Family Constellations
The hidden dynamics within your family system
These 2 hr sessions are given in the clinic or can be done online. This profound modality, created by Bert Hellinger, explores how deep forces in our family systems and in our field of influence may inform our beliefs, behaviours, emotions and the course of our lives. Through choosing various figurines, we tap into the “knowing field”.
This method assumes that unresolved issues, traumas or conflicts in our family system can show up as unconscious patterns, even without direct memory.
The client forms a “constellation” of figurines which reveals the hidden dynamic.
Typically, a client will choose a figurine to represent a family member, a miscarried child, a family secret, an unlived desire, an inherited trauma etc. Many questions and insights arise from this process and can ultimately give clarity and resolution.
This allows for the client to access information which lies beyond the conscious mind.
Where the work comes from
Family Constellations grew out of the work of German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger, who spent years observing how the wellbeing of an individual is bound up with the wellbeing of the wider family system they belong to. He noticed that when someone in a family has been excluded, forgotten, judged or wronged — a child who died young, a previous partner, a relative cut off in shame — the system seems to “remember” that person, and a later member can unconsciously carry their fate.
Hellinger described certain “orders of love” that quietly govern healthy family systems: everyone who belongs has a right to belong, those who came earlier take precedence over those who came later, and there is a balance between giving and receiving. When these orders are disturbed, the resulting tension can surface generations later as anxiety, repeated relationship patterns, illness, or a sense of being held back without knowing why.
How a session unfolds
In a session we begin by exploring the issue or pattern you would like to understand more deeply — a recurring difficulty in relationships, a family rift, an unexplained sadness, a block around work or money, or simply a feeling of being weighed down by something that is not entirely yours.
You then choose figurines to represent the people and forces involved and place them in relationship to one another. Almost immediately, the arrangement begins to speak. Distances, directions and groupings reveal loyalties, exclusions and entanglements that the conscious mind had not put into words. We are tapping into what Hellinger called the “knowing field” — a shared, felt intelligence that holds the truth of the system.
From there we work gently to restore order: acknowledging those who were left out, returning burdens that were never ours to carry, and allowing love to flow back into its natural place. Often a single sentence, spoken to the right figure at the right moment, can release a knot that has been held for decades.
What Family Constellations can help with
- Persistent relationship patterns that repeat across partners or generations
- Estrangement, family conflict, and unresolved grief
- The lingering effects of inherited or ancestral trauma
- Feeling stuck, blocked, or burdened without a clear cause
- Difficulty around belonging, success, intimacy, or self-worth
Sessions in the clinic or online
Many clients describe Family Constellations as quietly profound — a session can shift something that years of analysis had only described. You do not need a detailed knowledge of your family history for the work to be effective; the field reveals what is needed, and the resolution unfolds at its own pace.
Sessions run for around two hours and can take place in the clinic in Sydney or online. If you are unsure whether this approach is right for you, you are warmly welcome to get in touch and we can talk it through together.