FAMILY CONSTELLATION
A Family Constellation is a three-dimensional group process that has the power to shift generations of suffering and unhappiness. Bert Hellinger, the founder of this work, who studied and treated families for more than 50 years, observed that many of us unconsciously "take on" destructive familial patterns of anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, aloneness, alcoholism and even illness as a way of "belonging" in our families. Bonded by a deep love, a child will often sacrifice his own best interests in a vain attempt to ease the suffering of a parent or other family member.
Family Constellations allow us to break these patterns so that we can live healthier, happier, more fulfilled lives.
A powerful insight of Bert Hellinger is that each family system has a conscience that requires that all members be connected and remembered in a particular way. If someone in the system is not remembered correctly then younger members, out of love or the need to belong, can become "entangled" with their ancestors, particularly with those who have been excluded, forgotten or shunned, or have experienced a difficult fate. Unconscious entanglements are behind many of the issues that are explored in these constellations.
During the process, we search for possible solutions that can release these entanglements and restore order and balance to the family system. Exploring what is hidden in our family system can help us heal our deepest wounds.
Just as we inherit our eye color and blood type, we also inherit the residue from traumatic events that have taken place in our family. While our physical traits are easily discernible, this emotional legacy is often hidden from us. Anxiety, fear, financial worries, depression, illness and unhappy relationships can all be forms of our unconscious inheritance. Unresolved traumas, some going back two or three generations, can ensnare us in feelings and situations that don’t even belong to us. They can forge a blueprint for our life, and can even pass onto our children. It doesn’t have to continue. It can end here.
Working with clients, we look to “evolve forward” what we have been carrying, so not to get burdened down, but free up the energy through awareness for ourselves, our ancestors and our descendants.
What does a Family Constellation Session look like?
In a Family constellation session, we explore family dynamics going back a few generations. In this way, we look for patterns that repeat.
When we become conscious of these patterns, they change and we in turn begin to form a more conscious relationship with the energies in our larger family system.
It can be hard to move forward while carrying the unconscious material from the past. Paradoxically, we move forward by facing the past in a way that brings certain dynamics to consciousness.
In this work, we acknowledge, accept and agree to all that has unfolded within the family system.
The work can be integrated with Astrology. Sarah has been a practicing astrologer since 1997, her style is characterized by jungian evolutionary astrology, working with myth and archetypes. The integration between astrological symbolism and family constellation work compliments nicely.
The idea behind this work is to empower each client to develop skills of awareness to be able to sustain their own practice of mindfulness . We work together through stories, guided meditation and working with figurines.
The work can be integrated with Astrology . Sarah has been a practicing evolutionary astrologer since 1997 and works a lot with myth and archetypes. The integration between astrological symbolism and family constellation work compliments nicely.
Sarah Shepley is an ordained interfaith minister who has recently completed a 3 year training program in the Constellation approach. She has worked independently with clients both as an astrologer and chaplain specializing in bereavement care. She has experience tremendous shifts in her own family as a result of participating in this work and feels passionate about sharing it with others.