications of the psychologist, the client may lose personal integrity or mental health. In the hands of an unprofessional, even psychological work will be dangerous.
The benefits of the constellation method are directly related to the professionalism of the presenter. Only experienced specialist will determine which version of the system is best suited for use for a particular individual, and which may cause harm or be useless. With the help of constellations according to the Hellinger method, participants come into contact with the personalities of other people, getting used to the roles. The guidance of a psychotherapist makes the process safer for the “actor” who, without negative consequences will leave the given role.
Features of teaching the technique
The school of constellations will be of interest to beginning or practicing psychologists, family doctors, psychotherapists, social workers, teachers and anyone who works with people. The main teaching methods used in the program include theoretical and practical parts. The first involves studying the basics of arrangement, reading philosophical notes, and considering the methodological and morphogenetic prerequisites of the system. The practical part contains analysis of specific situations and work using the family constellation method.
During the training course, students become familiar with the psychological and philosophical teachings of the constellation method. Students learn about the basic premises of the system, such as positive conditions for the development of healthy family or work relationships. The training examines how love relationships are made or broken. Course participants can study their own problem situations through the prism of Hellinger's constellations and see methods for solving them.
Video about systemic arrangements according to Hellinger
Modern psychotherapists are convinced that the method is most valuable in practice, not theory. However, in order to achieve the best results from group work on constellations, you need to understand what the basic concepts and principles of the system are. With the video below you will get basic knowledge and ideas about psychological method Hellinger.
Family constellations according to Bert Hellinger, which appeared more than 30 years ago, are becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. Those who have experienced the effects of constellations are amazed at their effectiveness and healing power. Many call them a miracle that turned their entire lives upside down and changed them for the better. They helped the sick to acquire health, the lonely - to find love, businessmen - to acquire more money. Arrangements help determine real reasons any illnesses and problems, establish peace and joy in families, and harmony in life, restore relationships with others, help find happiness and good luck, eliminate negative programs and the negative influence of other people, help get rid of the evil eye and damage, improve well-being.
The Hellinger arrangement method is very popular in Russia and in Europe in general, and every year more and more more people shows a keen interest in him. This popularity is no coincidence. Constellations allow you to correct the karma of the clan and family, get rid of ancestral curses, help restore connections with ancestors, and contribute to the expansion of consciousness and the growth of spirituality. In practice, this is ritual work with subtle energies using ancient shamanic, Sufi, yogic and Taoist techniques.
Systemic constellations are powerful effective method solutions to various problems that we constantly face in life. With their help, you can solve problems in marriage and raising children, at work and in relationships with parents, improve health and cure depression. They help you find love, live more fully and happy life. This method is subject to a huge range of problems due to the fact that all of them are solved not at the individual level, but at the level of the family and clan.
With the help of constellations, you can improve family relationships, avoid divorces, difficulties and betrayals, and find a way out of a difficult situation. life situation, understand the causes of illness, accept death loved one, say goodbye to him, get rid of phobias, fears, anxiety. Establish relationships with loved ones, improve connections with relatives, with children, including adopted ones and especially with the so-called “difficult” teenagers. Constellations help with infertility, alcoholism, and drug addiction. They solve financial problems and issues of professional fulfillment, conflicts in business. Help to do right choice, free yourself from repeating someone else's fate, understand yourself, get out of a bad streak in life, change it for the better.
As a result of many years of research, the German psychiatrist and theologian Bert Hellinger discovered that our ancestors pass on their information to us, pass on our destiny by inheritance, and “code” us in a certain way, so their destinies are often played out in our own lives. During birth, we connect to the collective field of the clan, we find ourselves in a predetermined chain of connections and dependencies that has already developed in the clan. Much that has been accumulated by ancestors, parents, grandparents, can be lost in our destiny.
Moreover, with birth we receive both a good and a bad inheritance. On the one hand, ancestors who lived a righteous life are our guardian spirits, who are called upon to protect us from dangers and help us cope with difficulties. But if among our ancestors there are “anxious”, restless and offended, they pass on to us the burden of their problems, which we carry with us throughout our lives.
The fate of those whose family hides some terrible secret or family secret is especially difficult. For example, the grandmother hides how and where the grandfather died, or everyone remains silent about the fact that the uncle is in prison. The more secrets, the greater the negative impact on the family. Any deeply hidden family secret continues to oppress the family through centuries and decades and has a negative impact on the new, newly born generation.
