The method of systemic family constellations according to Bert Hellinger for Russia is a relatively new and untested technique. In their homeland, Germany, “family constellations” began to be used in the 1990s, and within a few years this psychotherapeutic technique literally conquered the whole world. The constellation method is used in the treatment of a variety of problems - family conflicts, difficulties at work, problems in love relationships. And also in the treatment of various diseases, primarily alcoholism and drug addiction.

Systemic family constellations according to Hellinger

Bert Hellinger was born in Germany at the most difficult time for the country - in 1925, when fascism was just beginning to gain strength. The family of the future psychotherapist was Catholic, and the matured Hellinger received a philosophical and theological university education, was ordained and went as a missionary to South Africa.

Closeness to God forever determined his life position and hatred of National Socialism. Once in Africa, having heard a question from a teacher-priest about what is more important - ideals or people, Bert realized that nothing could be more important than a person. He resigned his rank, and his entire subsequent life was aimed at helping people through the rediscovery of lost ancestral ties and reunification with family.

Bert Hellinger's systemic constellation method is a completely unique method of short-term psychotherapy that allows you to find a solution to the client's problem through constellation - working with the family. Moreover, the role of family members and loved ones is played by strangers - members of the therapeutic group. And sometimes - the psychotherapist himself.

Hellinger's technique is universal and consists in the fact that they allow patients to understand almost all their problems.

Today there are several main types of arrangements, but each of them requires creativity and improvisation:

• family (family conflict resolution);
• structural (solving problems at work, getting rid of fears, treating alcoholism and drug addiction, etc.);
• organizational (to untangle problems in work collectives), etc.

The essence of the method

The Hellinger constellation involves the person who came forward with the problem (client), the constellator (psychotherapist) and deputies (group members). The presenter (doctor or client) intuitively assigns people “according to roles,” assigning each their place in the family. But how do arrangements work?

As the work progresses - if the leader is a true professional, and all deputies take the process as seriously as possible - everyone begins to feel an inexplicable connection with the client. People feel emotions, experience and express thoughts and feelings that do not actually belong to them. This striking effect is called vicarious perception. And the space from which group therapy participants receive this information (remember, these people are random and unfamiliar with the client) is a morphic field.

Hellinger's constellation technique is based on the scientific research of Carl Gustav Jung, more precisely, his collective subconscious. But Jung understood by this the entire general subconscious of humanity, dividing only into races. The German scientist works with a specific family, the clan of the client, including his close relatives, those who have already died, as well as lovers and other important people.

The main source that gives rise to all today's problems of an alcoholic or drug addict, according to Hellinger, is family intertwining. That is, an unfinished process in the family, a break in ties, etc., of which the client becomes a victim.

There are three main first orders (laws), the restoration of which will help a person understand the reasons for his addiction (and) and overcome it:

1. Imbalance in the relationship between “taking” and “giving”. The point is that each family member should take and give an equal amount (no matter - money, love, help, feelings). If the balance between spouses is disturbed, the child can take over the “scales” function. This kind of debt often remains with the person and in the future can develop into alcoholism (drug addiction).
2. Belonging to the system. Each family member must take his place in the family, regardless of public, personal and social status. He died, died in the war, left his family, was never born due to an abortion - he still has his clear place in the family tree. The loss of even one link from the chain can lead to problems for descendants. So, if after a divorce the mother does not allow communication with the father and excludes him from the child’s life, then serious problems with alcohol are possible in the future. Restoring respect for your dad is the first step towards recovery from addiction.
3. Hierarchy in the family. In the family, the roles “parent - child” must be clearly observed. If someone takes on a role that is not theirs (for example, a child is forced to take care of his mother or father from an early age), in the future he cannot build his own life. And he begins to hide problems in alcohol or drugs.

In the video, Bert Hellinger talks about his method of family constellations:

How classes are conducted

An important point: systemic family constellations according to Hellinger are a short-term psychotherapeutic method. It is carried out only once - it is assumed that during this single session the client will be able to find a solution to the problem and begin to solve it. At the same time, the addiction itself is not analyzed - it is important for the doctor to find the cause and identify a solution (for example, make peace with the father).

Therefore, the most important thing in this therapy is the motivation of the addicted person himself, his firm decision to find out the origins of his illness and cope with it.

The session can last from 30 minutes to 2 hours. In some regional clinics, psychotherapists even indicate a time of up to 4 hours. The constellations themselves come in three types: group, in pairs (usually with a spouse) and individual (sometimes the last two are combined).

Group sessions

Conducted in a group of 5 to 25 people. First, the client voices the problem as briefly as possible, without unnecessary emotions and details. The facilitator (or the client himself) selects participants as family members and loved ones. An individual plays the role of the client himself and his problem, in this case addiction to alcohol or drugs.

Then the client arranges them in the space of the room as he feels and sees fit. And then he sits down and silently watches the development of the situation - how these people communicate, talk about their thoughts, emotions, fears, and look for a solution to the problem.

Individual sessions

Can be carried out in one or two stages. First, the client talks in great detail about addiction, family relationships, and the background of events. Then the session itself begins (sometimes the doctor asks you to come to the constellation a second time). During it, the psychotherapist and the client himself act as substitutes, changing different roles during one session.

The arrangement can take 2-3 hours, since it is always difficult for a person to get used to several different roles. In addition, an individual session always costs significantly more than a group session.

The effectiveness of all types is exactly the same; the psychotherapist himself chooses one or another arrangement. So, if the client is not ready to share secret problems with strangers and refuses to work in a group, the doctor suggests working alone.

On the other hand, an individual constellation session requires preparation; it is usually recommended if a person has already worked in a constellation (at least as a deputy) and knows the specifics. Therefore, group sessions are usually recommended for beginners.

Possible danger of the method

Although Bert Hellenger resigned as a priest, his theological views largely determined the specifics of the family constellation method. Immersion in another person, changing roles, intuitive search for a solution to someone else’s problem - this is all work, including with subtle matter, with the soul.

Therefore, opponents of the method of systemic family constellations warn that the harm to substitutes can be both real and metaphysical.

1. Excessive immersion in the role. Trying on the image of a stranger (especially if he has already died), the deputy leaves his personality “behind the threshold.” Such reincarnation threatens loss of vitality, disorders of thinking and psyche. For example, memory problems.
2. The danger of delving too deeply into a problem. This risk is already quite real. The arranger is so deeply imbued with the client’s problem that he can unknowingly drag it into his own life and become an addict himself.
3. Destruction of the energy information field. Experts in energy-information medicine assure that during a session, the substitute participant is an open, defenseless system. In this state, it is very easy to take on severe genetic and karmic illnesses - both for the client and other participants.

