Conducting a Systemic Constellation
by Richard Boyd, Body Mind Psychotherapist and Organisational Consultant, Perth, Western Australia
Copyright 2010
Systemic Constellations are a concept that arose out of the realization that hidden dynamics exist in systems where consciousness exists. Typically this involves a person, and may constellate as a system process, a team, a family, a department, an organisation or any collective where human dynamics have played a part in the origin and evolution of that state.
In understanding how a dynamic process such as a systemic constellation operates, whether that be a Family or Organisational Constellation, I will describe a common experience of such a constellation.
A facilitator brings together a system stakeholder who is the enquirer or "owner" representative of the system concerned. I n some cases there may only be a single person present, and inanimate objects will be used to symbolize the other member entities of the system. In some settings other people are present who will "stand-in" as representatives for each key member or entity in the system.
The representatives are placed by the enquirer or "owner" in a spatial relationship to one another that represents the owners inner emotional sense of how things are. The system that is setup establishes a symbolic systemic reality. The owner then stands outside the constellation and observes.
The representatives allow their emotional intelligence to take over from their right brain consciousness. They have a non verbal attentive awareness and are given permission from the facilitator to follow through on any impulse they may feel to move or react, thereby altering the current constellation. The facilitator periodically asks the representatives to report their sensations and experience of the situation to the facilitator and this is witnessed by the owner.
Their feedback and their spatial positioning will reveal the dynamics of the system. The crucial information is symbolic in terms of the direction the representatives are facing, their distance from each other, their positions, individually and in relations to others. The facilitator will then allow their own attentive awareness to guide them in making positional changes to representatives in response to their feedback that any change made result in feelings that are "better", "neutral" or "worse".
Gradually, using the verbal and non-verbal feedback of the representatives, the facilitator will discover the current optimal positioning of the system, one which brings it into "order" and "balance" based on representatives feeling "right" about the system arrangement. A system will still attempt to find balance and order even when destabilizing dynamics are present. Hidden knowledge or dynamics may emerge which gives insight into the system and its members place and role in honouring and being loyal to the system, even when it extracts a personal cost from the member entity.
The constellation may have been setup with a solution focused question in mind. The facilitator will interview the owner to establish the nature of the issue and hence the information about a solution that the constellation is targeted to uncover. The owner who has witnessed the unfolding dynamic, is able at the final stage to step into the system if they have a representative in the system standing in for themselves.
This final step allows the owner to "feel" as well as obtain an image of the current or possibly the optimized system. Post constellation debriefs with the facilitator and representatives will often sharpen the hidden knowledge that was sensed in the constellation.
Corporate Energetics consultants conduct Organisational Constellations in their Organisational Development and Cultural Transformation initiatives. The results have been positive. The outcomes are typically well received by the clients and the workshop audiences. The consensus is that this technique offers real value to organisations that is solution focused, time efficient, and which is an integrated systemic view of the issue and hence the solution.
For more information about this powerful new tool for Organisational Development and Cultural Transformation, Contact Us and speak to one of our consultants about how we can facilitate Organisational Constellations for your business.
Tel: +61-8-93702341
Email: r.boyd@corporateenergetics.com.au
Website: www.corporateenergetics.com.au