Almost every newborn is born with a certain “program” and a set of expectations that are associated with his birth. It doesn’t matter whether this program is stated explicitly or remains unspoken, will be implied “by default” or kept in strict confidence - clan, family, parents, family context initially determine both the child’s life and death, marriage or celibacy, profession or vocation, his present and future. It is no coincidence that the Romans said: “The dead seize the living.”
We are used to thinking that many of our fears, personal experiences, illnesses and misfortunes are our personal problem, but in fact we are never alone, our entire family, our entire family is always with us - mom and dad, grandparents, distant and close relatives. This is a whole hierarchical ladder of relatives, a large family tree or a huge energy field that affects our individuality.
This field is systemic, that is, consisting of several parts that are in resonance with each other. Its parts are connected and connected to each other.
What happens to one part of the system necessarily affects another part of the system - no matter whether the effect is strong or weak. If movement occurs in one part of the energy field, after some time changes follow in another. What affects one member of the system affects everyone in one way or another.
The smallest system here may be a subatomic particle of an atom, molecule or crystal, or a cell of tissue, organ or organism. Or it may be an individual, an individual in the field of a family, a field of a clan, or in the field of a community of nations. Thus, we can conclude that every living organism - from a person to a family and even a clan - can be considered as systems that make up an energy-information field.
Although the discovery of the concepts of Field and System was made at the beginning of the 20th century, this theory was not applied to man or species. The situation began to change in 1956, when all living organisms, starting with the organic cell, began to be considered as systems. Then systems theory included the person himself, his family, and subsequently even the economy of the country and the ecology of the planet.
Hellinger combined all the knowledge about gender, systems and gender and found new practical methods for healing people, which are becoming increasingly popular in the world every year. This amazing man, at the age of 10, left his parents' family and went to college at the Catholic order, and in 1952 he was ordained a priest and was sent to Africa to do missionary work among the Zulus. In 1971, he left the Order, resigned as a priest and returned to Germany, where he immediately entered the Munich Psychoanalytic Institute.
Subsequently, he studies and practices contemporary methods of psychotherapy, such as primary therapy by Arthur Yanov, transactional analysis by Eric Berne, non-directive hypnotherapy by Milton Erickson, provocative therapy by Frank Farrelly, Gestalt therapy by Perls, holding therapy by Irena Prekop, as well as NLP by Gundl Kucera and family therapy by Americans Leslie Cadiz and Ruth McLendon. It was the latter who developed the prototypes of the first family constellations, which later became the calling card of Bert Hellinger and are now firmly associated with his name. Hellinger studied everything modern methods psychotherapy, but settled on the family constellation method because he considered it the most effective.
Family constellations are a process of influencing the energy-informational family field, which contains all the knowledge about the development of this family and its ancestors. As a result of this process, both the physical state of a person and his emotions, character and events, that is, his destiny, change.
If you influence the field, you can influence a person and all members of his family. As a result of the arrangement, the client has a new idea of his family and a new, more harmonious image family relations, which will “work” independently of itself. Just as the old image of the family influenced and subconsciously influenced the client, the new one will now act in exactly the same way.
Hellinger discovered that family and origin sometimes influence us so much that we cannot live our own lives. Instead of being a free individual within the family, we repeat the fate of our ancestors and are so strongly connected with our parents that we cannot live normally.
It's like a heavy load that presses us to the ground and doesn't allow us to move on in life. But the right relationship with the family gives strength and energy. To free a person from this heavy burden, it is necessary to conduct a family constellation.
Usually constellations take place in a group. In this case, the client chooses from the assembled substitutes for himself and his relatives and places them relative to each other in the order that seems to him closest to the picture of the family that is present in his mind.
As deputies become comfortable with their roles, they begin to move and act in accordance with the power currents that are present in the family energy system. At this time, the specialist leading the constellation has the opportunity to correct what is happening and help the client solve his problem with the help of certain rituals, words and actions. As a result, the closest to the ideal picture of a family or relationship is built on the site.
And if clients prefer individual sessions, then the work takes place in the imagination. Both group and individual constellations are an incredibly emotionally charged process. Therefore, rather than reading about it, it is better to see it once, and even better - to experience the cleansing and healing effects of constellations for yourself.
