Hello Robert –
In terms of my understanding of the evolution of Constellations, the direction
taken by Franz Ruppert and Vivian Broughton makes the work more accessible and
acceptable to mainstream academics, scientists, therapists and the general
public. This is its primary advantage. On the other hand, it deletes completely
the aspect of Constellations that makes the process a powerful healing
modality.
Using the model of the three dimensions of consciousness
(personal/ancestral/spiritual, drop/wave/ocean, ordinary/soul/spirit-mind),
Constellations of Intention expressly and unequivocally work exclusively with
the first dimension. Both Vivian and Franz have stated quite firmly that the
second and third dimensions are no more than products of the imagination.
Bert Hellinger was usually agnostic when asked whether the representatives
standing in Constellations were literally channeling the consciousness of the
ancestors they were representing. His stock answer was, “We do not know. We
work with the effects.” Broughton and Ruppert have answered with a firm No. In
my work, especially working with Emily Blefeld Volden, I answer with an equally
firm Yes.
To my understanding, a Constellation is a process in which a person with a
pressing personal issue comes into contact with the consciousness of deceased
members of the family system for the purpose of releasing ancestral imprints,
healing broken connections in the biological lineage and establishing a loving
connection to 2nd and 3rd dimension resources. In this context, symbiotic
trauma is an aspect of the first dimension and need not be the central focus of
the experience.
If Constellations are no more than a first dimension experience, it is proper
for the facilitator to exert strict limits on authority. However, if
Constellations are a way of interfacing with 2nd and 3rd dimension
consciousness, then the facilitator is acting responsibly to help navigate
among the ancestors and spiritual resources. It can be appropriate for the
facilitator to act more proactively in communicating with the Field.
Dan
Dan Booth Cohen, PhD
Free Monthly Consciousness Call <http://hiddensolution.com/services/#freecall>
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From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 2:56 AM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ConstellationTalk] Authority of the facilitator and issues of trauma.
Hello Friends,
I would like to share this excellent writing by Vivian Broughton who
articulates some of the fundamental challenges I have observed in so many
constellation sessions. Although the article focuses on intention it has
general significance about the way constellations are facilitated.
" Trauma is a situation in which, in the moment of the shift from high stress
to trauma, we simply are looking death in the face. The psychological splitting
that occurs in this moment is the organism’s last-ditch attempt to manage the
devastation it faces by dissociating from the experience. This is the most
extreme situation we can ever face, and survive. All real traumas have this
life and death element. We have no resources, we have no choice, we have no
autonomy. We are absolutely in the power of the forces at play, whether natural
or relational. Resignation and surrender are the only possibilities; the
situation is beyond ‘fight or flight’.
A baby is all feelings; you cannot tell a baby he is safe, he only knows if he
feels safe, and essentially he should feel safe with his mother. But if his
mother is traumatised, and emotionally unavailable, dissociated, absent to the
child, the child cannot feel safe; he must fear for his survival. The mother’s
traumatised state becomes the child’s traumatised state, and the lack of good,
clear loving connection with the mother becomes the child’s own first moment of
trauma… the point at which the child resigns to his fate of non-connection.
This doesn't even begin to deal with the issue of later traumatisation, for
instance in an intentionally abusive family.
Understanding trauma in this way underlies the idea of the constellation of the
intention, because the authority and power of what happens in the work must
always remain with the client. If we understand the powerless experience of the
traumatised, we must understand that every moment of their life embodies a
question of power: who is in charge now? Who is the more powerful? Am I safe
with this person, in this situation? The tension between the survival need to
control, and the terror of being in the control of another underlies all trauma
work.
The formation of the constellation of the intention requires the client to
formulate her intention for this constellation, and for the facilitator to be
acutely attentive to the potential power and authority of any of his
interventions. However easily clients may attempt to make us the authority of
what her intention will be… we cannot take this on. Because the individual’s
autonomy is destroyed in the trauma moment, their continuing existence
oscillates between not trusting others’ potential to have, and take, power over
them, and their need to project their own power out onto others, to make others
the powerful ones. The facilitator must continually avoid falling into the trap
of assuming authority for what happens in the whole constellations process.
So the intention must belong to the client, be in her own words, and from her
own reflections and deliberations. As much as she may look to the facilitator
to help with forming her intention, we fail her if we do so. We must listen
carefully to everything she says, with our whole being. We may ask questions if
we think we need information or if we have not heard correctly, but essentially
the journey to establishing the intention should be the client’s own journey.
Once the client’s intention is established, it is the client who must energise
her constellation by choosing a representative for her intention. She must be
free to choose whoever she wants, place this person as she wishes, and stay
with this representative for her intention. This frees the facilitator from
having any influence on who is chosen and how the constellation is set up.
The ‘intention’ then becomes this extraordinary wildcard that, through the
representative’s experiences, shows the underlying dynamics at play that relate
to the clients stated intention. The representative for the ‘intention’ is free
to move, to speak, to follow his or her experience. The beginning process of
the constellation is the development of the relationship between the client and
her ‘intention'; this already represents a split, two parts of the client:
herself and her ‘intention’.
The main task of the facilitator from this point on is to observe the
developing relationship between the client and her ‘intention’, and try and
understand the dynamics that unfold in relation to the stated intention. The
continual question for the facilitator could be expressed as: how does what I
see happening in the constellation relate to the stated intention, and what are
the observable survival/healthy/trauma dynamics?
The advantages of the constellation of the intention then are:
· right from the beginning it represents two parts of the split psyche in the
client (client as separate from her intention, an intention meaning that she
wants something she doesn’t think she has, ie other than her, or separate from
her)
· it is intended to keep as much power and authority for what happens in the
constellation with the client
· it keeps the facilitator’s interventions to a minimum: observation,
understanding and comment
· this gives the process an in-built safety factor: provided the facilitator
doesn’t overstep his place, the constellation will only go as far as the client
can allow (whether consciously or unconsciously)
This last is perhaps the most advantageous item. Safety when working with
trauma is extremely important. The client’s trust of himself, and of the
facilitator, varies from moment to moment, depending on what is happening. If
his trauma is too frighteningly re-triggered he will likely go more into
survival mode, and the constellation will not go further until he is ready. In
my view and experience, situations of severe re-traumatisation of the client in
any constellation is due to the facilitator having pushed the boundaries and
intervened too much.
Anyone can facilitate something that looks like a constellation of the
intention, but the underlying purpose of this process requires a clear grasp of
the reality of trauma, of the relational dynamics between the healthy,
traumatised and survival parts of the traumatised person, and of the power
issues involved."
Best wishes to all,
Robert