In the video about the benefits and harms of the Hellinger arrangement method:

Bert Hellinger and his method

German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger born into a Catholic family on December 16, 1925 in Leimen (Baden, Germany). He became widely known thanks to a therapeutic method called systemic-family constellations. Numerous practicing professionals around the world continue to successfully apply and adapt the constellation method to a range of personal, organizational and political situations.

At the age of ten, Bert Hellinger left his home to attend school at a Catholic monastery. Bert was later ordained and sent to South Africa as a missionary, where he lived for 16 years. He was parish priest, teacher, and finally director of a large school for African students, with administrative responsibility for the entire area of ​​the diocese, which had 150 schools. Hellinger became fluent in the Zulu language, took part in their rituals, and began to understand their special way of looking at the world.

In the early 1960s, Bert Hellinger took part in a series of interracial ecumenical teachings in group dynamics conducted by Anglican clergy. The instructors worked with the direction of phenomenology - they dealt with the issue of identifying what is necessary from all the available diversity, without intention, fear and prejudice, relying only on what is clear. Their methods showed that it was possible to reconcile opposites through mutual respect. One day, one of the instructors asked the group: “What is more important to you, your ideals or people? Which of these would you sacrifice for another? For Hellinger this was not just a philosophical mystery - he keenly felt how the Nazi regime sacrificed human beings for the sake of ideals. “In a way, this question changed my life. Since then, the main direction that has shaped my work has been a people orientation,” said Bert Hellinger.

After he left his job as a priest, he met his future first wife, Hertha. They married soon after his return to Germany. Bert Hellinger studied philosophy, theology and pedagogy.

In the early 1970s, Hellinger completed a classical training course in psychoanalysis at the Vienna Association for Psychoanalysis (Wiener Arbeitskreis für Tiefenpsychologie). He completed his training at the Munich Institute for the Training of Psychoanalysts (Münchner Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Psychoanalyse) and was accepted as a practicing member of their professional association.

In 1973 Bert traveled to the United States to continue his studies with Arthur Yanov in California. He studied group dynamics intensively, became a psychoanalyst, and introduced elements of primal therapy, transactional analysis, Ericksonian hypnosis, and NLP into his work.

By the 1980s, Burt had identified patterns that lead to tragic conflicts between family members. Based on his discoveries, he developed effective methods for overcoming family conflicts, which are becoming increasingly popular, going beyond the scope of family counseling.

Bert Hellinger's insightful vision and actions speak directly to the soul, releasing forces of an intensity rarely seen in psychotherapy. His ideas and discoveries about intergenerational interweavings open up a new dimension to therapeutic work with tragic family histories, and his solutions found through the method of “family constellation” are moving, amazingly simple and very effective.

Bert agreed to record and edit a series of recorded seminar material for the German psychiatrist Gunthard Weber. Weber published the book himself in 1993 under the title Zweierlei Gluck ["Two Kinds of Happiness"]. The book was received enthusiastically and quickly became a national bestseller.

Bert Hellinger and his second wife Maria Sophia Hellinger (Erdody) head the Hellinger School. He travels a lot, gives lectures, conducts training courses and seminars in Europe, the USA, Central and South America, Russia, China and Japan.

Bert Hellinger is a special, iconic figure of modern psychotherapy. His discovery of the nature of adopted feelings, the study of the influence on a person of various types of conscience (children's, personal, family, ancestral), the formulation of the basic laws governing human relationships (orders of love), puts him on a par with such outstanding researchers of the human psyche as 3. Freud, K. Jung, F. Perls, Ya. L. Moreno, K. Rogers, S. Grof, etc. The value of his discoveries has yet to be fully appreciated by future generations of psychologists and psychotherapists.

B. Hellinger's systemic therapy is not just another speculative theory, but is the fruit of his many years of practical work with people. Many patterns of human relations were first noticed and tested in practice and only then generalized. His views do not contradict other therapeutic approaches, such as psychoanalysis, Jungian analysis, Gestalt, psychodrama, NLP, etc., but complement and enrich them. Today, with the help of systematic work according to B. Hellinger, it is possible to solve such human problems that ten years ago baffled even the most experienced specialists.

Method of systemic arrangement according to Helinger.

Family constellation becomes Bert Hellinger's main method of work and he develops this method by combining two basic principles:

1) Phenomenological approach- following what appears in the work, without preliminary concepts and further interpretations

2) Systems approach- consideration of the client and his stated topic for work in the context of the client’s relationships with members of his family (system).

The work of Bert Hellinger's method of family constellations consisted in the fact that participants were selected in the group - substitutes for the client's family members and placed in space using very restrained means of expression - only the direction of gaze, without any gestures or posture.

Hellinger discovered that when the facilitator and group work slowly, seriously, and respectfully, surrogate family members feel the same as their real counterparts, despite the fact that they are unfamiliar and no information about them is available.

This phenomenon has been called “vicarious perception”, and the place from which the information comes is called the field (knowing field or morphic field - Rupert Sheldrake’s term). Scientific lack of evidence and insufficient experience in field research is the main criticism of the family (systemic) method. However, in the practice of recent decades, experience has been accumulated that allows constellations to trust the information of the field and follow it in their work.

In the process of gaining experience and observations, Bert Hellinger finds and formulates several laws operating in systems, the violation of which leads to phenomena (“dynamics”) presented by clients as problems. Following the laws, the first experience of which the client receives in the constellation, allows one to restore order in the system and helps to facilitate system dynamics and resolve the problem presented. These laws are called Orders of Love.

Accumulated observations show that the systemic approach and substitutive (field) perception also manifest themselves in non-family systems (organizations, “internal parts of the personality,” abstract concepts such as “war” or “fate”), and not only with direct substitution in group, but also with other methods of work (working in an individual format without a group, working with figures on the table or with large objects on the floor). Increasingly, the family constellation method is being used to make business and organizational decisions ("organizational constellations" or "business constellations").

What problems does the Hellinger arrangement method work with?

First of all, with adopted feelings - repressed, not fully experienced, blocked or prohibited by society feelings that our ancestors experienced.

The adopted feelings are stored in the family system, as in an “information bank,” and can later manifest themselves in their children, grandchildren, and sometimes even great-grandchildren. A person is not aware of the nature of these feelings; he perceives them as his own, since he often simply grows up in their “field” and absorbs them with his mother’s milk. And only when we become adults do we begin to suspect that something is wrong here. Many people are familiar with such feelings; they visit us as if spontaneously and are not related to the events that are currently happening around us. Sometimes the intensity of the feelings we experience is so great that we realize the inadequacy of our reaction, but often, alas, we cannot do anything “with ourselves.” We tell ourselves that this won’t happen again next time, but as soon as we loosen control, it happens again.

It is also difficult for a psychologist or psychotherapist, if he has not undergone systematic training, to understand the nature of the adopted feelings. And if you don’t understand the cause of the problem, you can work with it for years. Many clients, not seeing the result, leave everything as it is, suppressing the feeling, but it will appear again in one of their children. And it will appear again and again until the source and recipient of the adopted feeling is found in the family system.

