What is Systemic Family Constellation?
Family Constellation is a method developed by Bert Hellinger, a German psychotherapist, who observed how unresolved family traumas and systemic entanglements can deeply affect individuals.
Over time, this work has been further developed and enriched by many practitioners worldwide, leading to new approaches and variations. At its core, however, the essence remains the same: revealing hidden family dynamics so that resolution and healing movements can emerge.
Family Constellation is a method that helps us recognize the hidden family bonds, past traumas, and intergenerational transmissions that often underlie the challenges we experience. It does not view the individual in isolation but as part of their family system. Through this approach, repeating patterns and blockages in life become visible and have the opportunity to be resolved.
What Issues Can Be Addressed?
Family Constellation work can explore many areas of life:
Relationships: Repeating relationship problems, difficulties with attachment, separation and divorce
Finance and Career: Money blocks, cycles of failure, career stagnation
Health: Inherited burdens, unexplained physical or emotional symptoms
Parenting: Struggles in parent-child relationships, confusion in family roles
Loss and Grief: Holding on to lost loved ones, trauma, or unfinished stories
What to Expect
Family Constellation is not therapy, but a systemic awareness and resolution method. The only requirement for participants is to come with an open heart, ready to see and accept what is.
Change does not always happen instantly; sometimes it unfolds over time.
Transformation can occur not only in one’s own life but also ripple through the wider family system.
This work does not replace medical or psychiatric treatment; it serves as a supportive and complementary approach.
What Becomes Possible?
Each Family Constellation opens a unique process for every individual. The aim is not to provide a direct solution but to reveal what has been hidden and support the client’s own journey. Possible outcomes may include:
In relationships: Recognizing repeating patterns and building healthier boundaries
In finance and career: Uncovering invisible bonds that block success
In health and emotional balance: Releasing inherited burdens
In parenting: Replacing unconscious patterns with more conscious choices
In loss and grief: Honoring unfinished stories and easing emotional weight
How is it Practiced?
Family Constellation can be experienced in different ways:
Individual Sessions: The system is represented through objects or the mind’s eye method, making hidden dynamics visible.
Group Workshops: Participants take on representative roles to embody the family system.
Online Sessions: Constellations can also be held online, providing access from anywhere.
In every format, the purpose is to uncover hidden connections and unresolved stories within the family system.
Who is it For?
Family Constellation may be especially supportive for those who:
Face recurring problems in relationships or career
Experience unexplained physical or emotional challenges
Struggle with loss or feel blocked in the grieving process
Feel overly bound to their family or past
Wish to move forward in life with greater freedom
My Approach as a Facilitator
The most important aspect of Family Constellation work is creating a safe, non-judgmental space. My approach includes:
Allowing what is present to be seen with an open heart
Holding the space so the client feels safe and supported
Witnessing hidden bonds without judgment
Supporting each client’s transformation within clear ethical boundaries
Every person and every family system is unique. My role is to respect the natural flow of the process and guide clients toward rediscovering their inner strength and the resources of their lineage.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a Family Constellation session last?
Individual sessions usually last 60–90 minutes. Group workshops vary depending on the number of participants and may take 2–6 hours.
How many sessions are needed?
It depends on the person and the issue. Sometimes a single session brings profound insight, while in other cases a few sessions provide deeper support. The focus is not on quick results but on unfolding at the client’s own pace.
Are online sessions effective?
Yes. Online constellations can be just as deep as in-person ones. The key is creating a safe and held space, which is possible in both formats.
What might I experience during a session?
Every client’s experience is different. Sometimes strong emotions may arise, other times it is a quiet process of awareness. Both are natural parts of the work.
How is confidentiality ensured?
Everything shared in a session is kept strictly confidential. In group work, all participants are informed about the importance of respecting confidentiality.
What should I do after a session?
After a constellation, grounding yourself is very important. Spending time in nature, touching the earth, or walking barefoot can be deeply supportive. Moving your body also helps the process to settle — this could be a gentle walk, swimming, dancing, or any form of physical activity that feels good to you. A long shower or bath can also help release and integrate the experience.
Another essential aspect is silence: for at least a few weeks, it is best not to talk about the session with others. Allow the experience to unfold within you, without words, so the insights can integrate naturally at their own pace.
Is Family Constellation connected to religion or belief systems?
No. Family Constellation is not tied to any religion. It draws on universal human experiences and is accessible to everyone.
Is it suitable for children or young people?
Yes, but the method is adapted according to age. Often, working with the parent in a constellation is enough to support the child.
How often should I have a constellation session?
This varies. Sometimes one session is enough, sometimes several over time are supportive. What matters is allowing integration before beginning new work.
What are the scientific and theoretical foundations of Systemic Family Constellation?
Family Constellation is grounded in the philosophy of phenomenology. Phenomenology seeks to perceive human experience as it is, setting aside judgments, labels, and pre-determined theories.
This approach:
Moves away from established theories, ideologies, and judgments.
Considers human experience without placing it into categories or classifications.
Recognizes each person’s experience as unique and singular.
Strives to understand events not by forcing them into a framework but by seeing them as they reveal themselves.
In Family Constellation, this perspective serves to reveal what is hidden without confining the client or the family system to any label, judgment, or diagnosis.
Alongside its phenomenological roots, the observations of Family Constellation resonate with several scientific and theoretical fields:
Epigenetics: Research shows that trauma can alter gene expression, and these changes may be passed down to subsequent generations. This provides a biological explanation for the recurring intergenerational patterns often revealed in constellation work.
Systems Theory: Families, like all systems, are interconnected and strive for balance. Unresolved issues may reverberate across generations until they are acknowledged and integrated.
Attachment Theory: Early bonding patterns shape adult relationships. These dynamics can be repeated across generations, and Family Constellation makes them visible.
Collective Unconscious (C.G. Jung): Archetypes, roles, and symbols can reappear in family systems across generations, offering a framework for understanding the symbolic patterns that constellations uncover.
The Knowing Field: First described by Albrecht Mahr, this concept refers to the phenomenon where representatives in a constellation access emotions, sensations, or information belonging to the family system, even without prior knowledge. While not yet fully explained scientifically, it is consistently observed in practice.
Morphic Fields (Rupert Sheldrake): A hypothesis suggesting that information and memory are carried in non-physical fields, influencing biological and social systems. Often used as a metaphor for how hidden family information emerges in constellation work.
Neuroscience and Mirror Neurons: Mirror neurons allow humans to resonate with the experiences of others, offering a possible neurological basis for representative perception.
Quantum Physics (Nonlocal Connections): Quantum entanglement describes how information may be transmitted beyond time and space. While not a proven explanation, it is used as a metaphor for the timeless and non-local nature of the Knowing Field.
Taken together, these perspectives do not reduce Family Constellation to science alone; rather, they show how phenomenological observations often align with findings in biology, psychology, and physics. The Knowing Field remains a phenomenological reality consistently experienced by practitioners, pointing toward dimensions of human connection that science is only beginning to explore.
But really, how does it happen?
Family Constellation is essentially a phenomenological practice, which means it is best understood through direct experience. While parallels can be drawn with fields such as epigenetics, systems theory, or neuroscience, many of the dynamics that emerge in constellations cannot yet be fully explained by today’s scientific methods. This does not mean they are not real; rather, it shows that science does not yet have sufficient tools to measure and describe them.
For most participants, the most transformative part is not hearing about it from others but experiencing it firsthand. Even when someone joins a constellation not as a client but simply as a representative, they can begin to understand—through their own experience—how the field works and how hidden bonds become visible.
✨ The best way to understand is to experience it yourself — you are warmly welcome to explore it with us.