Dear all,
In response to Sarah's comments about the possible harmful effects
of being a representative in a constellation, I think its very
important to reflect on the possible effects of the work. I know
that at times as a representative, I have felt overwhelmingly
intense physical and emotional experiences and I have wondered about
the effects of this type of experience on some participants. I have
often had a sense of being cared for during the work. I recall
standing in one constellation representing someone who died in the
holocaust feeling thrown to the floor and knowing that I wouldn't be
hurt. This gives me some confidence. However, I'm not convinced that
someone whose physical health is very fragile could cope with some
of the experiences generated - I'd be concerned for example about
someone with poorly controlled angina coping with the physical
stress of some positions. This concern is I guess a little different
to what sounded like a suggestion in Otteline's response that
ongoing involvement in constellation work may be associated with
more serious health problems.
I also have concerns about people with a tendency to psychosis. I
believe the work is used in Europe for psychotic conditions, but I
would need to know a lot more about this before working with people
who experience psychosis. I have had a number of clients in
individual therapy who I wouldn't recommend a workshop to (although
a constellation in my rooms may be a reasonable approach).
Althought the process is benign it is very powerful and I think it
needs to be approached with great care. Maybe we need to acknowledge
that as with any powerful tool, it has appropriate rather than
universal uses and maybe it has side effects. I think therefore it
is essential that anyone who seeks to run workshops in the method
has appropriate qualifications and extensive experience as a
therapist (when running family constellations) and experience of
participating in quite a number of workshops and training in the
theoretical grounding of the work. I also think that peer
supervision is an important component of ongoing practice.
Aside from the issue of potential harm, I think that there is much
to be said for Otteline's comment about whether you would want an
unborn child to have some experiences that they may be exposed to in
a constellation. I think this is an important consideration apart
form the possibility of harm - just whether you'd want them to have
such an experience.
I'm very intersted to hear other's thoughts.
Patrick