For example, due to some circumstances, a woman’s husband died early, and she is sad for him, but does not openly show her sadness, because she thinks that this will upset the children. Subsequently, this feeling may be adopted by one of her children or grandchildren. And this woman’s granddaughter, who from time to time experiences “unreasonable” sadness towards her husband, may not even be aware of its true reason.

Another theme that often appears in systemic work is the contradiction between the individual and the family (system). Bert Hellinger calls this working with the boundaries of conscience. It is generally accepted that conscience is an exclusively individual quality. But it is not so. In fact, conscience is formed by the experience of previous generations (family, clan), and is only felt by a person belonging to a family or clan. Conscience reproduces in subsequent generations those rules that previously helped the family survive or achieve something. However, living conditions are changing rapidly, and modern reality requires a revision of the old rules: what helped before is now becoming a hindrance.

For example, the conscience of many Russian families contains a “recipe for survival” in times of repression. We remember from history what fate befell many bright and extraordinary personalities. In those difficult years, in order to survive, a person had to not stand out, to be like everyone else. Then it was justified and entered into the family’s “memory bank” as a rule. And its implementation is monitored by conscience. Nowadays, the same mechanism continues to operate and leads to the fact that a person does not realize himself as an individual. Conscience blindly controls us with the help of feelings of guilt and innocence, and a person from a family that has experienced the fear of reprisals will experience inexplicable discomfort (feel guilty) if he strives to realize himself. And vice versa, he will feel comfortable if he does not strive for anything. Thus, personal aspirations and the conscience of the family come into conflict. And if you do not take into account the family's past, it is difficult to understand why this happens.

Separately, I would like to say that B. Hellinger points out a path to the spiritual that is accessible to many. After all, liberation from adopted feelings is tantamount to the end of the struggle in a person’s soul, and he begins to live his own life, realize his own goals. And accepting a sense of humility and gratitude to parents, one’s family and clan provides a reliable rear and allows us to use the accumulated family resources and energy to realize these goals, which greatly increases our chances of success. This gives us the opportunity to explore new horizons in life, gain new experiences, and discover new opportunities. And in case of failure, a loving family provides us with a “safe haven” where we can heal our wounds and restore strength to once again set sail across the vast expanses of life.

The family constellation method allows you to return to the past and relive the feelings that our ancestors experienced. It makes it possible to take an impartial look at what happened, return our ancestors to their dignity and see a solution to the problems that we are experiencing now. Constellations will help you understand relationships with loved ones, improve them, avoid mistakes and, perhaps, make your life a little happier.

Mikhail Burnyashev, Ph.D., family therapist

Taking a phenomenological approach, Hellinger points out the various aspects of conscience, which acts as an “organ of balance” with the help of which we are able to feel whether we are living in harmony with our system or not.

The key words in Hellinger's family therapy are conscience and order. Conscience protects the rules of living together within the framework of personal relationships. Having a clear conscience means only one thing: I am sure that I still belong to my system. And a "troubled conscience" means the risk that I may no longer be allowed to belong to this system. Conscience reacts not only to the right of membership in the system, but also to the balance between the amount of what the individual has given to other members in his system and what he has received from them.

Each of these functions of conscience is guided and carried out by different feelings of innocence and guilt. Hellinger highlights an important aspect of conscience - conscious and unconscious, unconscious conscience. When we follow the conscious conscience, we violate the rules of the hidden conscience, and despite the fact that according to the conscious conscience we feel ourselves innocent, the hidden conscience punishes such behavior as if we were still guilty.

The conflict between these two types of conscience is the basis of all family tragedies. Such a conflict leads to tragic interweavings that cause serious illnesses, accidents and suicides in families. The same conflict leads to a number of tragedies in relationships between a man and a woman - for example, when relationships between partners are destroyed, despite the strong mutual love that exists between them.

Hellinger came to these conclusions not only through the use of the phenomenological method, but also thanks to the extensive practical experience gained during family constellations.

An amazing fact obtained by participating in the constellation is the fact that the resulting force field or “controlling knowing Soul” finds solutions that significantly exceed those that we could invent ourselves. Their impact is far greater than what we could achieve through planned action.

From the point of view of systemic family therapy, a person’s feelings, thoughts, and actions are determined by the system. Individual events are determined by the system. Our connections are expanding in ever increasing circles. We are born into a small group - our family of origin - and this determines our relationships. Then other systems come and, in the end, the turn of the universal system comes. In each of these systems, orders operate differently. Some of the conditions we have been given for a good relationship between parents and children include the following: affection, balance between give and take, and order.

Attachment is the first basic condition for a relationship to work out. Primary love, the attachment of a child to his parents.

Balance between giving and taking.

Relationships between partners can develop normally, if I give something to you, you return a little more as a sign of gratitude, in turn I also give you a little more, and so the relationship develops cyclically. If I give too much and you can't give me as much, then the relationship falls apart. If I don’t give anything, then they also fall apart. Or, on the contrary, you give me too much, and I cannot return so much to you, then the relationship also falls apart.

When balance is impossible.

This balancing of “giving” and “taking” is possible only between equals. It looks different between parents and children. Children cannot return anything of equal value to their parents. They would love to, but they can’t. Here there is such a gap between “take” and “give”, which cannot be eliminated. Although parents receive something from their children, and teachers from their students, this does not restore balance, but only softens its absence. Children are always in debt to their parents. The solution is for children to pass on what they receive from their parents, and first of all to their children, that is, to the next generation. At the same time, the child takes care of his parents as much as he sees fit.

As an example, we can cite the Georgian parable:

The mother eagle raised three chicks and is now preparing them for flight. She asks the first chick: “Will you take care of me?” “Yes, mom, you took such good care of me that I will take care of you too,” replies the first chick. She lets him go, and he flies into the abyss. It's the same story with the second chick. The third responds: “Mom, you took care of me so well that I will take care of my children.”

Compensation in the negative.

If someone hurts me and I hurt them just as much, then the relationship ends. Biblical "eye for an eye." If I cause him a little less, then this pays tribute not only to justice, but also to love. Gospel: If you are hit on the cheek, offer the other one. Sometimes getting angry is necessary to save a relationship. But here it means to be angry with love, because these relationships are important to a person.

In order for the relationship to continue, there is a rule: in a positive relationship, out of precaution, a little more is returned, in a negative relationship, out of precaution, a little less. If parents do something bad to their children, then the children cannot return or do harm to them as compensation. The child has no right to this, no matter what the parents do. The gap is too big for that.

However, it is possible to solve the problem at a higher level. We can overcome this blind compulsion to balance through the bad with the help of a higher order, namely one of the orders of love. Not just love, but a higher order of love, within the framework of which we recognize both our own fate and the fate of another, loved one, as two different destinies independent of each other and submit to both of them with humility.

In the process of rearranging the family, Hellinger restores the balance, the order that was disrupted in the system. At the same time, he describes the existing procedures:

1. Accessories. Members of the same genus, regardless of whether they are living or already dead, usually include:

The child and his brothers and sisters;

Parents and their brothers and sisters;

Grandmothers and grandfathers;

Sometimes one of the great-grandparents.

In addition, the parental system may have stillborn children, unborn children due to miscarriage or abortion.

Usually victims belong to the abuser's system and vice versa.

In order for personal relationships to develop successfully, three conditions must be met: affection, balance between “give” and “take” and order.

Everyone belonging to the same clan has an equal right to belong, and no one can or has the right to deny them this. As soon as someone appears in the system who says: “I have more rights to belong to this system than you,” he disrupts order and brings discord into the system. If, for example, someone forgets an early deceased sister or a stillborn child, and someone, as if by itself, takes the place of the former spouse and naively proceeds from the fact that now he has more rights to belong than the one who made room, then he sins against order. Then this often affects itself in such a way that in one or subsequent generations someone, without noticing it, repeats the fate of the person who was deprived of the right to belong.

Thus, belonging is violated if a person is excluded from the system. How can I do that? You can be sent to a mental hospital, write a waiver of parental rights, divorce, abortion, emigration, missing, lost, died and forgotten.

The main fault of any system is that it excludes someone from the system, although he has the right to belong to the system, and all the above-mentioned members of the clan have the right to belong.

2. Law of Integers. Any individual member of the system feels whole and complete if all those who belong to his system, to his family, have a good and honorable place in his soul and heart, if there they retain all their dignity. Everyone should be here. He who cares only about his "I" and his narrow individual happiness feels incomplete.

A classic example relates to my patients from single-parent families. In Russian culture, it is accepted that after a divorce, children most often remain with their mother. At the same time, the father is, as it were, excluded from the system, and often the mother tries to erase him from the child’s consciousness. As a result, when the child grows up, he knows little about his own father, who has lost the right to belong to his system. The situation may also be aggravated by the fact that the stepfather will try to claim the place of the natural father in the child’s soul. Typically, such children are constrained and unsure of themselves, weak-willed, passive, and have difficulties communicating with people. The feeling from such a patient is that he has little energy to achieve something in life, this energy should have come from his own father and his family, but it is blocked.

Hence the task of psychotherapy: to find a person against whom injustice was committed and restore it, return him to the system.

3. Law of priority of earlier. Existence is determined by time. With the help of time it receives rank and structure. Who appeared in the system earlier has an advantage over those who come later. Therefore, parents go before their children, and the first-born comes before the second-born. The first partner has an advantage over the second.

If a subordinate interferes in the area of ​​a superior, for example, a son tries to atone for his father’s guilt or be a better husband for his mother, then he considers himself entitled to do what he has no right to, and this person often unconsciously reacts to such arrogance with a need for collapse or death. Since this comes mainly from love, we do not recognize it as guilt. Such relationships always play some role where there is a bad ending, when someone, for example, goes crazy, commits suicide or becomes a criminal.

Suppose a man and a woman lost their first partners and both had children, and now they get married and the children remain with them in their new marriage. Then the husband's love for his children cannot go through the new wife, and the wife's love for her children cannot go through this husband. In this case, love for your own child from a previous relationship takes precedence over love for your partner. This is a very important principle. You shouldn’t be attached to this as a dogma, but many violations in relationships, when parents live with children from previous marriages, occur because the partner begins to be jealous of the children, and this is unjustified. Priority for children. If this order is recognized, then in most cases everything turns out well.

Right order is almost intangible and cannot be proclaimed. This is something other than a rule of the game that can be changed. The orders are unchanged. For order, it doesn’t matter how I behave. He always stays in place. I can't break him, I can only break myself. It is established for a long or short period, and to submit to the order is a very humble performance. This is not a limitation. It's like you step into a river and it carries you along. In this case, there is still a certain freedom of action. This is something different than when order is proclaimed.

4. Hierarchy of family systems. For systems, subordination is the opposite of hierarchical order in developed relationships. The new system takes precedence over the old one. When a person starts a family, his new family has priority over the natural families of the spouses. This is what experience shows.

If a husband or wife has a child with another partner while they are married, he or she should leave that marriage and move in with a new partner, no matter how difficult it may be for everyone. But this same event can also be viewed as an expansion of the existing system. Then, although the new system appears last and the partners must remain in it, this system is lower in rank than the old one. Then, for example, the former wife has priority over the new one. However, the new one replaces the old one.

5. Ancestral conscience. Just as personal conscience ensures that the conditions of attachment, balance and order are observed, so there is also a clan or group conscience, that authority that guards the system, is in the service of the clan as a whole, makes sure that the system remains in order or comes into order, and takes revenge for violations of order in the system. It acts completely differently. While individual conscience manifests itself through feelings of comfort and discomfort, pleasure and displeasure, the ancestral conscience is not felt. Therefore, it is not feelings that help to find a solution here, but only recognition through comprehension.

This tribal conscience takes care of those people whom we have excluded from our soul and our consciousness, either because we want to resist their fate, or because other members of the family or clan have done something wrong to them, and the guilt has not been named and certainly not accepted and not redeemed. Or maybe because they had to pay for what we took and received without thanking them for it or giving them credit for it.

6. Love and order. Many problems arise because we believe that we can overcome the order prevailing in families through internal reflection, effort or love - for example, as the Sermon on the Mount instructs. In fact, order is the principle on which everything is built, and does not allow itself to be replaced by love.

Love is part of order. Order was established before love, and love can only develop within the framework of order. Order is the first principle. Every time a person tries to reverse this order and change the order through love, he fails. It's unavoidable. Love fits into a certain order - a place where it can develop, just as a seed falls into the soil - a place where it can germinate and develop.

7. Intimate sphere. The child should not know any intimate details of the parents’ love affair. This is not his business, nor does it concern third parties. If one of the partners tells someone about the details of his intimate life, then this is a violation of trust, leading to bad consequences. First of all, to the destruction of communication. Intimate details belong only to those involved in this relationship. For example, it is unacceptable for a man to tell his second wife intimate details of his relationship with his first wife. Everything that belongs to the intimate relationship between a man and a woman must remain secret. If parents tell their children everything, it will lead to bad consequences for the children. Thus, in the event of a divorce, the child is presented with a fait accompli, and the reasons do not concern him. You cannot force a child to choose which parent to live with. This is too heavy a load for him. It is better when the child stays with the parent who respects the partner more, since he can pass this love on to the child.

If the mother had an abortion, then the children should not know anything about it. This is part of the intimate bond between parents. As for the therapist, he also needs to tell only what would not undermine the partner’s dignity. Otherwise the connection will be destroyed.