Read moreabout family constellations according to Bert Hellinger- on the website Guiding star, or practical astropsychology
About ten years ago I first saw an advertisement for Hellinger constellations in the Russian information space. Since at that time I was aware of the content of this new phenomenon for our country, I decided that quite quickly this practice would naturally move into the world of “occult services.” A year later, having discovered price lists of several fairly large psychological centers that did not associate themselves with magic in any way, I decided to go there and see what exactly they were doing there and how professional psychologists explained to themselves the legality of using this practice.
The opportunity appeared on its own and very quickly: I came across an advertisement for the search for so-called “deputies” - important participants in the most common type of arrangement. My husband and I signed up as “deputies,” naturally, without informing us about our motivation or professional affiliation (to be fair, no one asked us about this). Let me make a reservation right away: the formats for carrying out constellations may differ, but they are meaningfully based on the same idea. And they can be called differently: systemic family constellations, simply systemic constellations, and many more variations on the theme. The case below serves to illustrate the “work” of the method, as well as material for the critical analysis that follows.
So, the arrangement was carried out for young man. He, under the guidance of the psychologist leading the arrangement, assigned each of the deputies the role of one of his family members (for now only living ones) and placed us around the room. Several arrangers were left without roles. And then a phantasmagoria began: “experienced deputies” (from among the center’s employees) began to report “heaviness in the heart”, “tickling in the heel” and other mysterious sensations from standing next to someone or, on the contrary, due to the distance of someone That. And only we stood in our places and felt nothing but curiosity.
Then, in some way incomprehensible to me, one of the “deputies” (who felt a strong desire to pour out love and regret to the client) “turned out” to be the client’s aborted child, several more people “turned out to be” long-dead relatives... the seance began. Then something happened that looked like a psychodrama with a mystical twist. And all this ended with a strict instruction from the arranger in the category of “get up and go!”
Naturally, I stayed late, told the organizer my professional affiliation and asked what it was, where he studied and how he was not ashamed. In response, I received a stream of consciousness “there is a lot in the world, friend Horatio...” on the topic of the existence of phenomena still unknown to science and certain fields that need to be connected to in order to gain knowledge.
Then I decided that with such a level of delusion, this service would serve good service clients: will help them distinguish truly professional psychologists from charlatans who have nothing to do with scientific knowledge.
It seemed obvious to me that a reasonable person, before giving his money for any service, would Google about it. When searching for information about Hellinger constellations, you almost immediately find what is perhaps the most systematized in the Russian-language segment brief description methods: Veselago E.V. Systemic constellations according to Bert Hellinger: history, philosophy, technology. // Psychotherapy. No. 7, 2010. No. 1, 2011. : [Electronic resource].
Reading this article, in my opinion, is enough to understand that this technique has nothing to do with psychology as a science in any way “reincarnation”. And the paragraph below (ibid., p. 14) makes it clear that constellations have the same relation to the concept of norm in any sense as to science: “ Hellinger says his work is not psychotherapy, it is practical philosophy. I would like to add: “And also practical theology.” And in this practice, we sometimes reach limits: frightening, unacceptable, incorrect, “immoral” movements (events, stories). After all, if there is neither good nor bad and everything moves the way it moves, then what about, for example, situations of incest? Violence, murder, abortion? Fascism, genocide? Many times, witnesses to Hellinger's constellation work have encountered unacceptable things: e.g.in the constellation, the daughter, who is in a sexual relationship with her father, says to her mother: “Mom, I’m glad to do this for you.” Through this phrase, spoken in a constellation, the spirit of “sighted” love and reconciliation comes, the connection reveals its meaning and ceases to be necessary. But at the same time, a wave of indignation arises from defenders of victims of violence and abuse, from women, from men, from social workers and many others, in whose understanding the idea of protecting the victim from the rapist and the appropriate punishment for him is correct.».
But, judging by the prevalence of arrangements, the almost complete absence of criticism in the Russian-language segment of the Network and scientific sources, the penetration of methods into the system public education and science, this issue is in dire need of discussion.
So, Bert Hellinger’s method of systemic family constellations became widespread in the second half of the last century as a helping psychological practice. It is believed that basic principles methods correspond to a systematic and phenomenological approach, but their interpretation is carried out by the author in an extremely unorthodox way. Based on systemic premises, Hellinger proposes to consider in therapy the entire complex of family relationships in their interconnection and hierarchy, including intergenerational ones (including between living and deceased relatives). The phenomenological nature of the method implies the priority of the direct subjective experience and sensations of the participants in the constellations.
According to supporters of the method, the relationships, experiences and sensations of members of the family system are in a certain “field”, and, being placed in the appropriate roles, completely strangers seem to be included in this field and begin to reproduce the characteristic sensations of its members, even without having any preliminary information about them. By interacting with these “deputies,” the participant gets the opportunity to work out his personal problems and issues of relationships with relatives, work colleagues, and even abstract concepts.
In my opinion, what has already been listed should be enough to understand the unscientific and useless nature of the “method” of constellations, but in case the reader still has doubts, let us dwell in a little more detail on the most odious provisions (I will try to avoid highly specialized terms) .
Firstly, the “mechanics” of constellations is based on the so-called phenomenon of substitutive perception, when the substitute begins not just to imagine, but to feel and experience what his real living or long-dead prototype feels and experiences, drawing information directly from the “information field” . The mechanism of this substitutive perception and the method of transmitting information between its carrier and its substitute, however, is not formalized or explained in any way - but it cannot be verified and refuted.
Secondly, the fundamentally sound idea that an individual does not live in a vacuum and is influenced by family members (by the way, not only they, but also a lot of other social subjects and agents of socialization) is brought here to the point of absurdity and the person turns out to be not just connected, but closely intertwined (and we are not talking about genetics!) in his destiny with the destinies of his ancestors - even those about whom he does not know and could never know in principle. As a result, it is argued that he can live a destiny that is not his own and perform tasks that are not his own, since some generations ago the psychological problem, which has not yet been resolved. Neither modern psychology, nor neurophysiology have scientific explanations for such a phenomenon, and there are no ways to verify whether the client is really suffering for the sins of his great-grandmother.
If we remove the philosophical and mystical component, then the constellation technique itself is, in fact, an attempt to project the client’s conscious and unconscious ideas about the structure and nature of interpersonal relationships within the family - and this could have limited practical application, but similar techniques already exist (for example, psychodrama), so novelty, obviously, can only be achieved through mystification and operating with quasi-scientific concepts like “psychic energy”, “information field”, “substituting perception” and others. But maybe there’s nothing wrong with that and let the clients of the “arrangers” pay a kind of “tax on ignorance”?..
Not at all. The method is not “ethically neutral” and contains several elements that are very dangerous for the client.
Firstly, the simplest objection is that using a “crooked” method leads you astray from the right path and the conviction that the root of the problems must be sought “downwards”. family tree", listening to the feelings caused in you by strangers who are entrusted with the roles of all kinds of relatives, will prevent you from seeing the real problem. This is the best case scenario. At worst, you will become entrenched in your misconceptions and distorted perceptions.
Secondly, an unformalized method with unverifiable results leaves too much scope for the work of the “arranger” - and places extremely high demands on his professionalism, ethics and ability for critical reflection. Something tells me that people who practice (often on on a commercial basis) an unscientific method with murky semi-esoteric premises, there may be serious problems with these qualities. Moreover, for people in borderline states, the experience of constellations (in any role) can be dangerous as a provocation for the development of full-fledged psychiatry.
Thirdly, at their core, Hellinger’s ideas about the “orders of love” reproduce patriarchal models of gender and intergenerational relations, actually prescribing certain (and rather rigid) principles of perception and behavior to clients. Hellinger's sensational interpretation of incest as the mother's guilt in that she did not sufficiently satisfy her husband's sexual interests, as a result of which he was forced to have sex with his daughter, not only creates the basis for cultivating a sense of guilt in the mother (which, perhaps quite logically, reasons, she distanced herself from her husband), but also forces the incest victim to “accept with respect” the act of violence against herself. Not to mention the fact that for the rapist himself, such an interpretation does not give any chance to realize his responsibility for what was done and work out the reasons that led to this act.
