Dear Linda,
I agree with Dan, that the presence of death is in the center of the circle.
I worked as a hospice nurse in the US for many years before I took up systemic
constellation full time. What I would see as a goal with the social workers is
to improve the quality of their relationships with death through introducing
resources in a structured way.
I suggest first introducing resources for the mind through didactic teaching of
the role of death in systemic thinking. Social workers are typical people, who
will want to start with information so they can feel that they are in control
through knowing and so feel safer.
Then I would shift to a simple exercise that is always (99.5%) successful which
demonstrates the power of presence. This exercise brings the mind and body
together in a resourceful way that will improve their ability to approach all
emotions and specifically to approach the ever-present topic of death and dying.
Those two pieces of information would be enough for the introduction and for
the social workers to feel success and want to learn more in the next session.
For more resources, I have our new book Encounters with Death which discusses
the evolutionary aspect our relationship with death, has stories from hospice
and examples of death in systemic constellations as well as two informal
conversations about death, hospice and constellations. It was co-written with
Dr. Ursula Franke-Bryson who is one of the first generation of facilitators
from Germany. We also have a DVD of our experiential workshop for the German
association DGfS entitles Presence and Death. It is in German and English. We
are in the process of adding English subtitles for the parts that are in
German. The exercise on the power of presence and specifically with death are
in English.
Good luck with the social workers. Once again I agree with Dan when he said,
'Social workers are thirsty for Constellations. They just don't know it.'
All the best,
Thomas Bryson
tb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Apr 9, 2013, at 5:36 AM, "Dan Booth Cohen, PhD" <danboothcohen@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Welcome, Linda
For social workers doing in-home palliative care, the presence of death is
in the center of the circle. Everyone is dancing around death, trying to
cope or pretend.
From the Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard:
In her room, Caroline Bell would fall into long reverie, remembering though
not pondering sights, episodes, and sensations, or lines she had read; like
an old woman ruminating on the long, long, past. She was coming to look on
men and women as fellow-survivors: well-dissemblers of their woes, who, with
few signals of grief, had contained, assimilated, or put to use their own
destruction. Of those who had endured the worst, not all behaved nobly or
consistently. But all, involuntarily, became part of some deeper assertion
of life.
The thing I have noticed about exercises in such demonstrations, is there is
no such thing. I sometimes still try to set up a demonstration exercise.
They always turn into a real Constellation. When you set people up, a field
forms. A real field of the person or people you place.
Hope this helps you have a great meeting. Social workers are thirsty for
Constellations. They just don't know it.
Dan
From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Linda Lockspeiser
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 9:01 AM
To: Constellation Talk
Subject: [ConstellationTalk] Exercise for introducint Constellation work to
palliative care Social Workers
Hello all,
I am an avid reader, first time writer here. I am a systems therapist in
private practice who has been doing Constellation Workshops for a number of
years. I am giving a retreat for social workers who work in a home-based
palliative care setting. I would like to introduce Constellation work to
them during the retreat. The theme of the day is "Staying in Right
Relationshhip", and I was wondering if there were any creative exercises
that I might use to do so. My original thought was to use it to problem
solve some of the places where they get stuck in their work as they have to
negotiate between patients, their families, the medical staff, the pastoral
staff and the administration of a large organization. Any other ideas,
exercises, or precautions (!) would be appreciated.
With gratitude for all I learn from all of you,
Linda Longo-Lockspeiser LCSW
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