8. Balance. The system strives to equalize the balance: children are the first to strive to equalize it. They seek to protect or begin to get sick. Illness often represents an excluded family member.

When the balance is poorly aligned, we understand where love goes: love leaves, and it is directed towards another object.

9. Incest. For example, the wife did not say goodbye to her first partner in the shower, so the husband is lonely. Then the daughter says: I love you so much that I will replace your mother. Incest occurs. If the patient complains about his father or mother, then first you need to restore the figure of the parent in his eyes.

A family member has three opportunities to balance the balance with love:

1. I love you so much that I'm leaving for you.
For example, a client with bronchial asthma said that she was three years old when her father fell ill first with the flu, then with pneumonia, and finally died of pneumonia. After which she also fell ill with the flu and pneumonia and was admitted to intensive care with an attack of bronchial asthma.

2. I love you so much that I'm leaving in your place. I'm better than you.
For example, a daughter cannot accept the idea that her mother will die soon and dies before her mother.

3. I love you so much that I will atone for your guilt.
The ancestral conscience seeks to restore balance by caring for those who have been excluded from the system, those who are misunderstood and forgotten, those who have not been given their due, and those who are dead.

If someone who belongs to the system, or someone who should belong to it, is for some reason excluded from it, if he is denied the right to belong because others despise him or do not want to admit that he gave a place appeared later or that they still owe him something, then the tribal conscience chooses for itself someone innocent from among those born later, who, under its pressure, imitates this person through identification, and imitates conscientiously. He didn't choose it, he doesn't notice it, and he can't resist. He thus reanimates someone else's fate, the fate of someone who was excluded, and once again plays out this fate with all its guilt, innocence and unhappiness, with all the feelings and everything that relates to it.

Another situation that becomes the main cause of violations at the individual level is “interrupted movement towards...”. This is a situation in which a person as a child was stopped in his movement towards some person (most often his mother). This may be due to hospital stays or separation due to other reasons, or to events that were associated with strong feelings of rejection.

And when, as an adult, this person goes to someone, that is, is in a “movement towards ...”, at some point memories of that situation arise in him, even if just as a bodily memory, but he reacts with those feelings and symptoms as in childhood. For example, bronchial asthma is often a manifestation of an interrupted movement towards the mother, and when an asthmatic is in danger of losing a loved one, often a lover, he reacts with a severe attack of bronchial asthma and ends up in intensive care.

It could also be a headache, cramps, or making important decisions to your detriment (for example: “I will never show weakness again,” or “This won’t help anyway”). Instead of continuing to "move toward..." until it leads to the goal, the person steps back and begins to move in a circle until he returns to the same place. This is the secret of neurosis. When such a person becomes emotional, the voice of a child appears in him, and then one can ask how old this voice is. This is usually early, unconscious trauma.

The solution here is for this person to become that child again, and already, being that child, complete the interrupted “movement towards...”. At this moment, the client acquires a decisively new experience, and it is much easier for him to succeed in subsequent “movements towards...”.

These, and many other topics, are best considered and resolved through practical participation in systemic family constellations according to Helinger.

Literature:

B. Hellinger. Orders of Love. Resolution of family-systemic conflicts and contradictions. M., Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2001.

B. Hellinger. Orders of Love. How life and love work together. Institute of Consulting and System Solutions, 2007.

The article was prepared based on materials found in the public domain on the Internet.

For our country, the method of systemic constellations according to Hellinger is a rather new and not fully tested method. In Germany, their homeland, constellations began to be used in the 90s of the last century, and in a fairly short time this psychotherapeutic technique simply conquered the whole world. The Hellinger arrangement method is used for treatment a variety of problems - problems in love relationships, difficulties at work, family conflicts. And also during the treatment of various diseases, primarily drug addiction and alcoholism.

Hellinger Constellations: General Information

Bert Hellinger formulated certain patterns and laws that lead to negative events and conflicts between colleagues or spouses. The scientist worked for quite a long time on the following questions: “Is there a system that governs relationships?”, “How does conscience (family or personal) influence the life of an individual?”, “How does the adoption of feelings occur?” In fact, these are only a few of Hellinger's many teachings.

Today, the Hellinger method is becoming increasingly popular. With the help of constellations, a huge number of people were able to find the origins their problems and resolve them. Many practicing psychologists are increasingly using the Hellinger method in their work with individuals, couples or groups.

“Arrangement” is the place of the individual in space. The method itself is similar to playing chess. That is, all participants are assigned a specific role that reflects a subconscious image in a situation that requires elaboration. This may not only be a family problem, but also business failures and team problems.

There are several main varieties arrangements, but each involves improvisation and a creative approach:

• structural(treatment of drug addiction and alcoholism, getting rid of fears, solving problems at work);
• family(resolving family quarrels);
• organizational(solving problems in work teams).

Resolving family conflicts

So, a man comes to a psychologist with some problem. First of all, the doctor has a short conversation with him, during which it is determined whether he needs an arrangement or whether everything is much simpler. Because sometimes a person can be guided with simple advice - and life will return to normal. But if the situation is complex, then a more detailed conversation is held with the client. First of all, it is determined directly problem.

For example, a man drinks, his wife nags him every day and says that all the problems in the family are related to his alcoholism. However, the man does not think so, since before the wedding he did not drink such amounts of alcohol.

The psychologist asks the client to tell him about his lifestyle. Hellinger arrangements need systematic consideration situations. That is, it is necessary to determine:

• what each spouse does every day;
• what causes conflicts;
• what kind of relationship do the spouses have in general;
• whether in family life people are themselves or play someone else’s roles.

The psychologist examines the wife's and husband's parents separately. How did they behave in the family with each other? If it is determined that on the husband’s side, the mother and father lived ideally, and there were no issues with alcoholism, then the greatest attention is paid to the wife’s relatives.

Having previously understood the situation at the first appointment, the psychotherapist recommends that the man come to the next conversation with his wife. Since the “root of evil” is most likely in her, it will not be possible to get rid of it without her participation.

Family constellations

So, when a couple is trying to save their marriage, the wife of the drinking husband comes with him to a psychotherapist for help. During the conversation it may become clear that the woman copies unconsciously her mother's behavior, that is, she took on her role.

Since her family life did not work out, she constantly asked her daughter: “Look, all men are the same. Your father is like the rest. He drinks and brings home pennies.” With an imposed opinion, the daughter grows up with the men around her involuntarily notes only negative traits.

Still, the girl begins a relationship with the guy she likes. After a while she marries him, but soon it seems to her that this man is not “her man” at all. No matter what he does, everything seems negative to her.

It seems that the husband is not so bad, his positive qualities significantly exceed his shortcomings. However, the woman retains internal aggression and sends negativity to her husband on a subconscious level. The man picks up this signal, understands that his partner hates him, and over time tries to seek solace in alcohol. This allows him to forget for a certain time, but the problem is not solved.

