Theresa,
You have asked some very important questions about constellation work and I am
going to provide you with my opinion, based on 30 years of working in the
psychiatric field and 9 years of experience learning constellation work, and
hopefully growing personally all along the way; and I am writing this off the
top of my head so am grateful if others weigh in on the matter.
As far as procedures that constellations facilitators follow, there are no
guidelines in this area per se, except those relevant to the licensure that a
facilitator may have. ISCA (International Systemic Constellation Association)
will be providing recommended (suggested?) guidelines for practice, but this is
in the near future. Many facilitators have learned the work from teachers who
have a background in psychiatric academia and therapeutic licensure which
teaches scope of practice, appropriate boundaries and professional standards.
From that perspective, one would break confidentiality if a client threatens
the life of another person or of themself. Otherwise, whether my client is
still alive or has passed away, it would not be appropriate for me to divulge
even the fact that they did a constellation with me, nor would it be
appropriate for me to share the content of their constellation with anyone.
This oversteps my role. It suggests that I can "help" someone, someone who has
not asked for that "help".
I do constellations with people at a moment in time when it feels like the
appropriate intervention and is entered into consensually by the client. The
process and content stands on its own at that moment in time, is relevant to
the client and THEIR OWN inner process, and if it is relevant to another person
in the family system, in its own mysterious way, the constellation will unfold
in the other person's life.
I have no belief that I can "help" the dead. In many constellations, I have
seen movements which I interpret to mean that shifts have been made, for both
the living and the dead. This has had an effect on me, on clients and on those
who observe another person's constellation. This has not caused me to embark on
a mission to be the source of information for the living or the dead, or to
imagine that to be my role in any way. Therefore, I would not facilitate a
constellation for someone that has died; I would facilitate a constellation for
a client, when appropriate, who has an issue, knowing that, in their inner
process, the dead may be involved. This question: Is that also why you asked to
speak with her daughter about her health issues and thus how they might be
healed in future constellation as she deals with her mother's death? Gary would
have to answer this specifically; but from my perspective, constellations are
confidential, none of us need healing, we cannot assume what effect Hilary's
death has had on her children or how they are relating to this event in their
lives, and finally, as adults, Hilary's children have the same opportunities
any adults have to find the appropriate resources, if and when they need them,
to incorporate the fact of their mother's passing.
I hope this helps, Theresa, and welcome to the constellation talk group! all
the best, sheila
Constellation Intensive with Stephan Hausner July 28-Aug. 2 in Farmington,
CTSheila Saunders, RN, LMFT
www.systemicfamilysolutions.com
PO Box 1011 Weaverville, North Carolina 28787
828-273-5015
Letting your life run in the ordinary way is one option.
To: ConstellationTalk@yahoogroups.comFrom: theresa.guerra@yahoo.comDate: Wed,
28 May 2008 04:14:42 +0000Subject: [ConstellationTalk] Re: Hilary Sullivan
Hello Gary,I hope you don't mind a few basic questions from a newbie as
theyrelate to the death of Hilary Sullivan, the facilitator from Vancouver. I
wonder if there is a certain procedure that facilitators follow inthe event
that a client from their constellations would happen to die. I went to the
memorial blogsite for Hilary Sullivan
http://hilarysullivan.wordpress.com/pictures/and there I saw your two entries, ;
Gary, first, your very moving anddeeply heart felt poem which told everyone to
focus on the idea thatshe is not really gone but is still here in her loved
ones' hearts.Then I saw your second entry which I copy here so I can ask you
about it.[ I facilitated a constellation for her in North Carolina at
theConstellation Conference
.I would like to speak to her youngerdaughter with
health issues
Email me when the time isright
.Gary@xxxxxxxxxxxx My deepest
Sympathy GARY]Comment by Gary Stuart May 25, 2008 #
]+++++++++++++++++++++Because you facilitated a constellation for her and now
she has died,will it be necessary for you now to do a follow up constellation
forher? And if so, will that help her make a better transition in theafterlife?
As well as help her family cope better with the loss? I am so very impressed by
the strong role that the dead play inconstellation work, especially in the
victim and perpetratorconstellations of ethnic and racial reconciliation, so I
would guessthat the same energy dynamics would hold for the dead in
personalfamily constellations? Is that also why you asked to speak with
herdaughter about her health issues and thus how they might be healed ina
future constellation as she deals with her mother's death?Your courageous
efforts to reconcile the effects of the death haveraised many more questions,
but I think I will just ask one more andthen call it a night.Does it make a
difference in your approach to facilitating aconstellation for someone who has
died, if that person died a naturaldeath, died by sudden accident or murder, or
if she took her own life?Thank you all so much for your patience with my
questions and Iapologize if I have asked too many questions and/or too many
dumb ones.Theresa--- In ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Anita Roy"
<anitaroy@...>wrote:>> One of our CT members has passed away.> > *Hilary
Sullivan*> > She was a constellation facilitator in Vancouver, British
Columbia,Canada,> and she ran a web site to let us all in Canada know about FC
events:> http://www.familyconstellations.ca/> > I was a representative in some
of the constellations shefacilitated, and> she also facilitated some of my
constellations. As well, we havecarpooled> to attend constellation workshops.>
The family has established a blog and her husband invites anyone whowishes>to honor Hilary, to create an entry on it.> >
-----------------------------------------------> > Anita Roy> > > [Non-textportions of this message have been removed]>
