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Systemic Constellations

Therapeutic Principles of Systemic Family Constellations

Systemic constellations offer a powerful method for finding resolutions to deeply felt issues - from personal and relationship issues to issues within families as well as all the different groups (or systems) that we are part of.

In contrast to other approaches, which tend to view personal issues in the light of individual experience, systemic constellations view many personal issues as stemming from entanglements within the families or systems to which we belong and because the roots of such issues are often outside our conscious awareness, resolution can be very difficult to achieve without access to a systemic perspective.

Family constellations have the capacity to reveal systemic influences that are affecting our development and the ways in which we live our lives and relationships.

Some of these influences include:

• patterns which arise from unconscious loyalties to other family members that can restrict and prevent us from leading a fulfilling life.
• natural forces (or orders) that govern system dynamics; these exist to protect the survival of both the individuals within the system and the system itself; they also support the flow of love from one generation to the next thus, in a very real sense, supporting the continuance of life.

The events that can cause difficulties within a family or system are almost always those that are unacknowledged or not addressed - a tragedy that was not properly grieved, a crime that led to the perpetrator being excluded from the family, a child who took on the role of a parent. When such things happen, those who follow - the descendants - will attempt, unconsciously, to redress the balance in the system - out of loyalty to the system. They may do this, for instance, by repeating the behaviour of the one who has been excluded from their system in an attempt to re-include them, or by trying to compensate for a crime that was committed by a predecessor, or by trying to follow a loved one into death. Such behaviour is almost always unconscious and results in a continued reversal of the natural orders as well as continued pain and difficulties for all members of the system.

Through setting up a constellation - a living map - of a personal or family system, recognition of these otherwise hidden dynamics is made possible and a restoration of the natural balance within the family system becomes accessible.

When the inner order of the family is respectfully restored, the entangling dynamics no longer operate. This may be done in the family itself or within a constellation. Family members are then able to find their right place and experience a sense of belonging and true strength.