Further actions

The Hellinger method involves playing roles. The doctor invites the husband and wife to play out a certain situation. For example, he asks a woman to tell her how she behaves at work. The woman comments on her communication with colleagues, work behavior, and it turns out that at work the patient is “white and fluffy.”

What changes when a woman crosses the threshold of a house? Why does a husband's appearance irritate a woman? The couple plays out the conflict scene in front of a psychologist. A woman tells her husband a standard phrase: “If I would stop drinking, everything would be fine.”

At this point, the psychologist asks the couple to stop. Systemic arrangements require timely focus on an important point. In this example, that time has come.

The doctor says: “Let's try to determine the source of the problem that forces the man to drink.” Then all the reasons that contribute to this are crossed out. For example, the following are excluded:

• big financial problems;
• health problems;
• conflicts at work for men, etc.

What remains? The man openly says that he is depressed by the constant wife's dissatisfaction who always finds fault with something or, conversely, is constantly silent and avoids sexual intimacy. In this situation, the partner suffers from a lack of female attention. Often, women, out of a sense of resentment or lack of love for their partner, punish their chosen one in this way. They overload themselves with household chores or actively sublimate their energy into caring for children. At the same time, the spouse is trying to get some kind of positive mood by drinking alcohol. A vicious circle appears.

Subsequently, systemic arrangements imply an in-depth study of this situation. In this case, the psychologist tries to instill in the woman the idea of ​​​​the need to get rid of the attitude that her mother involuntarily set.

Wife provokes by her behavior, a man is forced to drink alcohol, that is, he forces him to play the role of her drinking father. If at the same time the wife still has a certain grudge against her husband, then during the session it is proposed to get rid of it. “It is very important to free yourself from negativity,” says Hellinger himself. Family constellations offer many techniques in this regard.

In reality, the whole process is quite complicated. In the history of this couple, the psychologist will have to give the characters many “roles”, so that there is an equal exchange of energy between the spouses.

The effect of egregor on people

After carrying out a systemic alignment, they are often surprised: “Why did I reason with other people’s thoughts?”, “How did it happen that I began to play a role that was not my own in life?” In reality, not many people think about whether he actually does what he wants and lives as he wishes.

What we find most often is that our daily actions, feelings, and thoughts borrowed many from the people around us: the team, one’s own family and society as a whole. In other words, some energy-information space (egregor) directly affects the personality.

Any society (collective) is subject to a certain value system. The impact of egregor can be both positive and negative. Everyone creates a personal value system. For example, a church egregor tries to influence people through sermons. And each terrorist organization develops its own egregor, manipulating the subconscious of its participants with some theory. In some cases, strong personalities create their own egregors and influence others. This individual must be very energy intensive, since its goal is to influence and lead, to manage a large number of energy flows.

Family egregors

The family clan is a system with its own specific tasks. And family members (father, mother, daughter, son) are elements that are required to perform certain functions. What happens when someone gets knocked out of the system? For example, a son, contrary to family tradition, did not want to become a military man, but his father strongly wanted this.

In this case, the role of the son may distribute between the rest of the family members, or to change their game: the daughter marries a military man. The father is happy, tries to establish strong contact with his son-in-law and shares plans for the future to continue the military line.

The Hellinger arrangement method deeply addresses the problem of the younger and older generations. Can this method help everyone? The reviews are completely different. But many agree that family egregors can negatively impact their descendants.

For example, a young girl is very unhappy in her marriage. All methods of restoring relationships do not produce results; violence and rudeness occur in the family. The only way out is divorce. However, the older generation of this girl unanimously says: “There were no divorced people in our family, as this is a shame.”

Thus, this girl’s family egregor demands submission and dictates its principles to her. Only abandoning the role of “victim” and a complete rethink will help this person make a decision to start a different life.

Egregor by inheritance

The Hellinger Method helps many couples and individuals determine the origins of evil. Let us give another example of a problem with which men often turn to psychotherapists.

So, a conventional young man comes to a psychotherapist who cannot understand his behavior towards women. After multiple divorces, he was faced with the fact that his partners were leaving him because unmotivated aggression. In other areas of life the man turned out to be positive. During a conversation with a psychologist, it turned out that in the past the man had “unconsciously” set himself up for revenge. How did it happen?

Most often in this case it turns out that the man grew up in a family in which the father was constantly depressed and humiliated by his wife. The boy could not resist his mother to protect his father. So, as he grew older, he developed his plan ( attitude towards revenge).

This situation led to the fact that, being in relationships with girls, he periodically felt strong hatred towards them. When the right situation arose, he took out his anger on them with his fists. The systemic arrangement should show the guy that these feelings do not belong to him. They are fixed and inspired in the subconscious from distant childhood. But the man has a different situation, and the girls have a different character than his mother. And the most important thing is that he can be happy only when he understands this and begins to change.

This is gradual process. A lot will depend on the natural temperament of a person. Some people need two sessions, while others need much more. The Hellinger method is different in that, knowing family systems, a person can avoid failures in life, as well as protect the future generation from them.

Group classes

The phenomenon of such activities is that a group of people play the roles of actors in the problem of one person. The cases can be different: a person is constantly sick, cannot find a partner, or has difficulties with money.

The constellation method is difficult to explain in detail, but it works according to the following scenario: various roles are distributed among the group. And they begin to feel similar emotions of the person who asked for help. The phenomenon is called " vicarious perception».

Thus, there is a transfer from the client’s internal images to all participants. People who are chosen to play certain roles are called " deputies" During the session, they describe their condition out loud, trying to restore the situation that is a problem for the person.

Hellinger constellations enable a person to unravel the tangle of conflict situations, correctly build a hierarchy and restore energy. The method is built by moving "substituents".

The session is considered successful when all participants do not feel discomfort. And most importantly, the client should experience psychological and physical relief.

Arrangement using Tarot cards

Not every person can openly tell a group of people about his problem. In this case, the client can take part in a group session, but at his request, hidden arrangement. Thus, a person independently regulates the openness of information. An excellent way out of this situation is a systematic arrangement using Tarot cards.

In this case, the deck is diagnostic tool process. A person is asked: “What is the meaning of the problem?” The client, without looking, selects a card and describes what he saw on it. “Deputies” are also selected taking into account the selected arcana. A person, according to his problem, with the help of the facilitator’s prompts, indicates to all participants where to stand and what needs to be done.

Further action - emotional play situations. “Deputies” share their impressions: “I had a feeling that...”, “I thought now that...”. At this time, the client is also included in the discussion. He listens to the opinion of each participant and takes the place whose participant hurt his emotions the most. And given his new role, he says the words that are important to him.

Individual arrangement

Can on one's own conduct this session, since not everyone has the opportunity to work in a group. In this case, independent systematic arrangement is possible. However, for this it is necessary to become thoroughly familiar with Hellinger’s theory.

