There is a system of interconnectedness that we cannot directly perceive but can feel in systemic work, such as family constellations. Systemic work looks at this network of relationships to better understand and help the individual. Everyone is part of various systems that shape our actions and behaviors. The most influential system in our lives is the family system. In broader circles, you are part of systems related to your school, country, religion, nature, time, and even the planets. Essentially, everything around us is “systemic.”
Systemic Work – Examples
A farmer notices one day that more apples are falling from his tree than usual. He picks up a rotten apple and investigates further. He could see the rotten apple as a singular problem, but perhaps the entire tree is sick. Upon examining the tree, he finds that the trunk is damaged and the branches are infected. