What is Family Constellation?
The family constellation is a technique systematized by the German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger (1925-2019) that aims to bring to the light hidden systemic tangles which can influence our life in diverse sectors. It has been a method used for years to help solve personal, family, organizational (companies, corporations), educational, legal and (why not?) issues in the veterinary area.
I had my first contact with the technique in 2009, and since then I have been studying and observing how animals can benefit from it. In my daily life, working in the oncology specialty, very often I notice "coincidences" between the diagnosis my patient presents and a comment, often subtle, from the client who brought him, saying that by chance someone in his family also presents or already presented the same diagnosis. When I heard this for the first or second time I thought it was just a big coincidence, but by the tenth or twentieth time I was convinced that it was too much of a coincidence to be attributed to chance alone. And that's when I started to pay attention to family movements and how pets could be inserted in them, carrying family issues or even mirroring hidden dynamics.
For those interested in the subject, I invite you to participate in the workshops that are held frequently, so that you can not only see, but also feel how these dynamics happen (information about the next workshop at the end of this text).
A constellation that i can't forget was about a person who told me about an old and sick dog, according to him in the terminal stage. He couldn't stand watching what he considered her suffering, but he also didn't want to decide on euthanasia; he was in doubt about which way to go and asked to constellate to help him make the best decision. During the constellation the dog's representative was serene, at peace, aware that her life energy was at an end, but in her words "it's okay, I feel like I've done my job and I'm ready to leave, go on my way" . The client burst into tears, saying he couldn't let her go. It was evident to everyone at that moment how much he was suffering with the idea that, sooner or later, she was going to die (as are all of us, right?). It was clear that the greatest suffering was HIS, because the essence of the pet was absolutely at peace.
Want to know more? Click here for dates and locations for upcoming workshops. If you want to schedule a constellation for you or your pet, please contact us.
