Healing Through Connecting™ |
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What Is It?
It resonates with the research findings of biologist Rupert Sheldrake, who posited that related people, places, and animals exist in a “morphic field” of energy which has both influence and memory.
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“Like a flock of birds or a school of fish, each family is held in an invisible field that encompasses and governs all its members, who can sense each other and move in concert without a word being spoken,” explain Alison Rose and Ed Levy, a husband-wife team who facilitate Constellation workshops in the New York area. “Any painful event touches every single family member and continues to reverberate down to later generations. As a result, people often carry and reenact the original wounds of their ancestors.”
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These wounds are called unconscious “entanglements”: traumatic or unresolved issues that have been hidden, such as a murder in the family, an abortion or miscarriage, an infidelity, or the premature death of a parent or child. Hellinger says these entanglements disturb our lives and manifest in the form of sudden illness or accidents, depression or feelings of isolation, physical or mental illness, and persistent relationship conflicts and dysfunction.
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Reclaiming Our Destiny
Louise Danielle Palmer, “How to Heal Your Family” in Spirituality and Health Magazine, November-December 2006
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"In the gathering of powerful approaches from psychotherapy as well as other paradigms, [Hellinger] has created a uniquely compelling healing approach. He has learned specific tools from a variety of sources, but the overarching strength of his work comes from his refined skill of listening to the authority of one`s own soul. This is not a guaranteed ‵technique′, it is, rather, the only real protection we have against the seduction of false authority according to Hellinger. Seeing ‵what is′ as opposed to blindly accepting what is being said – no matter by whom – is the linchpin of this often difficult healing work for individuals, groups, communities and cultures."
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Origins of the term "Family Constellations"
"The actual use of the phrase Family Constellations to describe the process challenges the accuracy of the common understanding of the word constellation... Family Constellations began in Germany and the word used to describe it in German is “systemaufstellung.” Translated to English, it is “system installation” or “system set up” or “arrangement” (Systemaufstellung, 2012). This generic term can be applied to different systems, as in family systems (Familieaufstellung), depending upon the focus... At first, Familieaufstellung was translated to the English 'The Order of Love' and then changed to 'The Orders of Love' (Dauskardt, 2013, p. 73). Years later: 'the new term "Family Constellations" emerged and was adopted as the most popular English language term... referring to a complete process according to the insights Bert Hellinger had gained with regard to the essential systemic and phenomenological aspects of the work' (Dauskardt, 2013, p. 73)." Michaelene Ruhl, 2013, Clients’ Experiences of Family Constellations in Psychological Healing |
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“I feel everything that I have done that has to do with Family Constellations has been healing. There is growth to be had in all of it. It is visceral, the healing, because it really is more of an emotional or even a spiritual connection. I am receiving a healing. I am not thinking. Healing is an acknowledgment of what is and then an acceptance and then agreement. To me, that agreement to what is - rather than fighting and saying, “This is my past and I hate it” - is really saying: “This is my past, and this is my past. That is all it is.” It becomes more like a
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"To be very honest, I am very left-brained and analytical so when I first heard about Family Constellations and someone intellectually described it to me, I thought this is about the biggest mumbo jumbo that I have heard. I decided to try it anyway and I began one-on-one sessions over the telephone then I observed it through a workshop... As these experiences progressed, I thought to myself, this is not mumbo jumbo. This is actually a methodology and process. I am able to get past the mental and to the heart place that gives me insight, empowerment, and objectivity to change something and help my wounds heal and strengthen my relationships. What a powerful way to achieve healing. Healing, to me, happens through ... releasing my anger, pain, hurt, and fear through felt and spoken connection of the constellation. It gives me
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“To me, Family Constellations is about finding the places within my family history and my family of origin where love has been interrupted and in that knowledge, having the opportunity to acknowledge, accept, and agree to what was and what is in a safe and sacred environment. It encompasses the gift of connecting on a level one would seem to never be able to connect to outside of the family constellation experience or with traditional psychotherapy only. It is a connection to the past, present, and even to the
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Curious about exploring Family/Systemic Constellations and what makes a good facilitator? Michaelene had the honor of being interviewed for classes offered by REAL (Resources for Embodied and Ancestral Learning) Academy in South Africa.
Michaelene is one of the facilitators from all over the world, to be a part of the Resources for Beginner & Intermediate Facilitators. Michaelene's teachings on anxiety & depression, fertility, and addiction are in part 3 of the offerings coming soon. |