I admit that those psychologists and educators who refer to Hellinger’s ideas and implement them in their practice and curriculum, do not accept everyone provisions of “systemic-family” therapy, but then this indicates either their ignorance or scientific incompetence. Everything that “works” in the constellations is not the specific features of the constellations, but is completely exhausted by other, completely scientific methods. And what is unique about them is neither psychology specifically nor science in general, and therefore does not work and cannot work.
Nevertheless, there are also those who “passed through” and who were “helped.” Why did it “work” in their case?
It is much easier for many people to live, believing that they are not to blame for anything. The “family field” is to blame, which forced, for example, to repeat the fate of an expelled relative. And guilt is one of the very common problems with which people seek help.
Since the constellations use elements from points 2–4, there are lucky people who were helped by the constellations and, perhaps, did not even harm them much. Although harm in the form of mythologization of consciousness was definitely caused to them! The same harm is caused to “deputies”. It’s not worth talking about the confirmed effectiveness of this method at all, because there is not a single study in this area.
For a number of controversial statements and methods, Hellinger was expelled from the German Association of Systemic Constellations by his former followers, but at the same time they continued to engage in constellations, removing the name of Bert Hellinger and the morally controversial installations. In fairness, it should be noted that there are also those specialists who, although they recognize the potential in this eclectic method, consider it unsafe for patients.
Unfortunately, constellations are now becoming increasingly widespread as a service. But the worst thing is that they begin to occupy an indecently large space among professionals, they become involved in educational programs and practices are included in publications indexed by the RSCI.
I recently discovered arrangements in educational programs some state universities, courses on constellations, conducted in the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization on the basis of state (sic!) psychiatric institutions and allowing you to obtain a state-issued certificate!
In their attempts to legitimize the constellation method, supporters of the approach do not disdain falsifications: for example, an article on systemic family psychotherapy in the Russian-language Wikipedia was clearly written by adherents of this technique. The bold statement that “about 80 randomized and controlled studies have been able to confirm that systemic and family therapy is an effective and economical method of psychotherapy with very good long-term effects” refers to a certain Bernard Schorn and his “work” entitled “ Research proves effectiveness and long-term success.” A search in the Russian-speaking and English-speaking segments of the Internet did not help me uncover the mysterious identity of this man. Well, of course, I didn’t find the corresponding work either.
And finally, I inform you that layouts for business systems, layouts for exchange rates and others are becoming increasingly widespread these days. economic issues. Which personally gives me mixed feelings: it’s funny, of course, but... if business people and bankers begin to rely on the results of occult practices in making decisions, then what will await us in the future?
Ksenia ChuzhaFamily, or rather, systemic family constellations by Bert Hellinger(considered the founder) refer to methods that can help a person solve many, not only family, issues.
How do Hellinger family constellations work?
The person who came with the request places the group members himself or with the help of a therapist in the role of substitutes for his loved ones, telling his situation along the way. In the process of constellation, deputies feel what the client’s relatives have experienced or are experiencing, for example, love, resentment, uselessness. With the help of group members (including a psychotherapist), the client has the opportunity to look at the situation from the outside and largely solve his problems.
This view and a number of intermediate steps in the therapy process help to find a way out of the situation. A picture-solution remains in the mind in the form of the words of the therapist, substitutes and their placement. This serves as a resource for changes in a person’s future life.
To become more familiar with the method, we recommend studying the basic concepts of constellations in specialized literature (since their interpretation will take more than one page). The foundation can be articles by Bert himself and his followers, G. Weber, F. Ruppert and others. The method has much in common with such therapeutic techniques as psychodrama, family sculpture by V. Satir and some others.
It is worth noting that the arrangements in each special case, although they have a “Hellinger” basis, they differ from each other. The reason is that constellations-psychotherapists work differently. The diversity of approaches, in turn, is explained by the fact that family constellations are a practical method. Constellations do not have a theoretical basis in their classical, scientific version. That is why there is no unambiguity among psychologists in assessing the methodology. Some experts classify constellations as spiritual practices, and some as psychotherapeutic ones. But let's focus on the main question - do the arrangements work? If yes, then in what cases?
When to say “yes” to constellations
Therapists and clients themselves note that the method is very powerful. A session (arrangement of one situation) is carried out once, unlike most other techniques, work with which sometimes lasts for years. Even being only in the role of an observer, many people receive a very deep impression, even to the point of transforming their life positions. For the same reason, the technique in some cases (we will consider them a little later) is not recommended.
