Thankyou Sheila both for your validation and your suggestions. Your
suggestions are echoed in the article which Bertold recently posted. so it
makes sense to respond to his article and your comments together.
I would like to thank Bertold Ulsamer for his recently posted article on
Constellations and trauma. It is both enlightening and clear. There are many
useful points made in it. It helps to put constellations in a broader
context. The understanding of trauma as presented in this article would also
enrich any constellation facilitator's practice. So it is well worth the
read.
This article (and Sheila's recent comments) allowed me to reflect further
on the "Obesity Constellation" that I have already presented here. I
especially found it helpful the way Bertold outlined the physical phenomena
that you can observe as signs that a past trauma is being reactivated.
It is now clear to me that the representative that I removed from that
constellation was feeling overwhelmed by the activation of her own trauma
system. Even though I removed her because I was concerned about her
chest pain. She probably needed to be removed and cared for anyway because of
the level of trauma she was experiencing.
I like Sheila's suggestion of asking: "Can you hold it" It is a very
evocative choice of words. I think I asked her "Do you think you can
manage?" which doesn't seem as powerful. If I wasn't so concerned about the
chest pain , creating more distance between here and the other
representatives could also have been a good alternative. As they were
already at opposite extremes of the holding circle, I would have had to have
opened up the circle to do that. I know that is possible, as I have seen it
done.
When I did remove her and comfort this representative, she did have the
tremors Bertold described that people
sometimes experience as they are recovering from the trauma. She was then
eventually able to return to the constellation sitting in the holding circle
where she felt at a safe distance. This seems to me to be an example of the
"pendulation" Bertold describes in your article. I wonder if that is right.
It is interesting, that Bertold mentioned in his article that many
constellation practitioners intuitively do the right things when the trauma
system is activated, without actually realising that is what they are
dealing with. I believe that is what happened to me on this occasion. I
simply thought of this representative as being vulnerable. Even when she
told me a week later in therapy that the episode in the constellation had
reminded of past "incidents" in her life, I still was thinking of her as
vulnerable rather than "traumatised". So now I can make sense of the fact
that she seems very competent and strong most of the time. It is when her
trauma system is activated that she becomes overwhelmed and appears weak.
Now the penny has dropped I can use what I know about the trauma memory
system etc. to be a more effective
therapist with this woman. I also think that being more conscious of this
aspect will help with facilitation of constellations as well.
hasta la vista
Chris Walsh
P.S. Thankyou Otteline for your suggestion too. It has also given me food for
thought.
An Australian Constellation Website:
www.constellationflow.com
----- Original Message -----
From: sheila saunders
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, 22 October 2003 6:12 AM
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] obesity constellation
Hello all, a few thoughts with regard to the constellation Chris led re:
obesity and the physical challenges that manifested. First of all it sounds
like the constellation progressed perfectly. As for the physical distress
experienced by the reps - something I learned from Bertold Ulsamer: Sometimes I
check in with the rep: "Can you hold it?" when physical symptoms are revealed.
Just asking this acknowledges their effort and indicates that I am there with
them, aware of what is happening. Sometimes this is enough. Another
invaluable tool is distance: Sometimes you can move her further from the other
rep(s)- distance often provides safety and a greater ability to see what is
going on for the rep- "Yes, this is better, I can see her from here..." That
alone sometimes diminishes severe physical (and emotional) symptoms and gives
the rep time to take in the situation. We are so used to reps "getting" things
so quickly that we sometimes forget that we don't know all of the facts at the
start and the situation may be quite heave and intense, as was the case here.
It is gratifying to hear of the shifts that Mary has experienced as a result of
the constellation.
more on other VERY interesting emails coming through anon. All the best!
sheila
Sheila Saunders, RN, MFT
Systemic Family Solutions
sheila@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.systemicfamilysolutions.com
Great Smokies Medical Center of Asheville
1312 Patton Ave. Asheville, NC. 28806
>From: "Chris Walsh"
>Subject: [ConstellationTalk] obesity constellation
>Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 21:48:37 +1000
>
>The following constellation raises issues of:
>1. Safety for representatives
· With distress & chest pain which could have been a heart attack.
>· With communication in a second language.
>2 Holding the group when a crisis occurs in the constellation.
>3 The practice of replacing a representative.
>4 Displacement of symptoms from one representative (the sister) to another
(Mary).
>
>(False names are used and the people discussed have both given their
permission for me to publish this experience.)
>
>Mary asked to do a constellation regarding her issue of obesity. She was
clearly distressed about this issue. Firstly she could not control her eating
and secondly she could not accept her obesity. After an interview by myself and
Libby Nottle, we decided to set up one representative for Mary and another
representative for nourishment. The representative for Mary(Carmen) had not
been a representative before. She only had basic English language skills, her
first language being Spanish. Mary asked to do a constellation regarding her
issue of obesity.
>
>Libby began facilitating the constellation. As it progressed, it became
clear that the representative for nourishment was moving like a little girl. I
asked Mary if she had a younger sister. She said "yes". The representative for
nourishment stated it was very clear that she was in fact the sister. Once this
was affirmed Mary's representative immediately became very distressed and
started speaking Spanish. Fortunately as I'm able to speak Spanish I was able
to get a history from her. She was complaining of a heavy chest pain, which was
consistent with the pain people get with angina or heart attack. So I removed
her from the constellation and attended to her distress and pain. At the same
time Libby selected an experienced participant to take over the role of Mary's
representative and continued on facilitating the constellation.
>
>Very soon after Carmen was removed from the roll as Mary's representative
her chest pain and distress disappeared. I reported this back to the group as
soon as possible so that they would not be distracted by their concerns for
Carmen.
>
>When the new representative took that position in the constellation, she
started to experience quite severe pain in her throat. At this point Mary
volunteered that her younger sister had almost died from swallowing turpentine
when she was only a toddler. Mary felt responsible for her younger sister at
the time this occurred. Mary brought her sister's plight to the attention of
their mother who then took her sister to hospital where she was treated. As
soon as this was mentioned, the symptoms experienced by Mary's representative
started to settle. It became clear that Mary was carrying the physical pain and
the fear of death for her sister. A representative for the mother was
introduced and the constellation eventually reached a good resolution.
>
>As the constellation proceeded Carmen returned to the holding circle. After
the constellation, she reported that when she had to leave the constellation
she felt weak for leaving and ashamed of this weakness. This however settled as
she was reassured and brought back into the holding circle. Mary reported this
feeling of weakness and the shame about this weakness were feelings she had
struggled with for a large part of her life.
>
>Since the constellation Mary reports that she has much less craving for
sweet food, her chronic feeling of depression has lifted & the world literally
looks as if it has more light in it. She also states she feels a sense of inner
peace that she had never experienced before. Carmen reports that she is much
more aware of the cost to herself and others of continually taking on other
people's suffering, something she has done for most of her life.
>
>I would be interested to hear anyone's comments or related experiences in
regard to this constellation & the issues it raises
>
>hasta la vista
>Chris Walsh
>
>An Australian Constellation Website:
>www.constellationflow.com
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