Family Constellations: A Healing Movement of the Soul
Family Constellations is a healing movement of the soul discovered by German psychologist
and philosopher - Bert Hellinger. It works on transpersonal as well as transgenerational level,
touching all the levels of our existence i.e. our DNA, past lives, personal karma as well as all
the entanglements we have been unconsciously dealing with. With science progressing in all
directions on discovering human life, it has been proven that our DNA contains all the coding
of life. Our traits, facial features, behavior – all come from the DNA. In fact, even our
emotional baggage too comes from our DNA. If a family has gone through heavy traumatic
events like the holocaust or fighting for the Indian Independence or being a witness to the
partition times, then all of these heavy emotions are coded in our DNA. Every day is a new
discovery for science with regards to the spiritual energy present in and around us. It is only
that now new evidences are recorded and this time scientifically proven too.
Let us take an example – A family has a history of one girl child undergoing schizophrenia in
every generation since last three generations. According to science, it is something wrong in
the DNA, some strand of DNA isn’t totally functioning. But the truth is, that there is some
unacknowledged person in the family lineage who wants his/her position in the family. With
the help of Family Constellations, one can understand why the flow of energy has been
disrupted and a girl child in every generation is carrying that baggage. Once, the reason is
discovered we can work towards resolving that entanglement.
One of the leading Family Constellation’s author, teacher as well as a practitioner Mark
Wolynn has beautifully said - "Family Constellations allow you to break destructive patterns
so you can live a more fulfilled life. Once you free of entanglements from the past, new ways
of giving and receiving love can begin to take root. The results are often immediate and lifechanging."
An interesting concept which is the basis of Family Constellation’s work is “The Knowing
Field.” This concept was coined by Albert Mahr, a German physician, psychoanalyst and one
of the leaders of this work. The Knowing Field is simple words is nothing but the Family
System’s Soul who has all the information of the past as well as the present. Any kind of
disharmonies or sufferings as well as any great achievements, everything is recorded
energetically/ vibrationally into this Energy Field. When a therapist or a representative of the
client gets in touch with this Knowing Field, they get in touch with the entanglements and
then the problem can be seen in a new light of wisdom.
Often, in many cultures it is said that the ancestors are the roots of any Family System. This
is absolutely true because we can see that in the Knowing Field. All the information being
present there can open new doorways of understanding the problems and resolving them
with a higher perspective as well as from a Force which is true and non-judgmental. The very
basis of this work is re-connecting the flow of energy i.e. love into the system again. Any kind
of entanglements always result in disruption of the flow of love. Let us take a case study to
understand this better:
Sam, a 27-year-old man who is physically strong, mentally balanced yet feels something is
always missing in him. He was excelling in his work and was regularly appreciated as well as
promoted for his work. Yet, he failed to understand the reason. In his first Family
Constellations session, it appeared that he had a twin who died. Inside the womb, he was not
just sharing space with his twin brother, but also constantly feeling secured and happy.
This discovery was a shocker for Sam as he never knew about him. To verify the facts, he
called his mother and she confirmed that she delivered twins, but one was a still born child.
And it was a son. On verification, Sam was totally in tears. The representative for Sam’s twin
brother was awaiting Sam’s love. He missed him too much and was unhappy that he wasn’t
ever acknowledged in any form. Sam’s representative as well as Sam both hugged the dead
brother’s representative until all the love poured out from their hearts. Some healing
statements were used to bring in more peace, love and clarity.
Along with it, during the session it was discovered that somewhere Sam was feeling this life
as a burden because he was the only one living, while his twin had to give up on his life. Hence,
he was also feeling like the element of LIFE was totally missing from within. Also, this was one
of the reasons why he felt helpless and energy less from within.
After the session was completed, Sam was yet crying but this time in peace. He said, “For the
first time in my life, I have felt loved and complete from within. Each time when I felt
incomplete from within, I always became more depressive and lost interest in life. But today,
I am complete.”
In the above case study, it shows how powerful emotions are as well as a still born child. A
still born child may be dead clinically, but still for his/her parents he is a child. It is the duty as
well as responsibility of the parents to give this dead child a place in their hearts of love,
respect, gratitude and honour. This also shows that how each one of us holds their own
position in the Family System and that it is necessary to acknowledge even the dead. Without
acknowledgement and offering the dead as well as the living a place in our hearts, it becomes
difficult for us to move forward in a whole and complete form to experience life. Each one of
us belongs to our DNA and family system. No one can replace anyone and none of us can be
thrown out of the system. These are the natural laws of the Universe which apply to every
individual living or dead.