Hello Bernardo,
Late last March and April, the CT community generously shared their
experiences about working from a distance. If you have CT archives,
it may be an additional resource. Below is the protocol I offer the
students in my facilitator training program. It may be amended to
meet your specific needs.
All the best,
Mark
Mark A. Johnson, M.A., LMFT, Director
Seattle Constellations Institute
Office: 206.525.0525
6523 21st Avenue, Suite 5B
Seattle, Washington 98115-6924
www.SeattleConstellations.org
MarkJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PHONE CONSTELLATIONS
~ Chose a time when neither you nor the client is likely to be
distracted.
~ Use the interview to clarify the issue and have a starting set-up
in mind, just as you would in any constellation.
~ Invite the client to be in a location where they can relax and
feel safe enough to surrender to the process.
~ Most clients seem to be most comfortable sitting or somewhat
reclining, so that the are relaxed and aware.
~ After a few clearing breaths, they are invited to still themselves.
~ Then I invite the client to close their eyes and to allow
themselves to begin to travel until they find themselves in an open
space. It may be indoors, such as a gymnasium floor or a theatre
stage or a large living room. It may be out of doors, such as a
meadow or clearing in the woods, at a beach or beside a dirt road.
~ Once they are there, I ask them to keep their eyes closed and
describe where they have arrived and what they see. Sometime
information about the setting helps guide the direct of the
constellation and provides clues about what is wanting to happen
toward resolution.
~ Based on the interview, the issue, my hypothesis and information
from the setting, I invite the client to allow important elements to
enter the scene. I might say, "Simply allow your mother and your
father to appear in this place. You don't set them up, you simply see
where they arrive and notice them." When that happens, "In
relationship to where you are, where are they and what are they
doing?" Clients will often describe the relative distance from each
other, which way they face and if they are in a position. A recent
example, I see my father clearly. He is sitting in the shade of a
tree, not too far away, reading. He doesn't notice us. I can't
really see my mother, but she seems close to my side. I feel her, but
she's kind of a blur".
~ I ask how the client how the actions, movements or lack of
movement effects them and how the other representatives seem to be
effected, as well.
~ From here, the constellation continues as it would in a group
session. Language is offered (sometimes I might say something like,
"Hear you mother say, 'I see you. I'm right here'. What happens when
you hear this?'"). I check with client to see if the words have a
resonance with the constellation.
~ A difference in working this way is that you may use the setting
as part of the constellation and resolution. In one constellation,
the parents were looking off in the distance. When asked what they
seemed to be looking toward, the client replied, "It's weird, but
there is a covered wagon crossing the prairie." I asked about the
history of the parents and then invited the client to simply allow the
covered wagon to come closer. The client reported that it did and
stopped directly in front of the parents. When I asked what happened,
the client said, "Everyone is smiling, me too, and I don't know why".
The constellation proceeded and include these pioneering ancestors
(and a long lost child) as an important part of the resolution.
Another example of using the setting during a phone constellation.
There was also a session when the client was focused on a one room
cabin that was at the far end of a field. Asked if they wanted to be
closer, the client said they did, but wanted support before entering.
When support was present, the client entered the cabin and was able to
face what was found in the room to conclude with a peaceful resolution.
~ At the end of a phone constellation, I invite the client to make
their way back to this time and place. There may be a very brief
discussion, if the client finds this helpful.
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