Explore the hidden patterns shaping how you live, love and relate.
Family Constellation Therapy is an experiential, systemic approach to exploring family relationships, inherited patterns and the dynamics that influence our lives.
Developed by German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger in the late 20th century, Family Constellation Therapy draws significantly on the ancestral wisdom and healing traditions of the Indigenous isiZulu peoples of South Africa, particularly Ubuntu – their understanding of belonging, interconnectedness and the enduring place of ancestors within daily life.
This is about stillness and listening. It is about a field of experience. About embodied exploration. As we drop and connect, we begin to notice on a level that is deeper than day-to-day. We open our perpetual capacity; the shape of an experience becomes different in a way that is not usually available to us. Something changes: we glimpse new perspectives on longstanding challenges, relationship difficulties, grief and experiences of feeling stuck. Grace is always in the room.
Family Constellations explore the relationships, roles and patterns within a family or other significant system.
In a facilitated group workshop, participants gather in a circle. A person wishing to explore an issue may be invited to select other participants to represent family members or elements of their situation.
This Through movement, observation and reflection, a spatial representation of the issue emerges.
Rather than analysing a situation solely through conversation, the process offers an opportunity to encounter it through embodied experience and different perspectives.
The intention is not to establish historical facts or determine what other people think or feel, but to create space for insight, reflection and new possibilities.
What can Family Constellations help you explore?
Attend individually (in person) or online or group (in person or online)Family Constellation workshops to explore a wide range of personal and relational experiences, including:
- Family conflict and intergenerational patterns
- Relationship difficulties and recurring dynamics
- Grief, loss and unresolved family experiences
- Separation, divorce and changing family roles
- Belonging, identity and family loyalties
- Career transitions and feeling stuck
- Experiences of exclusion or disconnection
- The influence of family history on present-day choices
You don’t need to have a clearly defined problem. Sometimes curiosity about your family story or a recurring pattern is enough.
What happens at a Family Constellation workshop or session?
This is a facilitated group setting, with participants seated in a circle and if in individual session, the facilitator and client will meet.
You may choose to bring an issue for your own constellation, participate as a representative in another person’s exploration, or simply witness the process. It doesn’t really mater, as representatives always report finding healing through this role.
Representatives may notice emotions, bodily sensations, impulses or associations as they participate. These experiences are treated as subjective information for exploration, rather than proof of another person’s internal experience.
The process is collaborative, and participants are encouraged to remain aware of their own boundaries and choices.
Do I have to do my own constellation?
There is no pressure to undertake a personal constellation.
When you are carrying something you really need to look at, it feels ‘cooked’ and you will know when the time is right. I trust in this field process showing us what we need to see and where we need to be within that. However, to represent parts of other people’s constellations always offers valuable opportunities to reflect on your own relationships, family patterns and experiences. In group settings, I also work in smaller dyads or triads, so there is a chance for lasting transformation for everyone
You are welcome to attend with curiosity, participate within your comfort level and decide what feels appropriate for you.
Simply being present and witnessing the process can be a meaningful experience in itself.
An embodied approach to understanding your story
One of the distinctive qualities of Family Constellation work is its emphasis on experience rather than explanation alone.
Family Constellations work with what practitioners call the Knowing Field, where emotions, sensations and relational patterns may emerge through shared experience.
Through movement, spatial relationships and embodied awareness, participants explore hidden dynamics and discover new perspectives beyond words alone.
The work is not theatre, mediumship or a means of establishing objective truths about others. It is a facilitated, experiential process that creates space for insight, connection and new possibilities.
Is Systemic Family Constellation Therapy right for me?
This work suits those curious about family patterns, relationships and embodied exploration or group dymanics in work and creativity. The work can evoke strong emotions and may not suit those in acute distress.
We don’t finish by the clock, but allow each constellation to reach a natural conclusion — a healing gestalt. I follow up with every participant and offer 1:1 support where needed.
Family Constellations complement, rather than replace, medical or mental health care.