Family Constellations
Intergenerational Healing
We are not islands. The way we live our lives is profoundly influenced by what happened to our ancestors. Individual therapy can be very helpful for healing our own trauma, but it cannot tackle the issues we carry from our family system.
Family Constellations are an opportunity for us to see and let go of trauma that we might be carrying from our family, and it can go back multiple generations. This understanding is supported by the science of Epigenetics, which proves that people carry family patterns and trauma from events that happened at least three generations before them.
Family Constellations were developed by pioneering psychologist, Bert Hellinger. Living in South Africa and working with Zulu communities, he started to see systemic patterns in families and some guiding principles essential for healing intergenerational trauma.
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Family Constellations
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Family Constellations can be conducted online or in person, individually or in groups. The best part is that no family members need to be present (phew!). In online sessions, coloured shapes represent family members, and the client intuitively places them. In in-person 1:1 sessions, the facilitator collaborates with you to represent family dynamics. In group settings, you’ll select other participants to ‘represent’ your family members.
The facilitator privately gathers key family details that may need representation, ensuring your personal story remains confidential within the group.
The focus is on your goals, revealing hidden blocks in your family system and uncovering pathways to healing.
Some of the Benefits of Family Constellations:
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Releasing blockages that hold us back.
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Freeing us, our children and their offspring from generational burdens.
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Creating positive shifts in our relationships (parents, partner, children, colleagues, friends).
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Releasing psychosomatic/intergenerational issues affecting our health.
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Transforming our relationship with money, finances and abundance.
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Aligning our mind, body and soul.
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Developing inner peace with our past and who we are today.
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Acquiring clarity in who we are and what we want in life.
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Having the strength and drive to pursue our goals.
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Opening ourselves to life and feeling more energy and vitality.
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Clearing the impact of transgenerational trauma in our life.
For a great example of how Family Constellations work, click the button below to read my Blog, ‘My First Family Constellation’. That first constellation, my introduction to this incredible work, was instrumental in changing my relationship with my mother, for which I am profoundly grateful.
Epigenetics - The Science
Epigenetics is the science that demonstrates how events change our genetics and that these changes can be passed on to future generations. Events that happened to people at least three generations back in our family system influence our thinking patterns, reactions to stress, health and behaviour.
Studies on mammals have shown changes in the genetics and behaviour of animals who experience trauma three generations down the line, even if no stress or trauma has been experienced by the younger generations.
The good news is that healing trauma shapes our genes too and can heal the trauma for ourselves and future generations. Family Constellations processes can heal epigenetic changes.
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‘It didn’t start with you, but it can end with you.’
Mark Wolynn,
Director of The Family Constellation Institute, San Francisco