What are family constellations, how do they work and is there scientific evidence? The claims, possible risks, questions to ask and evidence-based options.
A friend tells you excitedly about a workshop they went to at the weekend: strangers in the room "represented" their family, one of them took their grandmother's place and began to cry, and in the end your friend felt they had put down a burden they had carried for years. "It turns out I was carrying what my grandfather went through," they say. A few days later you see an advertisement on social media for a workshop to be held in your city and you wonder: what are family constellations, do they really work, and should I go? This method, which has become increasingly widespread in Turkey in recent years, is debated between participants who describe powerful experiences on the one hand and mental health professionals who raise serious criticisms on the other. In this article we take a balanced look at what the method is, how it is practised, what we know scientifically and what you should watch out for if you are thinking of taking part.
What Are Family Constellations? The Method's Origins and Core Claims
Family constellations (known in Turkish as "aile dizimi") are a group practice developed by Bert Hellinger, a German former clergyman and therapist, which spread from Germany around the world in the 1990s. Hellinger created this method under the influence of various therapy movements, observations from the years he spent as a missionary in South Africa and his own philosophical views.
The method's core claims can be summarised as follows:
- The family is a system, and this system has a hidden "order". Hellinger called these the "orders of love". Rules are put forward such as those who come first taking precedence over those who come later, and every member of the family having the right to belong to the system.
- The burden of family members who were excluded, forgotten or suffered a tragic fate passes on to later generations. A child who died young, an uncle who broke away from the family, a crime or a great injustice creates "entanglement" in the lives of the grandchildren, leading to recurring problems.
- These hidden dynamics become visible through a "knowing field". It is claimed that representatives chosen in the group can feel the emotions of the people they represent.
In the first two of these claims there is a kernel that psychology is also interested in: our families affect us deeply and some patterns can be passed down from generation to generation. However, the way family constellations explain these effects, and the concept of the "knowing field" in particular, differ markedly from the explanations of scientific psychology.
How Is a Family Constellations Session Done?
A classic family constellations session usually takes place in group workshops lasting one or more days. The practice roughly proceeds as follows:
- The participant who wants to work on their problem briefly tells the facilitator about it: "None of my relationships work out", "I've always had a bad relationship with my father", "Money just never stays in my hands", and so on.
- The participant chooses people from among the group members to represent themselves, their parents or other family members suggested by the facilitator.
- They place the representatives around the room as feels right to them. Who stands close to whom and who has their back turned to whom forms the "constellation".
- The facilitator asks the representatives what they feel. The representatives describe experiences such as heaviness, anger, sadness, or a wish to move closer to or further from someone.
- The facilitator changes the representatives' positions and has them say set phrases such as "I see you" or "I leave your fate with you".
- The work usually ends with a more "harmonious" arrangement and the participant taking their own place.
This process often involves intensely emotional moments; crying, hugging and long silences are common. In recent years, forms using figures, cushions or sheets of paper placed on the floor instead of representatives in one-to-one sessions, as well as online sessions, have also become widespread.
Why Do Family Constellations Feel So Powerful?
The powerful experiences participants describe are real; people genuinely feel deep emotions and some feel relief afterwards. The question is what explains these experiences. Psychology offers several mechanisms that can explain these effects without resorting to a mysterious field:
- Expectation and suggestion: Participants and representatives arrive with strong expectations about the kind of experience they will have. The facilitator's questions and prompts also shape this experience.
- Body language and empathy: The representatives have listened to the story the participant told and observed their tone of voice and body language. Feelings interpreted as a "knowing field" may be human, empathic responses to this information.
- Group atmosphere: In a group where intense emotions are shared, emotions feed and amplify one another.
- The need to find meaning: The thought "So there was a reason for all these problems" is far more comforting than uncertainty. An explanation being true and being comforting are not the same thing.
- The power of ritual: Rituals such as honouring losses, putting grievances into words and saying goodbye touch on the need for grief and closure.
These mechanisms explain why the relief a participant feels seems real; but whether this relief turns into lasting change is a separate question.
There is also a cultural dimension to why the method attracts so much interest in Turkey. In a society where family, lineage and respect for elders hold an important place in our lives, the explanation "You are carrying your ancestors' burden" sounds familiar and meaningful to many people. Many people who search "What are family constellations?" are really asking this question: why does what happened in my family still affect me so much? This is a very valuable question and there is good reason to look for its answer; the issue is the method by which that answer is sought.
What Are Family Constellations Based On? Is There Scientific Evidence?
The number of studies carried out on family constellations is quite small. Although a small number of studies have reported short-term increases in participants' wellbeing, a significant proportion of them were conducted with small samples, without a control group or relying solely on participants' own assessments. The fact that some studies were carried out by people directly connected to the method also makes the results harder to evaluate.
More importantly, the assumptions underlying the method, namely the claims that representatives can feel the emotions of people they have never met through a "field", or that our ancestors' fate passes to us in this way, have not been scientifically verified. For this reason, family constellations are not recognised in mainstream clinical psychology as a psychotherapy method of proven effectiveness.
This does not mean that everyone who takes part in family constellations will be harmed or that no one will feel any benefit. But a method feeling good to some people does not show that what it says is true, or that it is suitable for every problem.
