Family constellations have become a therapy that is increasingly booming due to the characteristics it presents and the way in which they are performed.
Thus, how solving family problems, overcoming couple crisesor duels, has become popular among people who attend this practice to try to get to the bottom of their difficulty.
That is why, below we will reveal the most outstanding topics regarding family constellations and their peculiarity as a psychotherapy that is based on revealing the secrets of each family.
What are family constellations?
Family constellations are a type of psychological therapy, used to resolve conflicts or evils that have transcended over the generations of the same family tree.
This practice was created by the GermanBert Hellingerin 1978, theologian and practitioner of psychoanalysis who designed through research, a psychotherapy that manages to clarify the experiences of the ancestors to solve situations that arise today.
In this sense, the family constellations focus on showing the problems that some relatives had in life and that currently represent a greater burden for their descendants, helping the affected to free themselves and improve their lifestyle.
Characteristics of family constellations
Family constellations are based on certain criteria so that they can be carried out in a good way, taking into account that only people who have been trained to perform them can achieve a good result for the constellations.
They are done in groups or individually
An article published by the Spanish Association of Family and Systemic Constellations details that the constellations can be carried out in an individual consultation or in group workshops.
In this sense, individual consultations are made between the client and the constellator, since there are only two people physically present. In the session, dolls, figures or papers are used to represent the other members of the family.
While group constellations are a bit more complex, they are commonly done in sessions with 20-30 participants, and 1-2 constellators or coordinators may be present.
The dynamics in the group workshops is that one of the clients exposes their family problem or the branch of their life that they want to know more about, then chooses among the other participants those who will represent the relatives that make up the constellation.
Next, the coordinator or main constellator is forming the constellation so that the representatives expose the feelings, verbal expressions that they perceive at that moment.
Then, the constellator will guide the session and his client so that he links the facts revealed during the family constellation and can deduce the causes of the situations he is going through.
They are directed by a constellator
The constellator is the person in charge of directing the family constellations, he is the one who has the knowledge and experience to carry out said family therapy.
Usually the constellators are psychologists or psychotherapists who specialize in family constellations, however, people with psychological knowledge, over 30 years of age, can choose to train as a family constellator.
Likewise, the constellation’s purpose is to guide its client, in the event that it is individual, or to the participants and representatives in group constellations, so that they can correctly comply with all the steps that a constellation requires.
The image of the family group is represented
The particularity of family constellations is that the client’s family tree is shown to find out what are the reasons that keep him captive, whether in the professional, work or love sphere.
In addition, the purpose of the constellations is to resolve the conflict and give the client the tools to overcome it.
The representatives of each family member connect with the energy that arises at the moment and show which are the weaknesses, strengths and how they can be improved to solve the situation.
Participants present their problems
It is extremely necessary that the participant or client describe the problem or situation that overwhelms them, so that the constellation can be directed towards it and the therapy does not lose meaning.
Then, the coordinator is clarifying the reasons for the adversity and the hidden traits that are appearing give reason to the problem that is being treated.
It is important to note that the participant is the one who decides whether or not to take into account the advice that arises throughout the session, the constellator only shows him the root of the problem and how he can solve it, but the decision is purely personal.
It is about finding the origin of the conflicts
The best way to solve a conflict is knowing the beginning of it, therefore one of the objectives of the family constellations is to disseminate among the family group and the ancestors, until finding out why the problem arose.
Family constellations can be directed to clarify health conditions, emotional charges and even the reasons for the personality of the participant.
The main function of the sessions is to find out if the experiences of deceased relatives were the ones that triggered the conflict that is now presented to the participant.
The constellator seeks to heal the problems
The role of the constellator is extremely important because his objective is to help his client to know the cause of the problem, solve it, accept it and then heal to close the cycle of the situation that is being presented.
It is important that each of the stages of the family constellations are fulfilled, so that the evil that occurs and that has been deteriorating, be it the mental, physical or emotional health of the client, ends and does not continue to transcend into the next generations.
Constellations have no time or space
This is because the constellations can be developed with representatives of deceased family members or close friends, who through their energy show the origin of the problem that the client wants to clarify.
In addition, living people who are not present in the session can be represented, in this case the participant is guided by the energy and makes known what that person believes or feels depending on the topic they are dealing with.
Mainly for these two reasons, constellations have the particularity of not having time or space to clarify the conflict and resolve the situation.
Conflicts are resolved immediately or over time
The solution of the conflict will depend on the findings during the constellation, the client may want to know the answer to some family question and the representation of that person makes it public.
Also, it happens that the participant finds the reasons why certain things have happened to him in his life and obtains in response the changes that he must make so that the problem can heal over time.
Everything will depend on the origin of the situation, the client’s ability to deal with it and the advice received during the session, the time in which the conflict is resolved being relative.
Problems that are addressed in family constellations
The peculiarity of the constellations is that they can be addressed to families, relationships, businesses, work difficulties, diseases, among other fields that tend to disturb the life of the common citizen.
Next, you will be able to know the most relevant topics that can be addressed through family constellations:
Family Difficulties
This systemic therapy focuses on finding the reasons for the main problems of the family soul, be it between grandparents, parents, children or ancestors, the initiators of the difficulty being treated.
The constellation system is used with the criteria that all people act unconsciously following the role of an ancestor, the difficulty comes when the problems of the deceased relative begin to repeat themselves in the present.
This is how the constellations intervene in this chain to make the participant break said inheritance and begin to forge their own life.
