Systemic Constellation

CORE DEFINITION

Systemic constellation, developed out of family constellation work by Bert Hellinger, represents a system by placing people or markers in physical space, each standing for an element of the system, and then reading relationships from their positions, orientations, and reported sensations. The core proposition is that spatial arrangement plus the representatives' felt responses surfaces relational dynamics, such as excluded members, conflicting loyalties, and disordered hierarchies, that participants cannot articulate in discussion. The key qualification is that the practice is interpretive rather than evidential: it generates hypotheses about a system, and its findings require independent verification and careful attention to the ethics and comfort of the participants.