Our family's story really does shape us; but the way to understand that story lies not in relying on a stranger's intuition, but in looking carefully at our own experience.
Possible Risks and Criticisms
The criticisms of family constellations are not limited to scientific evidence. Some of the risks mental health professionals point to are:
- Wounds opened without support: Traumatic memories opened up in a one-off, intense workshop may leave the person alone afterwards without any follow-up. In people with a history of trauma in particular, this can increase symptoms. We look at what can happen after trauma in our article on post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Privacy: The person is expected to share their most private family secrets in front of dozens of people they do not know.
- Placing the blame on the past: The interpretation "Your problem is really your great-grandfather's fate", while comforting for some people, can overshadow responsibility for present behaviour and the possibility of change.
- Speculative "discoveries": Interpretations said to have emerged during a constellation, such as "a hidden sibling", "a family secret" or "an excluded member", can cause deep rifts within a family without being based on any real information.
- The stance on abuse and violence: Some of the founder's views on victims of violence and abuse have been seriously criticised on the grounds that they position the victim alongside the perpetrator. For people with such experiences, this approach can be harmful.
- Facilitators' training: There is no legal regulation of family constellations facilitation. While some facilitators have trained in psychology or psychotherapy, many do not have this background.
- Delaying necessary treatment: Someone experiencing depression, an anxiety disorder or a serious mental health condition may postpone evidence-based support in the belief that this method will be the answer.
Say a woman who has been having intense panic attacks for a long time hears at a workshop that her panic attacks stem from "carrying the fate of her uncle who died in a traffic accident". She leaves the workshop relieved; but a few weeks later the attacks return, and this time she blames herself, thinking "So I can't let go of this burden." Yet panic disorder is a condition that can be addressed and worked on with evidence-based methods.
Questions to Ask If You Are Thinking of Taking Part
If, despite all this information, you are thinking of taking part, you can ask these questions to protect yourself:
- What training has the facilitator had in psychology, psychiatry or psychotherapy?
- What happens if I find it very hard emotionally during the workshop? Can I stop the work?
- Is there any follow-up or support after the workshop?
- How is the confidentiality of what is shared in the group protected?
- Am I currently in an intense emotional crisis, and have I recently experienced a trauma or loss?
If you have recently experienced a traumatic event or loss, are in an intensely depressive or anxious period, or have in the past had periods in which you lost touch with reality, it is strongly recommended that you see a mental health professional before taking part in intense group work of this kind. Do not stop a treatment or medication you are on by yourself on the basis of a workshop experience.
Evidence-Based Ways to Understand Your Family History
Many people interested in family constellations actually have a very meaningful need: to understand their family's influence on them, to break free of repeating patterns, and to make peace with losses and grievances. This need can also be met through evidence-based approaches.
Family therapy treats the family as a system and works on the relationships, roles and communication patterns between family members, with the participation of family members where possible. The genogram (family tree) used by family therapists is a tool for visualising relationships, losses and repeating patterns across several generations. You can find this approach in detail in our article on family therapy.
Schema therapy addresses "early maladaptive schemas", which stem from emotional needs unmet in childhood and repeat in adulthood. The roots of deep beliefs such as "I will be abandoned" or "I'm not good enough" within the family, and how they are reflected in present-day relationships, are explored together. We touch on this in our article what is schema therapy.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, meanwhile, focuses on how these patterns persist in present thoughts and behaviours and builds concrete skills for change. In these approaches, topics such as intergenerational transmission, grief and family relationships are addressed at the person's own pace, in confidence and within the framework of an ongoing relationship. This kind of work can be carried out within individual therapy.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
If your curiosity about your family history is more a wish to explore than a source of distress, books, conversations with older relatives or even drawing up a family tree can be meaningful. However, in the following situations it is more appropriate to turn to a mental health professional:
- If grievances, losses or secrets within the family are markedly affecting your daily life and relationships,
- If you keep living through the same relationship patterns,
- If after a family constellations or similar workshop your sleep has been disrupted, images from the past come to mind unbidden, or you feel worse,
- If you have thoughts of harming yourself.
In the last case, call 112 (emergency services) without delay or go to the nearest emergency department.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are family constellations a form of psychotherapy?
Although family constellations sometimes describe themselves as a therapy method, they are not among the psychotherapy methods whose effectiveness has been scientifically proven. Their core assumptions have not been scientifically verified, and facilitation is not legally regulated.
I feel bad after a family constellations workshop. What should I do?
Experiencing emotional ups and downs for a few days after an intense experience can happen. However, if sleep problems, intense anxiety, intrusive memories or low mood persist, it is advisable to see a mental health professional. Making sense of this experience in a safe setting can ease the burden.
Can being a representative at workshops be harmful?
Representatives witness intense emotions in someone else's story and sometimes connect them with their own past. For someone with traumatic experiences in their own life, this can be unexpectedly difficult. Declining to be a representative is always your right.
Are family constellations the same as family therapy?
No. Although their names are similar, the two approaches are very different. Family therapy is an approach carried out by trained mental health professionals, supported by research, focused on the real relationships between family members, and progressing over a process.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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