Sheila Thanks for your thoughtful response. I agree on all points, yet
also feel that the attempt is worth making.
From Afterward, Youre a Genius, the English King Charles II collapsed
while shaving, perhaps of a heart attack or stroke. Fourteen doctors rushed
to his aid. First a pint of blood was taken from His Majestys right arm.
Then his shoulder was cut open and another eight ounces of blood were cupped
out. He was given an emetic to make him vomit, two purgatives, an enema,
another purgative, and two hours later, still another purgative. His head
was shaved; his scalp was blistered. He was dosed with powdered hellebore
root to make him sneeze and powdered cowslip flowers to fortify his brain.
To soothe his system after the cathartics, he was given barley water
flavored with licorice, and almonds. Cups of absinthe and white wine were
provided. His feet were plastered with a mix of Burgundy pitch and pigeon
dung. Again he was bled, and purged. In the final act, the assembly of
physicians, so not to appear to fail in doing their duty, forced a mixture
of Raleighs antidote, pearl julep and ammonia down the dying Kings throat.
The Constellation method did not sprout like a mushroom, it emerged from
what came before. There are thousands of failed healing methods and
techniques that lie discredited and forgotten. I think we owe our clients
some sustained efforts to test the question, Do constellations do any
good?
The questionnaire and methodology need to be designed to address Sheilas
concerns, which are well articulated and legitimate. I am counting on this
groups continued guidance and support.
Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: sheila saunders [mailto:peacefulcentre@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 6:16 PM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ConstellationTalk] research and articles for the journal
In response to the dialogue below, just a few thoughts on research: Hunter
Beaumont and Ursula Franke have been involved in ongoing research motivated
by Rupert Sheldrake, on the effects of the "morphic field". I don't know how
fruitful this has been, but it was started several years ago. Ursula has
also written on her research into individual work in the book In My Mind's
Eye. As for outcome studies: participants at a workshop are advised not to
talk about their constellation, nor ask others about theirs, as this brings
the work from the level of the soul into the level of the mind, and
interrupts the movements as the person tries to articulate that which has
been happening on a different level. In my own experience, I have at some
point after a constellation, been able to talk about certain aspects of it,
in certain ways, but I have not talked about every constellation I have
done, nor have I evaluated the outcome! of each one. If asked, I may feel a
need to "please" by indicating that there is a good outcome, or I may not be
able to see the good effects due to some current difficulty, or if there has
been an effect that others may consider good FOR me, I may not see it that
way, or I may have wanted one thing and something else happened (I wanted
the constellation to save my marriage and it broke up, may be good for me in
the long run, but I don't see it that way the day the questionnaire
arrives). Etc., etc., etc. It's not simple. In reality, many of the most
positive effects are so very subtle as to show themselves over a long period
of time, and may in fact be larger than most people would notice, if that's
not too contradictory!
Perhaps one could announce at each workshop, that they are doing research
into the effects of the work, and if so inclined, a participant could call
back 6 months later and further information will be sent about
participatiton in the study (course, most won't call...). The down side
there is that it sets up expectations in the client that perhaps they will
notice something in 6 months, and of course, that is not necesarily the
case. If they take a questionnaire with them, it will direct them mentally
to look in certain directions. If they recieve one in the mail in 6 months,
it could interrupt their process. Then there is the "after constellation
glow"- once it wears off, some discount the experience altogether and would
be eager for the opportunity to complain about the failure.
Lastly, I have found it to be similar to homeopathy in this way (as well as
others): the client experiences some very positive changes in their life,
but does not attribute them to the 15 minute constellation that occurred 9
months ago, that they didn't even understand anyway, for instance. (Like
they rarely attribute positive changes to the 2 homeopathic pellets they
took 6 months ago...).
Not to be a ney-sayer, just some thoughts that come up. When I get my PhD,
you can bet I will be searching for a project in this area as well!! I
would actually LOVE there to be a body of information regarding outcomes;
this would be very good in the field of medicine for instance, not that the
mainstream medical community has yet availed themselves of the volumes of
anecdotal information available regarding any number of alternative
treatments... But, I maintain hope. Testimonial can be powerful, and those
familiar with the work, facilitating workshops, training others, could
easity write an anecdote about the experience resulting from a
constellation. We would have MANY hundreds of anecdotes if this alone was
done. Maybe that's a place to start. Solicit the information from current
facilitators - there were 2,500 people involved somehow with the work at
Wurzberg in April- not all facilitators, but all with some interest somehow.
!
I would solicit the opinions of some of the experienced facilitators
(mostly German, but several from other countries as well, including Anngwynn
St. Just and Dyrian Benz-Chartrand from the US- addresses can be found on my
site). This issue of research has not excaped them, they mostly have
academic backgrounds and know well the ups and downs on research in general,
and I'm sure have some thoughts about its application here.
As always, all the best, and I enjoy the dialogues to be found here. sheila
Sheila Saunders, RN, MFT
Systemic Family Solutions
www.systemicfamilysolutions.com <http://www.systemicfamilysolutions.com/>
sheila@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:sheila@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Great Smokies Medical Center
1312 Patton Ave.
Asheville, NC. 28806
cell: 828-273-5015
fax: 828-255-8118
From: "Daniel Booth Cohen"in
Reply-To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ConstellationTalk] research and articles for the journal
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 07:14:58 -0400
Sarah - I am a graduate student in Psychology at Saybrook Graduate School
San Francisco. I'm just beginning to look at the structure and scope of myanyone has already written articles or would like to have a new one
dissertation topic. Perhaps my best way to contribute to the field would be
to design a dissertation that serves to support the acceptance of
constellation work amongst the broader therapeutic community.
Without getting into details here, I would very much like to participate in
research tracking the outcomes for clients 6 or 12 months following their
constellations. Let's look at how we might collaborate.
Dan >
-----Original Message-----
From: Sarah Moore [mailto:sarahmoore@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 12:13 AM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ConstellationTalk] research and articles for the journal
dear all,
i really want to get cracking on producing some stuff for the journal. if
happening during constellation work.done a constellation workshop at least 6 months ago. i'm developing a
also i would like to do some research on follow up from clients who have
could help out here with letting me know of clients of theirs who have donecontellation work 6 months or more ago who would be willing to participate
