Bert Hellinger wrote in detail about his view of Family Constellations in August 2011 (source), and I would like to summarize it in bullet points.
What is the family constellations?
The Family Constellations is a general, human and philosophical movement which is constantly in motion.
- It is open for everyone to personally experience and to practice according to the procedure
- The constellations reveal the reality that was hidden consciously or unconsciously
- Its development is independent from any external criteria
- It follows different approach from the psychotherapy and it is not constraint in the field of psychotherapy
- The theory of Family Constellations is constantly being developed and the old concepts are replaced with the new ones on a regular basis
What is the safe procedure of carrying out the constellations?
The constellator, i.e. the facilitator of family constellations, should work according to the procedure which has been developed and tested as safe.
- At first the constellator should sit in silence with the client for some time so that the client can calm down in his/her mind
- The constellator should ask the client to state the issue in maximum three sentences in order to point out an important fact
- When this important fact has been stated, the constellator asks somebody to represent a person or a concept that is directly related to this issue
- The constellator should leave the representatives free to move according to the impulses in their body
- Other representatives are added depending on the revealing movements and – in some respect – based on the experience from previous constellations
- The constellator should finish the constellation at the proper point
- The procedure does not involve any follow-up, after the constellation has been finished
What are the requirements for the constellators?
The constellators should be open-minded, i.e. without any intention or preconceived ideas; courageous, i.e. without fear of the results; and independent, i.e. without being compelled to help the client or to meet his/her expectations.
Personally and professionally, the constellator should:
- be lovingly connected with his/her own parents
- grow beyond the boundaries of his/her own conscience
- refrain from judging anybody as good or bad
- refrain from considering him/herself as a doer who initiates his/her own ideas
- refrain from imposing any particular outcome on the constellation that he/she carries out as a facilitator
- be respectful, alert and reserved in his/her interventions
- be courageous to face the situation as it is, to point it out to the client, and then to expect the client to come to their own conslusions independently
- avoid establishing a relationship with the client which would resemble a parent-child relation because the constellator is in no respect responsible for the client
