Family Constellation Therapy

Seeing What Has Been Carrying You

What in your life feels difficult to explain?

Patterns in relationships. Financial struggles. Illness. Repeated heartbreak. Anxiety that seems larger than your own story. A sense that you are working hard, yet circling the same experiences.

Family Constellation Therapy explores whether these patterns may originate not only in personal history, but within the larger family system itself.

Sometimes what burdens us did not begin with us.

What Is Family Constellation Therapy?

Family Constellations is a therapeutic method developed by Bert Hellinger that examines how unresolved events, losses, or exclusions in previous generations can unconsciously influence the present.

Through this work, hidden loyalties within families are brought into awareness so that what no longer belongs to you can be released.

Clients often seek this work for:

• Relationship difficulties

• Divorce or separation

• Repeating family conflicts

• Addiction patterns

• Financial blocks

• Grief and unexplained sadness

• Chronic stress or illness

• Parenting challenges

The aim is not blame, but clarity.

Not excavation for its own sake, but movement toward wholeness.

How Constellation Work Functions

Constellation sessions explore what some researchers describe as a shared relational field within families. Biologist Rupert Sheldrake proposed the idea of morphic or morphogenetic fields to describe how systems transmit information and patterns over time.

In practice, this work allows unconscious dynamics to become visible so they can be met with compassion, dignity, and resolution.

What emerges is often a shift in perception.

What once felt personal becomes understandable.

What was carried unconsciously can finally be laid down.

A Systemic Perspective on Trauma

More recently, writers such as Mark Wolynn have helped bring intergenerational trauma into public awareness, describing how emotional inheritance can echo across generations.

Family Constellation Therapy approaches these experiences through a systemic lens, recognizing that families move as interconnected wholes.

Bert Hellinger wrote:

“There is a deep need for justice and retribution within family systems. The family and the extended family behave as if they belong to a common soul.”

— Supporting Love

Origins of the Method

Bert (Anton) Hellinger developed Constellation Therapy after many years living and working in South Africa, where he observed indigenous traditions, community rituals, and collective healing practices. His later work in Europe and North America integrated insights from philosophy, systems theory, psychotherapy, and group dynamics.

He identified recurring principles within family systems which he called the Orders of Love: the natural arrangements that allow belonging, balance, and flow between generations.

Hellinger also studied with Primal Therapy pioneer Dr. Arthur Janov, whose work emphasized the importance of unmet developmental needs and their long-term psychological effects.

Janov wrote:

“We are born needing… to be fed, kept warm and dry, to grow and develop at our own pace, to be held and caressed… The neurotic process begins when these needs go unmet for any length of time.”

These influences shaped Constellation Therapy into a method that honors early attachment, family loyalty, and the profound effects of interrupted bonds.

What This Work Offers

Family Constellation Therapy is not about reliving trauma.

It is about bringing order to what has been hidden, restoring dignity to forgotten family members, and allowing love to move where it was once interrupted.

Clients often report:

• A sense of relief or emotional release

• Greater clarity in relationships

• Shifts in long-standing patterns

• Increased self-compassion

• A feeling of being more grounded in their own life

The work unfolds gently.

Nothing is forced.

Only what is ready is revealed.

Who This Is For

This work is for people who sense there is more beneath the surface.

For those who are willing to look honestly at family history.

For those who want to stop repeating cycles.

For those who feel called to live their own life rather than an inherited one.

If you’d like, next time we can:

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What is Family Constellations Therapy?

Think about your life—what is working and what is not working?

What if … your great grandmother passed down a “trauma” that couldn’t be explained, but was well and ALIVE in your own life? What if you REPEATED the same pattern as her? Love-less marriage, deception, squandering of the money, alcoholism, addictions, or mental illness? What if you could go back in time and find out THE REAL STORY?

That’s what I do with the assistance of the Morphogenic Field (see Sheldrake) to unfold your life so that you can see that IT IS NOT YOURS and you can heal and move forward with the life that God gave you. (And “HE” gave you this “inherited” trauma as well because LOVE HEALS old wounds. Old wounds that repeat terrible patterns that are not serving humanity any longer.

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Family Constellation is a method of family therapy developed by Bert Hellinger that uncovers hidden patterns and events unfolding in your life, your kids, and your relationships. Divorce, suicide, loss of money, illness, addictions, and more can be looked at from the perspective of Family Constellations, or “trauma therapy” coined from Mark Wolynn.

“There is a deep need for justice and retribution within family systems. The family and the extended family behave as if they belong to a common soul.” —Bert Hellinger (Book: Supporting Love)

Long ago a brilliant man named Bert (Anton) Hellinger founded CONSTELLATION THERAPY, after living in South Africa for over 16 years—spending time with the Zulu Tribe first as a missionary for the Christain Church. He observed and participated in inter-racial, ecumenical training in the early 1960s, which laid the groundwork for his therapy concerning a phenomenological orientation. He began researching the representative phenomenon in 1978 and discovered the basic orders of life, which he called ORDERS OF LOVE. These “orders” formed the basis of Family Constellation Therapy.

