A constellation is a powerful methodology for getting to the root of a problem, rather than staying on the surface of behavior. Both individuals and organizations can benefit from constellations. This method was discovered and developed in the 1980s in Germany by the psychoanalyst Bert Hellinger. The aim is to address pain, discomfort, and tensions in people, family members, and organizations. For information about Bert Hellinger:www.hellinger.com

In a constellation, it's particularly important not to focus on assigning blame or making various interpretations. We work with facts from your family history. Therefore, it's useful to gather concrete information about your family of origin beforehand. This consists of:

parents (and their possible previous marital partners and children)

brothers and sisters (including already deceased children, any miscarriages or abortions)

grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, and aunts.

Also pay attention to other important persons who have suffered because of family members or have done harm to family members. Also consider influential events such as miscarriages, abortions, stillbirths or children who died early, divorce, extramarital affairs, alcoholism, etc. And on a larger scale, for example, the war.

With the current family, it concerns your partner, your children, and any previous partners and children from earlier relationships.

That is a person who represents a family member. In a group, you choose representatives from the present participants; in a 1-on-1 constellation, the facilitator also acts as a representative. Then you intuitively place these representatives in the space. Soon after they are chosen (and sometimes even before), the representatives experience physical sensations, emotions, or impulses that belong to that particular family member. It's as if they've received antennas to pick up information from the family soul. The facilitator asks questions and makes suggestions to initiate a healing process. Representing is not acting. All you need to do as a representative is to trust what you feel and what happens. Don't think, but be in your body and feel what there is to feel. You don't need to do or know anything special.

As mentioned, it's as if they suddenly have antennas with which they pick up information from the family soul. This process has been researched by various scientists. It is also referred to as the morphogenetic field or the Knowing Field. Bert Hellinger discovered that we can use this Knowing Field to bring hidden dynamics in family and other systems to light and initiate their healing. When the constellation is over, the field and antennas close again. You thank the representatives for their contribution and call everyone by their own name again. Then we return the energy back to the field.

It entirely depends on your question and your willingness to fully accept what the constellation shows and, more importantly, lets you feel. It always provides clarity about how things/relationships are structured. As a facilitator, I perform healing interventions that are offered to me from the Knowing Field (see above). It may involve allowing you to take your own place, which gets the energy flowing again and enables everyone in the family system to regain their strength. You included. Forgiveness often comes into play as well. Everyone benefits from it, and that in turn is good for you.

At the beginning of each workshop, I explain that all information from the constellations is confidential. Participants agree that after the workshop, they will not discuss with each other or third parties what they have seen or experienced. And it works exactly the same way in 1-on-1 sessions. What happens here, stays here.

Only if it concerns young children who cannot come to a constellation themselves. For all other cases, you always place yourself in relation to the person in question. For example, if you have a difficult teenager with whom you want to learn to deal better, then you set up yourself, your child, and possibly other family members.

Not necessarily. Your intention is to improve the relationship or situation. After the constellation, something will change in the dynamics in any case. If desired, you can tell them that you did a constellation after some time, but it's not necessary.

A constellation lasts between 30 and 90 minutes, depending on how the process unfolds. In very complex situations, it may be necessary to do one or more follow-up constellations. It's a tool, not a magic solution. A 1-on-1 constellation with Wilma costs 175.00 euros.

While working with thousands of families, Bert Hellinger discovered a natural "order of Love," deeply embedded in the subconscious of family groups. Disruptions of this order—especially in the sense of being allowed to exist and belong—result in dysfunctional patterns that are passed down from generation to generation. This is not necessary. You can break these patterns so that you don't pass them on to your children. We don't have to suffer as much as the people before us. Imbalances from the past can be resolved. It's important that everyone knows their own destiny and is willing to carry it themselves. Otherwise, one can become entangled in the difficult fate of an ancestor and unconsciously attract illness, misfortune, failure, or addiction. We don't want that. A family constellation can bring these hidden dynamics to light. The healing interventions of the facilitator do the rest.

A constellation is intended as an experience for learning. It is not a substitute for a medical or psychological consultation. Nor is it therapy. A constellation can trigger physical and/or emotional reactions. It is not advisable to bring a question if you are not emotionally or physically prepared for it.

You might think otherwise after all the above information, but that's not the case. All topics can be constellated. For example, money, obesity, inability to find or keep a job, physical conditions or illnesses. Almost always, these topics still have a connection to the past and people in the family system. This becomes clear in the constellation itself.

Read the beautiful article by Heinz Stark below. With thanks for allowing us to post it on this site.

You have received new insights and healing images in the unique language of the soul.
This has a deep impact and can give you a new direction. Our soul is not a device that we can turn on and off. It has its own ways of processing and integrating what moves it.

Thoughts are fast, the soul moves slowly.
On a soul level, we are deeply connected to all members of our family system, the deceased and the living. The healing effect of this work can take place when we can let go of the need to do something. All that is required is that we consciously regard everyone in our family system with love, and respect that their destiny and burdens are theirs. Then there is no longer a need to take on someone else's fate and suffering out of a childish form of love and belonging. Suffering is replaced by acknowledging what is.

Ancestors are honored as ancestors,
Even if they emerge in the constellation as perpetrators or troublesome members of the family system, ancestors are honored as ancestors. They once became fathers or mothers, ancestors, in service to love, life, and the continuation of the family. For whatever else they may have done, they bear the responsibility and consequences themselves, as part of their own destiny.

The challenge for us—especially in our action-oriented society
The challenge for us—especially in our action-oriented society—is to let go of the problem, including thinking about it. Let's give up all attempts to interfere with the affairs of our parents, grandparents, and ancestors. Our healing unfolds best when we refrain from all judgment and forget what we have seen in the constellation about events in the past. Focus primarily on the healing image/solution, along with the feeling of wholeness, belonging, and the new orientation in life that emerges from it.

You may encounter resistance,
in the form of thoughts or fears. When that happens, return to the relief you felt when a solution was found and a new image appeared. The soul now holds that new image within itself and will assimilate it in the most healing way over time. This process cannot be accelerated in any way through talking, thinking, analyzing, or researching.

Remember that our ancestors, as a system or family soul,
have a deep longing to see us and our families happy in the realm of the living. This is the power that has led us to constellation work and has helped us break through the status quo, which once served to protect the family from harmful events in the past but now serves no purpose. It is no longer necessary, and we are free to move forward without that baggage.

Trust that you are moving forward.
This process can take months, even years. If you want to share your experiences, share the new insights, not the original problem. Looking at the solution helps the problem—now in the past—to positively affect the present.