Systemic constellations

What are systemic constellations?

Systemic Constellations, originally developed by Bert Hellinger, are a method for exploring the often-unconscious dynamics that shape relationships within families, organizations, and other social systems. This approach is based on the understanding that systems - whether a family, a team, or an organization - function according to a few natural principles. When these principles are significantly disrupted, the effects can ripple throughout the system, even across generations.

The key principles that guide healthy systems are:

• Belonging: everyone in the system has a right to belong.

• Order: each member has a rightful place within the system.

• Balance of giving and receiving: Relationships thrive when there is a natural, balanced flow of contributions and support.

How do systemic constellations work?

Every member of a system holds an inner image of the system - a largely unconscious representation of how relationships, roles, and dynamics function within the family, team, or organization. These images are often shared across the system and shaped by collective patterns, unspoken rules, and past experiences.

Systemic Constellations make these inner images visible. By externalizing the inner image of the system in a constellation, individuals and groups can recognize patterns, understand the forces shaping their relationships, and begin relating differently to themselves, each other, and the system as a whole. In turn, this opens up space for new possibilities of connection and collaboration.

In practice, a constellation can take place either in a group setting, where participants step into the roles of family or organizational members, or in an individual session, where objects represent certain members or roles. Through verbal and non-verbal information - such as distance, proximity, orientation, and subtle gestures - as well as the felt sense of the field that emerges as the constellation unfolds, relationships, patterns, and dynamics between members become apparent.

With the guidance of the facilitator, as these dynamics and sources of conflict reveal themselves, they can be rebalanced through respectful interventions - such as restoring someone’s rightful place, repairing disruptions in the flow of giving and receiving, or re-establishing order - allowing the system to move toward greater clarity, harmony, and flow.

Systemic Constellations do not aim to “fix” or change the past. Instead, they create space for what has been disrupted or misunderstood to be seen and approached differently, opening the door to new possibilities.