Most problems in any person's life are rooted in the family. Murders, expulsions (and psychological ones as well), abortions, violation of the hierarchy in the family (even in its distant past) are the root cause of many phenomena in human life. Incomprehensible feelings, inexplicable actions, dual relationships, failures, conflicts, illnesses (especially chronic ones). All this can be sorted out, the reason and explanation can be found, and most importantly, the solution, in the constellations.
An example from practice: a son sharply withdrew into himself, although there had been no events in his life before this. The mother at the constellations wants to know what to do. During the work, it turns out that she had an abortion long before the birth of her son. The reason is the unsettled life and young age, 18 years. The aborted child, pushed out of the system and forgotten, demands attention through the real one. When the mother admits her guilt, mentally asks for forgiveness from the unborn, and accepts it, the eighteen-year-old son soon tells his mother about an incomprehensible suicidal desire that passed as unexpectedly as it appeared.
Five “no”s to arrangements
2. If available fresh psychological trauma(rape, humiliation, deep resentment, conflict, moving, natural disaster), therapists do not recommend going to constellations even as an observer. The stressful state to which the participants in the constellation succumb is already present in a person’s everyday life. Additional psychological stress can only worsen the situation.
3. Acute grief(unexpected death of a loved one, separation, serious illness) are also among the conditions in which it is better not to carry out constellations. Why? A person, being in acute grief, cannot distance himself from the current situation. Sometimes trying to “look from the outside” can intensify feelings or offend the client. Therefore, experienced qualified constellations survey participants before conducting therapy to exclude the risk group.
4. Exacerbation of psychiatric illness. Constellations are among the techniques for mentally healthy people. Psychiatric illnesses may worsen if the patient is a participant in constellations.
5. Purely out of curiosity It’s also better not to participate in therapy. If man walking to arrange without a request or invents it, then not only the client himself, but also his deputies find themselves in an incomprehensible or untruthful situation. In most cases, the consortium stops such sessions when he realizes that curiosity will not provide therapeutic benefit.
Conclusions
Any psychotherapeutic method is based on the fact that the client works on the issue independently. The therapist’s task is to help, guide, but not decide. Arrangements are also built using the same principle. If the client has a desire to change something, systemic family constellations according to Hellinger can contribute to this. At the same time, it is worth remembering the words of Paracelsus that everything is poison and at the same time medicine. Sometimes only constellations can help, and sometimes they are the ones you should avoid.
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Behind each of us is our Family. If you study its history well, in any Family there will be saints and criminals, heroes and martyrs. And very often Rod repeats itself from generation to generation. This could be the same eye or hair color, the same habits and preferences, the tendency to choose the same professions, build relationships with others in the same way, or suffer from the same diseases. You've probably noticed that there are families in which certain events are repeated over and over again. This may be associated with diseases, early violent death, suicidal tendencies, addictions, etc. Some might call this “kinship karma.” There are, of course, good ones." ancestral karma“Everyone has heard about the dynasties of actors or doctors. In addition, in this way spiritual foundations are passed on from generation to generation, as well as opportunities for further development descendants.
The German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger developed a theory according to which each of us is a member of our own Family, and any descendant contains the experience of all ancestors, which can be both positive and negative. His “Methodology for working with the information field of Rod” says that if the information field of Rod contains relationships that were incorrectly built by one of the grandparents and/or their negative experiences, then as a result, what people call “bad karma” will be formed. and subsequent generations will have to solve the problems left for them by their ancestors.
According to Hellinger's theory, each member of the Family has an equal right to belong to the others. A forgotten or excluded member of the clan will certainly remind you of his fate. This capacity can be, for example, a person who died a violent death or a child who died in infancy. The information field of this ancestor, intertwined with the field of the younger member of the Clan, forces the latter, thus, to unconsciously build similar circumstances around himself.
Surprisingly, it turns out that behind the symptoms of diseases there are often specific events in family history, which the family constellation method allows us to understand and detect.
In medicine and psychotherapy, the concept of psychosomatic diseases has long been known, when a person has symptoms of an illness, but a medical examination does not reveal any organic causes for such conditions. It is believed that the cause of many psychosomatic diseases are feelings that we have repressed into the unconscious area. The process of treating such illnesses is to recognize the feelings behind the symptoms and relive them. And if a feeling is adopted by a person exclusively from great love and respect for the family system, from another person in the family it is quite difficult to work with him traditional methods. Or it will come back again.
