Hello all, especially facilitators in the US
This thread opens up an important and complex issue. Since early 2005
we, The Constellations Group, have led seven or eight workshops a
year, mostly struggling to attract participants. Our referrals have
come primarily word-of-mouth from past participants and even though
one of our founding member/facilitators is a LCSW-C, we have not been
embraced by the psychotherapy community. Obviously credentials are
part of the issue. My experience though has been that the
Constellations work has, with exceptions to prove the rule, attracted
a group of substantive, intelligent, and committed people with high
levels of professional integrity, unrelated to the initials on their
business cards after their names. Confidence is growing in me that
when we do high quality work, it will speak for itself and acceptance
will come at its own pace, albeit more slowly than we might wish. I am
concerned that getting hung up on certification may distract us from
other more potent factors:
1. In his early visits to the US Hellinger repeatedly made remarks
that many psychotherapists found deeply offensive. The "field" of
constellations may not yet have entirely shed this aroma of
condescension, if not contempt. Therapists sniff it out immediately
and they don't like it. They are also not entirely sympathetic to the
injunction not to talk about one's constellation afterwards. Sounds a
little like, "Don't process this with your therapist." Of course this
is related to idea of no need for credentials.
2. Throughout our history Americans have embraced and glorified our
philosophy of rugged individualism. Generations brought up on the
rightness of John Wayne riding off alone into the sunset as
appropriate closure to a drama will not easily switch to ending with
the iconic multigenerational group hug. Many of us have spent hundreds
of hours and dollars in an effort to achieve and sanction separation
from our families.
3. Except for Native Americans, we are a nation of immigrants cut off
from our roots. Even our national identity derives more from loyalty
to our institutions than to the land and our ancestral heritage. We
embody hope for the future. We don't "get it" about the importance of
the past.
4. We are quite accustomed to and comfortable with the idea of
ourselves as the "greatest." Our system of government is the best, we
have the highest standard of living, we are the leader of the free
world, etc., etc.. You even hear people say we have the best health
care system in the world! Given our default setting of morning-in-
America-optimism, it is not exactly natural for us to look into the
darkness for resources and solutions.
5. We have a huge amount of work to do. We have barely begun to look
at the issues of Native Americans, slavery, violence and war, among
other things. Scary stuff. Folks are reluctant to go into such shadowy
places. They come with appropriate trepidation, signing up at the last
minute, often only a day or two before the workshop. Once a
participant called me a couple of hours before, explaining that she
had been hesitating endlessly, and now had just awakened from a dream
that convinced her she needed to come!
Isn't it true that the work has been accepted readily in countries
where respect for ancestors is part of the culture and where community
is more valued than here? Even without official credentials?
So the obstacles for us are formidable. Still, I am encouraged by the
feedback we get and by the fact that slowly, REALLY SLOWLY, it seems
to get easier to assemble enough folks to do a workshop. One of our
participants last weekend found us through a social work listserv.
That's a first! I would hate to see the work devolve into a form of
individual therapy. Dan is certainly right that much can be gained
from working individually, and I disagree with him that little is lost
in abandoning the group.
from snowy Washington, DC,
Mary Rentschler
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The Constellations Group
Carol Heil, LCSW-C (301)899-4841
Diane Hetherington, MS, MCC (202)257-8300
Betsy Hostetler, PhD (202) 362-8672
Mary Rentschler, MEd (202) 244-8280
www.theconstellationsgroup.com
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