All My Relations,
I am writing my 2nd research Essay for my Ph.D. It will eventually become a
chapter in my dissertation. It would help me to have some input and
feedback from the group. In the end, I am aiming to examine the literature
that deals with understanding how it is that the representatives are tuning
in to something other than their own subjective responses to be so
positioned. Also, how it is that trans-generational trauma exists without a
chain of physical linear experiences.
Before I get to that end, I am going through the exercise of deconstructing
a typical Constellation and laying out all the ways that the process either
conflicts with conventional psychotherapeutic best practices or our common
sense about the sources and remedies for pressing personal issues.
I have written a draft of this section. What follows is a condensed excerpt
of some of the key points. I am requesting you critiques and comments.
o The intake interview, such as it is, last only a few minutes,
whereas a conventional psychotherapist would take a detailed history.
o Upon hearing only a one or two sentence description of an issue and
a few facts about the family history, the facilitator initiates what can be
an extremely intense emotional process.
o The group itself defies conventional description.
o The facilitator disavows that the process is a form of therapy or
treatment, yet leads group members into an intense emotional experience
without formally screening participants for pre-existing medical or mental
health issues.
o The representatives receive only a skeletal description of the issue
and family history before they are asked to stand in the circle in an
assigned role. Once so placed, their responses are assumed to mirror these
actual individuals.
o The representative's feelings, the facilitator's intuition, and the
nexus between past and present events - point to the hidden dynamic.
o This hidden dynamic is not perceived as a product of repressed,
forgotten or traumatic experiences of the seeker, but rather of the seeker's
family seen as a collective whole. The presenting issue is contextualized
as an echo of an event that occurred before the seeker was born, sometimes
several generations before. While there are loose parallels to this view
found in established schools of psychotherapy, such as Jungian Analytic
Psychology, Transactional Analysis, and Contextual Therapy, this perception
of trans-generational, systemic entanglements is a unique element of Family
Constellations.
o The so-called "Healing Resolution" is achieved by repositioning the
representatives and/or adding representatives of members of the family
system who were exiled, excluded or forgotten. In this stage of the process
the seeker is a passive observer.
o Membership in the family system is not confined to biological
relatives, but may include people whose position of belonging can be hotly
disputed, such as aborted fetuses, perpetrators of violence against past
family members or the victims of crimes committed by past family members.
o What are called, "healing sentences" can be either tautologies that
state the obvious, e.g., "I lived and you died," or provocative statements
that conflict with the seeker's ordinary understanding, e.g. "You are the
right father for me."
o Proponents of the Family Constellation process claim that this brief
intervention can be instrumental in overcoming a persistent lifelong pattern
of behavior. There are no English-language empirically validated or peer
reviewed research studies corroborating this claim.
o The facilitator does not provide for monitoring or aftercare in case
of adverse effects.
o The Orders of Love purport to be a set of invisible systemic laws
that exert irresistible force on families and individuals. Within the
framework of the Orders of Love, familiar constructs take on new, sometime
even reversed meanings.
There are many ways to contribute to this research. Here are some ideas:
o Add to the list or suggest corrections or clarifications.
o Provide case examples of representatives whose inexplicable responses
were corroborated by factual evidence.
o Provide case example of healing solutions that support the validity
of our claims.
o Discuss how you address the ethical questions about pre-screening and
aftercare.
o Discuss your conception of the distinction between Constellations and
therapy.
And so on. Response can come to the group or privately to
danbcohen@xxxxxxx.
My view is that it will help us collectively to develop a coherent response
to the understandable skepticism that we encounter at every turn.
Dan
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