This process usually requires long-term psychotherapy, but it's not all doom and gloom. We live in a very dynamic and pragmatic world, and no one wants to waste time on long-term visits to a psychotherapist and lengthy discussions of each feeling and search for reasons. Therefore in lately New types of psychotherapy have appeared - short-term and very effective.
One of these methods is Systemic Family Constellations, developed by the German philosopher, psychotherapist, and spiritual teacher Bert Hellinger in the 80s of the 20th century.
What issues can be resolved with the help of family constellation?
– Make an accurate diagnosis and find the cause of psychosomatic diseases, get rid of painful symptoms (chronic diseases, addictions, nightmares, migraines, asthma, etc.).
– Find the causes of family conflicts and ways to resolve them.
– To see the laws of functioning of family-tribal systems in action (orders of love).
– Explore and improve the relationship between parents and children, realize how the fate of your parents affects your life, accept your parents for who they are.
- Find optimal conditions necessary for good relations in your couple or family.
– Deal with difficult family and birth problems (infertility, loneliness, abuse, incest, etc.).
– Find and use resources to overcome persistent fears and depression.
– For those who are familiar with family constellations, it will not be news that children take on unresolved traumatic energies from previous generations.
– Understand what prevents you from achieving success on your chosen path.
Indications that a solution to the problem is possible with the help of family constellation are, for example, the following signs:
– a person feels somehow out of control, as if he is being controlled from the outside;
– he does not know and cannot find his place in life;
– his behavior and demeanor seem inadequate, contradictory, blind;
– he seems frozen in the captivity of the problem and cannot decide to fix anything;
– this person or his family had difficult fates, for example, early deceased family members, suicides, many accidents, etc.;
– he frivolously or as if forcedly puts the success of his life at stake;
– relationships in the family and environment are extremely unbalanced, there is no peace and respect in them, there is a difficult struggle, conflicts of conscience and an oppressive feeling of guilt, feeling like a victim, fear of being forced to do something bad;
– some members in the family system are absent (for example, a father’s illegitimate child) or not perceived (for example, stillborn), someone’s fate is hidden (for example, a grandfather is said to have died of a heart attack, although he committed suicide);
– the person has experienced a severe traumatic experience (primarily in early childhood);
– he demonstrates so-called “neurotic” disorders, such as problems of intimacy/distance, fears or phobias;
– he seems “closed” and does not dare to destroy the rigid boundaries between himself and society;
– it is difficult for him to make decisions, he shows feelings of hopelessness and pessimism that cannot be explained from the point of view of his real life situation.
As a rule, a family constellation begins with the client voicing a problem, clarifying the request and helping the therapist create a genogram (“family tree”).
After this, the therapist, together with the client, decides which member of the system (genus) is necessary to resolve the stated problem. For each of them, the client selects a substitute and arranges them in space in relation to each other.
The basis of the constellation technique is the vicarious perception that arises at the moment of constellation - the substitute member of the system begins to feel what his prototype feels or felt. These can be both physical sensations and emotions, as well as images and paintings. This perception arises, among other things, when complete absence information about the replaced member of the system, both from the deputy himself and from the client. This gives us reason to talk about FIELD - external source information about Rod, system.
Usually, in the process of work, it is possible to restore, to one degree or another, the order of relationships between members of the clan, find those excluded and clarify relations with them. The meaning of the problem situation and an understanding of ways to resolve it are revealed. Of course, it is not always possible to reach a successful resolution of the situation from the first arrangement, but, as a rule, even partial movement towards a solution gives the client an impetus to a new understanding of the situation.
The effect of the constellation leads to changes in relationships in the client’s family, including in cases where the client is not in direct contact with members of his family. There are frequent cases of successful recovery from chronic diseases, the sudden discovery of documents, new information about ancestors, the establishment of contact with relatives with whom contact has long been lost, etc.
Working with family history helps you leave behind what belongs to the past and take with you what can be a source of strength in the present.
For more detailed information, you can contact our specialists. You can also come and see how the family constellation is going and get answers to all your questions.