So, the problem is defined, and cards will be used as “substitutes”. The process has three stages:

A less dedicated person may think that a fortune-telling session is taking place, but this is not true. The individual method of arrangement using the Tarot is shown only professionals. Others are advised to resort to this method under the guidance of an experienced psychotherapist.

Today, this method is becoming increasingly popular and is developing technically and methodologically in the works of Hellinger himself, who develops constellations today, as well as through the efforts of other constellations that have “groped” their way.

Systemic constellations are a relatively new, but already well-proven method of professional assistance. This technique allows you to find solutions to personal internal problems an individual and families in general, to find and eliminate the subconscious conflict that is the cause of chronic or psychosomatic diseases. Also, the method of systemic arrangements allows diagnose problems of relationships and interaction in work teams and any other groups of people. The basis of the method is the general, collective subconscious, discovered by Carl Gustav Jung. Bert Hellinger (the founder of the method) calls this phenomenon the “knowing field.”

At present, no one will deny the fact that a person’s actions and motives are controlled, among other things, by various unconscious (subconscious) scenarios. The method of systemic family constellations allows us to see these scenarios, work through them in order to get out of those dead ends and traps that we cannot consciously get out of.

Hellinger, creating the method of family constellations, was based on the study and synthesis of various schools of psychotherapy. In particular, he successfully used the findings of the school of psychoanalysis, hypnotherapy, "primal therapy", traditional family therapy and other areas. Also, the method is based on the scientist’s own unique discoveries.

One of Bert Hellinger's discoveries is the awareness of the fact that within this family-tribal system certain laws. According to these laws, any family system exists, develops and lives (yours too). By understanding these laws, we can explain the seemingly inexplicable actions of people and events. Also, knowing them, we can correct the situation in our lives. Read more about the four main laws of the family system below. You can see methods for correcting the situation and “resolving phrases” in the videos provided and read in Bert Hellinger’s books.

What are systemic disorders and systemic therapy in psychology? How the arrangements are carried out (video):

How Bert Hellinger himself conducts constellations (video from his seminar)

The arrangement is carried out according to the principles of the systemic-phenomenological approach and represents a unique rapid therapy method oriented towards solution existing problem. It allows you not only to diagnose any difficult life situation, but also to find the reasons for its occurrence - to see what is actually happening in the depths of the Soul. And knowing the cause of the existing problem, you can eliminate it...

4 laws that are used during constellations

These laws are well explained at her seminar by ELINA ZITSER, family systems psychologist, constellation specialist:

More deeply and in detail about what happens in a person’s soul during constellations.

Just by watching this video you can understand the causes of problems in your life:

Why is my child constantly sick?

A visual illustration of the theory of laws discovered by Bert Hellinger:

What are formations in the classic format of B. Hellinger? What types of arrangements are there? Where did the arrangements come from? What methods were the ancestors? How do Hellinger constellations differ from the psychodrama method?

Interview with the founder of the method - Bert Hellinger

Family constellation method- how did he appear? What are arrangements? How are they made? Examples from the constellations (why the child did not want to study, how past relationships of parents influence the behavior of children and what parents need to do to free their children from this influence, how abortions affect living children and what can be done to prevent this influence from happening).

Spiritual aspects of family (systemic) constellations, conscience, orders of love. Where are arrangements used? How does love work between a man and a woman?

There are several iconic names in the history of psychology and psychiatry: Freud, Jung, Pavlov, Rogers, Grof... Today our guest is Andrei Ermoshin (host of the TV show “Adult Games”), a man who is among this number of pioneers in the field of psychotherapy. This is a professor from Germany, author of the family constellation method, Bert Hellinger. The interlocutors discuss the spiritual dimensions of his work, those almost mystical phenomena that are observed in the practice of constellations. The conversation also touches on aspects of the relationship between a man and a woman, why conflict arises, and how to make relationships truly close.

Do I need to do an arrangement or use another method? What does the result depend on?

At the very beginning, a short consultation is held with the person about his problem, questions are asked and it becomes clear how adequate the arrangement method is for the given situation. If the problem is “strange”, its causes are not visible in a person’s current life, then it is better to make an arrangement. Sometimes it's done diagnostic setup- to see what is happening in the system. In order for the arrangement to work better, the client must have a strong need and personal deep desire to solve a problem. When someone brought a person or is pushing a person to do it, then there is no point in doing the constellation, it will simply “freeze” and be interrupted by the constellation due to the lack of dynamics (energy for change), the person himself must “ripe”.

What are “permissive phrases” in constellations?

Resolving phrases are phrases aimed at resolving the situation in the arrangement, eliminating intertwining. They reveal what really is. For example, the daughter’s recognition of the hierarchy and her place in the system: “Mom, you are big, and I am small. You give, and I take” (some action can also be performed to consolidate, in this case there could be a bow). Or: “I do with my son the same way you did with me, dad.” Also: “I was born at the cost of your death. I accept and will do something good with my life in memory of you.” Permissive phrases depend on the context, on what is happening in the system. For a therapeutic effect to occur, it is necessary that the phrase is not just spoken, but felt.

• Here is a good article with answers to many questions: bookpower.rf/book/268
• Books by Bert Hellinger (easy to find and download on the Internet)

How to learn constellations, subtle spiritual moments, review of constellation techniques and principles

This amazing interview with Elena Veselago (a student of B. Hellinger, a constellation with extensive experience and the founder of her school) touches not only on “constellation” topics, but also on applied ones, presented from the point of view of systemic principles. For example: How psychologists can more effectively find clients. "People come to psychology when there is something inside that needs healing." Who is a constellator - a shaman or a psychologist? “I use both methods and do not see any contradiction in this.” About problems in some areas of psychotherapy. "Many have forgotten about the soul."

The psychological method of the German doctor Bert Hellinger has earned recognition from specialists in various fields: pedagogy, psychotherapy, sociology, marketing. The uniqueness lies in the simplicity of the method, the ability to find the root of problems in various areas of a person’s life, as well as determine ways to solve identified negative conditions and situations. Hellinger constellations have been successfully used for several decades. However, this method has not only admirers, but also opponents who believe that the system causes harm to program participants.

What are system arrangements

The teaching is an effective practice that was introduced in 1925 by the German philosopher and psychotherapist Bert Hellinger. Systemic constellations are the ability to feel and “scan” the energy and information field of a problem situation. Hellinger's method is based on people's innate ability to feel. Its proof is our feelings after chance meetings with people. Some awaken exclusively positive emotions in us; after communicating with others, we want to take a shower and wash away the negativity and irritation.

Hellinger constellations involve working with a group of people. Each participant must use the natural ability to “feel” people and the problem situation that was given by the leader. As a rule, people easily read information about difficulties in different areas of life from the main participant (the person whose problem is being worked on).