Couple conflicts
In couple conflicts, the constellations are aimed at revealing the reasons why these two people are together and share their lives.
Also, it tries to resolve the conflicts that arise due to issues of fertility, characters, sexuality or the differences that arise and do not allow the love that every relationship must have in order to function.
childhood traumas
Faced with primary therapy, the constellations differ because they treat childhood traumas to find an explanation for why the adult suffered a certain situation as a child.
The advantages of the constellations in relation to other forms of psychotherapy, is that the constellator together with the representatives allow themselves to be guided according to the energies that flow from the experiences of the participant.
That is to say, the traumas that haunt the client are revealed, but also the causes and the people who intervened for said situation to occur, after that comes the healing process for the participant.
losses or Mourning
The boom that family constellations have had is due to the ability of this therapy to connect the ties that have been broken in life and that seem impossible to heal after one of the two people dies.
In this sense, thanks to the constellations, the person accepts and overcomes the losses or mourning for having lost a loved one.
This is how the energy channeling of the person who is not physically there contributes to end the problems associated with grief, be it to resolve any pending conflict or to provide elements that help their family member to accept the loss.
sadness and depression
Sadness and depression can arise from the transfer of a family member who did not have a good life to another individual in their family, that is, you could be reliving the adverse situations that an ancestor in your family has experienced.
For this reason, the constellation helps to reveal if the sadness or depression is the cause of some family transfer or because that person has unresolved issues from past lives.
Taking into account that sadness is located in the psycho-emotional field, while depression, apart from being in the psycho-emotional, also includes bodily and mental health factors.
addictions
Addictions are created from the conception of the human being, the life that the mother led during pregnancy, childbirth and the entire evolutionary stage of the person in question.
Addictions are commonly related to affective and emotional deficiencies, sexual abuse and also the lack of a paternal or maternal figure, which people have when they are in full development.
The particularity of the constellations is that they help to know what was the reason for which said addiction was created and to start from there to solve it, however this will always depend on the conviction of the participant to get ahead.
fertility problems
Fertility problems are evident in the constellations due to descent from a woman in the family, who had problems during childbirth or throughout the pregnancy.
Also, cases can be presented where the woman was sterile, their babies died at an early age or they died at the time of giving birth, all these options are closely linked to trauma or grief not healed by your ancestor.
What happens is that this link has not been broken because this problem has not been overcome, to solve it the family constellation can help you to know which of all the reasons is the one that you drag and helps you to conclude that sequence.
Labor disputes
An Investigation carried out by psychology specialists from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos , in Peru, underwent constellations to resolve labor conflicts, thus changing their perspective on this practice.
The study reports that the researchers were skeptical before participating in the constellation where the main issue was labor conflicts, however, their positions changed drastically even a month after completing the constellation.
In other words, 7% of the researchers did not believe the constellation exercise was useful to resolve labor conflicts, but this figure decreased one month later to 3%, due to the significant changes in the thoughts of the specialists after the session.
In this sense, constellations can also be used to deal with issues such as labor conflicts, because in this therapy the root that originates the conflict is sought and from there one starts to resolve it.
Coping with diseases
Usually the diseases revealed during a constellation are the product of family secrets, childhood traumas or diseases inherited between generations.
It is important to note that the constellations are a psychotherapy, they are not miraculous, that is, they can show the reasons, the origins of the disease and a possible solution to face it.
The purpose of the constellations directed towards health is to find the reason for the disease and help the patient to confront it so that their acceptance helps the healing process, remaining firm and constant.
Considerations about family constellations
Family constellations are today a practice that evolves due to the increase in people who are entrenched in the belief that they can solve their problems through the energy process that links them with their ancestors.
For this reason, it is important that you know the following considerations before being part of a family constellation:
Its effectiveness has no scientific endorsement
An articleprepared by the Psych. César Monroy, who works as a professor of neurosciences at theUniversity of Barcelona, Spain, points out that there is no clinical evidence to support the effects of family constellations.
This is how the psychologist expresses that there are no scientifically conducted studies that determine family constellations as a completely effective and reliable practice.
In addition, it emphasizes that the only known theories are those of the creator of said therapy, therefore it lacks veracity, for which reason it recommends extending the studies to more in-depth investigations.
Its usefulness and results are not proven
Currently there are no scientific records that demonstrate significant changes in mental, physical or psychological health thanks to the implementation of family constellations to resolve such situations.
In this sense, since it is not a therapy considered valid or effective within scientific standards and since there are still no proven studies to support such a thing, its practice is branded as false therapy.
They are not considered valid therapies
The International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy , Almería, Spain, published a study where it points out that the lack of evidence in the results of family constellations make this practice a therapy without scientific value.
In this sense, the researchers emphasize that evaluations are needed on the procedures that are carried out in family constellations to determine if they are really an effective therapy, meanwhile they consider it as a pseudotherapy.
His theory is based on other models
Although it is true that there are other therapeutic models such as Gestalt therapy, psychoanalysis, among other therapeutic currents that are responsible for solving difficulties, the constellations are the compilation of all these studies.
In the 90s, the one who is known today as the creator of family constellations, Bert Hellingher, attended various conferences that led him to improve the creation of other specialists such as Ruth Mcclendon and Thea Schoenfelder.
Therefore, Hellingher is not the main creator of this therapy, he dedicated himself to improving it and turning it into what it is known today.
University Professional in the area of Human Resources, Postgraduate in Occupational Health and Hygiene of the Work Environment, 14 years of experience in the area of health. Interested in topics of Psychology, Occupational Health, and General Medicine.