A total of five stages can be distinguished in the development of “Familienstellen” by Bert and Sophie Hellinger. At each stage, fundamental and entirely new insights into human behavior are discovered. These stages are detailed below.
The so-called” Classic Family Constellation " was practiced and demonstrated by Bert Hellinger from the 1980s until approximately 2002. Bert Hellinger explains her procedure as follows:
“After the client placed representatives, they were asked how they felt. After that they were rearranged until they all felt good at the end. Often other representatives were also included in the constellation. For example, if all representatives were looking in the same direction, it meant they were looking at someone who had been excluded or forgotten in the family. If someone came in for this unknown person, the rest would be relieved. This is how the hidden disorder comes to light. Because many problems in the family, including diseases, have their roots in the exclusion of a family member – for example, if the child is foster or hidden.”
At the end of the constellation, all the representatives were asked how they felt, then the same question was asked to the client. Usually the client was greatly affected by the result, as it was completely different than he had imagined.
The main focus was on the biological and current family. If it was mostly about a couple and their children, the problem was often related to their biological families. The focus remained limited to these two families. This type of Familienstellen proved to be very successful.
The work of Bert Hellinger caused a real revolution in the therapeutic scene. Up to 1,000 therapists attended his seminars. His work completely disrupted the existing patterns of thought and approaches. For many therapists, Bert Hellinger's work was almost like an earthquake. Many were delighted, joining him and learning from him. For a long time he was considered an absolute Insider in the psychological scene. There were always those who believed in themselves.
But some were infuriated by Bert Hellinger's statements after the constellation and his approach: “I only do one constellation for a client, after that I don't care about them anymore."They were concerned that the client would often not be able to cope with what came to light. Therefore, the client should still need support, guidance and advice. Bert Hellinger had a completely different attitude: when a secret or truth is revealed, a person is immediately in his power through his relationship and the true place he is now. Any return and further questioning of a person's past degrades them to a child, and often to a victim. Bert Hellinger believes this to be the case: those who pose and act as victims do not want change. The client also proves this to his therapist by looking for a new therapist for years because the previous one “wasn't the one”. And so there are clients who have been in therapy for ten or thirty years-without any change.
The classic Family Constellation has helped many people and is seen as an enrichment for many therapists in psychotherapy. However, it remained largely confined to this area. Today, however, this approach is no longer sufficient. Only five percent of all constellations can be attributed to the field of psychotherapy.
Since 2002. until early 2006. The movements of the soul were at the center of the constellations Berta and Sophie Hellinger. Bert Hellinger explained:
"My wife and I found that the representatives' movements went deeper when I very rarely asked them how they felt. Everyone who observed these constellations was deeply moved and moved. This got even more intense the less we asked. It was important that the representatives knew little about the client and indulged in an internal movement that engulfed them inside and out. This new approach has obviously gone far beyond the previous Familienstellen. There were hardly any more questions about feelings, expectations and fears. The constellation was not directed towards the goal predetermined by the client and in whose service the constellation leaders placed themselves. Everything was left to the movements as they perceived the representative – beyond the ideas of problem and solution and beyond psychotherapy in the ordinary sense.
Suddenly, what was actually secretly happening in the families came to light when they experienced being driven by another force. The representatives felt moved by another power. The head of the constellation also monitored these movements. And they were caught and led.”
"Spiritual Family Constellation", "Walking With The Spirit", was developed and practiced by Bert and Sophie Hellinger in late 2006. year. This development was accompanied by new knowledge of our soul and spirit, but above all new knowledge of the limits of our conscience. These insights have been shown to apply to all of our relationships, far beyond ourselves individually and beyond our family.
Unlike the "classic family constellation", the constellation leader needs very little information from the client, but decades of experience working on the constellation. The leader connects with the great spiritual field and then intuitively chooses the representatives himself – not the client. The representatives are instructed to shut off their minds and wait until the movement overtakes them irresistibly. Following these internal impulses of movement, Representatives move very slowly. The leader of the constellation almost does not intervene in what is happening. Sometimes it adds a missing representative or the representative is replaced because it is not at the center or enters its own intention. In the end, the leader of the constellation himself places the client in the constellation.
Such constellations may remain "open “or appear”unfinished". But in the soul they continue to work for years. The host decides when the constellation is completed.