Each of us is a complementary part of a single system. People are connected by ancestral programs, family relationships, religion, national traditions, friendships, business partnerships. We influence and depend on each other, we seek mutual understanding and love, but among a huge number of people we often feel lonely. This sense of self is dictated by a state of isolation: a person extols suffering and pain, his own exclusivity.

Hellinger's installation serves as a simple method to help people realize the commonality of their problems. With the help of constellations, program participants can get rid of many far-fetched problems and mental beliefs, revealing their root causes. As a rule, they are destructive family programs and unfinished problematic situations in the family that have a negative impact on a person’s fate. With the help of Hellinger's constellations it is possible to reveal the root causes:

• diseases (drug addiction, alcoholism, genetic diseases);
• difficulties in family relationships, in relationships with the opposite sex;
• various phobias, depression, panic attacks;
• childlessness (if there is no infertility);
• business problems;
• unfulfillment in life.

What are the types of constellations using Bert Hellinger's method?

Psychological consultation, based on any approach (classical or systemic), begins with identifying the client’s problem. At this stage, the specialist determines which placement method is best to use. Hellinger's system involves several main types: family, structural, organizational, client and spiritual constellations. What are their features and differences?

Family

This type of arrangement involves working with family problems. Family constellations according to B. Hellinger include the elaboration of intrapersonal conflicts and generic messages that negatively affect a person’s life. Experts are convinced that the difficulties of many clients are explained by traumas that were suffered within the boundaries of the family system in the past. Problems are often associated with a failure of the hierarchy order or the “take-and-give” principle (parents’ desire to take from children, children’s awareness of their superiority over their parents, and the like).

Bert Hellinger believed that family trauma is the main cause of any health, personal or material problems. The psychotherapist is convinced that the root of any problem is the desire to cross out (forget) the participants in the family trauma - both the perpetrators and the victims. This desire to exclude what happened from memory becomes the “causative agent” of various problematic situations and incorrect mental programs in subsequent generations of the family. The Hellinger constellation method helps to find the hidden causes of the client’s unhealthy state and get rid of them.

Structural

This type of Hellinger arrangement helps to improve areas of life such as work, finances, illness, and get rid of fears. The method is extremely effective if it is impossible to logically justify the reason for the repetition of the same problem. Structural arrangements help to bring the underlying causes of problematic situations to the level of consciousness. The program involves the transformation of a person - this allows him to independently change at a deep level.

Organizational

Designed to solve problems among members of work teams. Special areas of application of the program are working with business consultants, script writers, and scientists. Organizational constellations using the Hellinger method involve “playing out” roles, main character traits, and specific stories. The purpose of the method is to unite the team to increase team productivity or resolve internal conflicts. The priority of organizational arrangements is the employees themselves and their community.

Client

Constellations using the Hellinger method are aimed at people whose professions involve helping others (doctors, social workers, psychologists, teachers). This type of program helps to consider the relationship between helpers and recipients of help. Through client constellations, it is possible to see how effective this support is, what motives drive the helper and, if desired, adjust them.

Spiritual

The teaching positions the spirit as something that stimulates development. This Hellinger constellation identifies the therapist and participants as tools for the manifestation of the spirit. The technique somewhat contradicts therapeutic constellations, where the main role is assigned to the therapist looking for a solution to the client’s problem. The system does not use the concepts of “problem” and “solution”. Spiritual constellations view the situation through the free movement of consciousness.

Laws of order of love

The family constellation method is based on two main concepts - conscience and order. The psychotherapist in personal philosophy relies on the aspect of conscience, which acts as an analyzer and “organ of balance” of a person. The system will work well only if the conscience is calm - then there is internal confidence that family life has worked out. Anxiety means that a person can no longer belong to the system. This concept is a detector of the degree of internal balance.

Hellinger divides conscience into unconscious and conscious. If an individual acts in accordance with the latter, he violates the rules of the unconscious. Thus, the conscious conscience gives us excuses, and the unconscious makes us feel guilty. The psychotherapist says that conflict between them often causes problems in the family. The relationship between husband and wife in such a conflict will be destroyed even in the presence of strong love.

Many people believe that established family routines can change under their influence or that they can be easily defeated with some effort. However, love is not capable of giving order, since the latter serves as a fundamental principle, and love is only a component of order. Thus, love is formed exclusively within any order, and it is impossible to change it through one’s own efforts.

How is system placement carried out?

Group therapy involves working with each participant, which can last from 30 to 90 minutes. The duration of the system arrangement is determined depending on the number of requests. The person whose problem is being worked through determines who from the group will play the roles of members of his family. For example, a woman who has a problematic situation with her husband chooses participants to play the role of herself and her husband. The client, under the guidance of her own ideas and feelings, according to the instructions of the psychotherapist, arranges the participants around the room.

During the program, amazing things happen: “deputies” (aka participants) experience first-hand the feelings and emotions of the family members whose roles they perform. Thus, strangers are immersed in a situation so deeply that they can clearly express the situations happening to someone. Thanks to this effect, there is no need to talk a lot about the events that took place in the client’s family.

What is the danger of the method

Every profession is associated with danger to some extent. For example, an unprofessional driver can hit a pedestrian, an inexperienced lawyer will deprive a person of his freedom, and an unqualified doctor will allow the disease to kill the patient. Due to the lack of experience or low qualifications of the psychologist, the client may lose personal integrity or mental health. In the hands of an unprofessional, even psychological work will be dangerous.

The benefits of the constellation method are directly related to the professionalism of the presenter. Only an experienced specialist will determine which version of the system is best suited for use for a particular individual, and which may cause harm or be useless. With the help of constellations according to the Hellinger method, participants come into contact with the personalities of other people, getting used to the roles. The guidance of a psychotherapist makes the process safer for the “actor”, who will leave the given role without negative consequences.

Features of teaching the technique

The school of constellations will be of interest to beginning or practicing psychologists, family doctors, psychotherapists, social workers, teachers and anyone who works with people. The main teaching methods used in the program include theoretical and practical parts. The first involves studying the basics of arrangement, reading philosophical notes, and considering the methodological and morphogenetic prerequisites of the system. The practical part contains analysis of specific situations and work using the family constellation method.

During the training course, students become familiar with the psychological and philosophical teachings of the constellation method. Students learn about the basic premises of the system, such as positive conditions for the development of healthy family or work relationships. The training examines how love relationships are made or broken. Course participants can study their own problem situations through the prism of Hellinger's constellations and see methods for solving them.

Video about systemic arrangements according to Hellinger

Modern psychotherapists are convinced that the method is most valuable in practice, not theory. However, in order to achieve the best results from group work on constellations, you need to understand what the basic concepts and principles of the system are. With the help of the video below, you will gain basic knowledge and understanding of the Hellinger psychological method.