Bert went back to the USA to work with PRIMAL Therapist Dr. Janov. “Primal Therapy is aimed at eradicating these pains. It is revolutionary because it involves overthrowing the neurotic system by a forceful upheaval. Nothing short of that will eliminate neurosis, in my opinion.” – from The Primal Scream by Dr. Arthur Janov

We all are creatures of need. We are born needing, and the vast majority of us die after a lifetime of struggle with many of our needs unfulfilled. These needs are not excessive—to be fed, kept warm and dry, to grow and develop at our own pace, to be held and caressed, and to be stimulated. These Primal needs are the central reality of the infant. The neurotic process begins when these needs go unmet for any length of time. A newborn does not know that he should be picked up when he cries or that he should not be weaned too early, but when his needs go unattended, he hurts. (Dr. Arthur Janov)

“I worked with Lisa Marie last week. She was able to reach deep into my soul during a constellation therapy session. Beautiful, revealing and cleansing experience. And then I revelled in the feelings and the learnings all day as I continued to think about life, pleasure, relationships, family and ultimately death. I feel like an age-old weight has been lifted off me. Past hurts vanished. And I feel energized.” —Daren

SYSTEMS ATTRACT SYSTEMS

The Universe comprises a pair of opposites (Yin/Yang, positive/negative, up/down.) Your system gets pulled towards another system to heal parts, make a whole, or integrate what’s missing. When you consummate your love with another, you also create a bond or an “entanglement” with them and their systems. This commingling of systems allows for the power of love to heal, find order, and for souls to accept their fate, no matter how grave, violent or sad.

Life comes to you through your parents, and their parents, and their parents .... Not accepting this gift and blessing is like rejecting yourself; you may sense this empty or void of feeling that enshrouds your life. A sense of purpose escapes you. Life MOVES us forward—how can you (move forward with relationships, jobs and ideas) if you have bonds from the past holding you in place or pulling you backwards?

“This workshop was very powerful, I wasn't expecting to feel the emotions so strongly about unpacking my own family dynamic while also being comfortable role playing in others constellations. Lisa was very present, professional, and focused to keep the experience authentic and inclusive. It's a mix of discussion, journaling, and role playing family members for one another. It's very weird to see how strangers position themselves to represent your family dynamic, at first it seemed faked but by the end you experience the magic of collective field energy. The 4 hours fly by, and I was surprised about what came up out of nowhere which has given me insight to continue to work on strengthening ties, letting go, setting boundaries for future etc. TYSM for this! It's good to keep going to more.” —Deb

CONSTELLATION Workshops with my teacher Mark

Mark Wolynn—My teacher is “the Director of The Family Constellation Institute in San Francisco; Mark is a world leader in the field of Inherited Family Trauma. A bestselling author and sought-after lecturer, he teaches worldwide at hospitals, clinics, conferences, universities, and teaching centers.”

Working under Mark’s intelligent wisdom since 2010 has been my pleasure. I didn’t know then that I would teach “the work” until last year (2020). I was still puzzled about why my current relationship wasn’t working out even though I had been immersed in the teachings and practicing on and off over the past ten years. Why were my two older sisters or I not ever married?

I dug through my books again, re-reading Mark and Bert Hellinger’s works, which propelled me into a magical journey of my soul. It unfolded like a lotus flower with a fragrance that can not be manufactured.

In the beginning, how I found Mark and “the work” was intimately personal to accepting what was being presented. Bruce Hoffman is a well-known homeopathic doctor in Calgary, AB, Canada, and I was on his monthly mailing list. I received an email showcasing that a live workshop was available in the coming weeks. I registered because I had a weighty question—a decision on my mind that I thought the weekend might answer.

Do I keep my baby or not? I couldn’t find love for the father, and we had just broken up weeks before I found out I was pregnant. I couldn’t decide. I had this pain and confusion about my life and what I wanted. I was in no shape financially to keep the baby, and her father wasn’t the kind of man I saw myself with, even though he mentioned getting married as a result of this news.

I attended the workshop and listened to what Mark had to say about families, inherited trauma and choices we make out of love for our family. My system was broken. Was I going to give up another baby like my grandmother? His words hit me hard; I decided that day to keep my child and figure out my life entangled with her father.

That was thirteen years ago. I love my daughter completely, and “this work” has enabled me to heal parts of my past, especially with my mother. I can openly receive her love and hold a place for the people who were forgotten or dismissed inside my heart—as they all belong to my system.

This work is profound for me, as I speak from direct impact and experience of correcting and balancing the field.

Every time I have taken a course from Mark or re-read his book (It Didn’t Start With You), I am taken on a voyage into the stars. The healing that I have been able to do, reaching far back even to my great, great grandmother, has been profound. Honouring the forgotten members of our family and giving them a place in my heart has been the most beautiful work I have witnessed.

I decided long ago that my service to the world was to provide a new perspective for others to heal.

I have been leading courses for over 10+ years in:

Values Determination (from Dr. John Demartini)
Feng Shui (from Master Lin Yun)
Women/Men Relationships & Wellness (from David Deida and John Wineland)
Constellation Workshops (from Mark Wolynn)

I desire to make what’s broken whole, coming from even the most burdened systems of adoption, death, betrayal, incest, rape and more.

I honour Bert Hellinger for bringing this amazing type of therapy into the world and for
Mark Wolynn and his journey brought this so prevalently into North America. And a
deep, heartfelt thank you to Dr. Bruce Hoffman, who brought Mark to Calgary and to
Mark’s assistant Kari Dunlop—she is an amazing support for the work here in Calgary, AB.

“This workshop was very powerful, I wasn't expecting to feel the emotions so strongly about unpacking my own family dynamic while also being comfortable role playing in others constellations. Lisa was very present, professional, and focused to keep the experience authentic and inclusive. It's a mix of discussion, journaling, and role playing family members for one another. It's very weird to see how strangers position themselves to represent your family dynamic, at first it seemed faked but by the end you experience the magic of collective field energy. The 4 hours fly by, and I was surprised about what came up out of nowhere which has given me insight to continue to work on strengthening ties, letting go, setting boundaries for future etc. TYSM for this! It's good to keep going to more.” —Deb