As of 2017. furthermore, only the so-called Original Hellinger® Familienstellen Berta and Sophie Hellinger were practiced. It was basically developed by Sophie Hellinger. At Bert Hellinger's school only this type of Familienstellen is taught today. It is evident that the representatives and leader of the constellation of today's Original Hellinger® Familienstellen were taken and led by great power.
Where are they being taken? Outside of all separations and perceptions, those who were previously disconnected and separated for unknown reasons are gathered. Greater power is at work. It is the power of love that breaks all divisions.
What does that mean in detail? The differences between good and evil, which are often at the forefront of our minds, are no longer valid. The constellations proved to be cosmic and timeless. What we had hoped for in previous psychotherapy is taken back into the background, and thus all that we wanted to achieve with a clear conscience and good will. All this happens regardless of our usual ideas and our usual thinking. With the original Hellinger ® Familienstellen, the constellation takes place before the eyes of all present – without any external intervention. The re-establishment of the violated order is performed before the eyes of all present as a spell. The needle was heard falling to the ground, the breath stopped. The constellation is perceived as a clear revelation to all, as the intervention of another, spiritual force. The representatives and leader of the constellation act as media through which other, great powers operate. Solutions that could not have been imagined turn out to be something obvious.
What happens to the previously practiced Familienstellen? It still retains its value, but within narrow limits. Together this prevails-the more the constellation leaders and all involved surrender to something bigger. They all surrender themselves to movements of emotion and mind beyond their personal interests, and thus submit to this guidance.
Are the parties involved suffering from this loss? No, everybody wins. The original Hellinger ® Familienstellen has a finger on the pulse of time. It means: connecting and cooperating instead of opposing. The motto is: together we are more and stronger.
What are the limitations of the former constellations? They lay in inner images of freedom and self-confidence, in the idea that the outsider had a solution in his hands. They completely disregarded the fact that there are no two identical people and two identical cases. Everyone and their problem are unique like a fingerprint, where everyone is unique, even though they resemble each other.
In 2018. at the age of 92, Bert Hellinger retired from public life and handed over his work, all his responsibilities and his stakes in the joint company to his wife Sophie.
- Fully translated from English and German to Croatian from the website: https://www.hellinger.com/en/familienstellen/what-is-family-constellation/the-evolution-from-familienstellen/ . We waive all rights that belong to him.
With his” Familienaufstellung " Bert Hellinger created a whole new field within psychotherapy in the late 20th century. the current 21. century, which he and his wife Sophie Hellinger developed into the Original Hellinger Familienstellen. Read more.
- What does a group of systemic constellations look like?
If someone stood by and watched the constellation work, what would they see? You would see a group of people sitting in a circle, you would see that the unuar of that circle were somehow separated by 2 people, and you could assume that they were the client and the constellator, the one who leads the work.
- Who is the representative at work?
The representative (the person attending the workshop) who is being put to work should know only little or nothing about the problem of the person who is asking the topic that is their problem or that they want to clarify. It turns out that as soon as the representative is placed, when he is centered within himself, he comes into contact with the field or other world from which he gets precise information. The representative doesn't need to know anything. There is no need to worry or worry about what awaits him. He only has to allow himself to be captured in a mindful way by the movement that guides him further in his work. You should also not think or interpret, but give in to movement.
- What would happen at the workshop?
A few people would stand, some might sit or lie down some would move. It would look like a play in which there is no script, and no instructions to work. It is not known who represents whom. But the situation absolutely and without any doubt reflects the very precise and honest life situation of the client, his problem. What else do we see? We see someone closer to someone, someone further away, someone hugging someone, and someone has their back turned to someone. In addition to positions, we also see emotions that reflect these relationships - someone is angry or sad at someone. Thus we can say that constellations are postural and relational representations of the invisible dynamics of some problem or challenge that is put before the life of one person. In this way, we truly discover what is actually happening, what is the real source of the problem and how to accept and live it permanently. In this way, systemic constellations are best known - for their positive effects on people's lives, and for their results.
- What were the constellations in the beginning, and what are they today?
In the development of Familienstellen Berta and Sophie Hellinger a total of five stages can be distinguished. At each stage, fundamental and entirely new insights into human behavior are discovered. These stages are detailed below by clicking on the link.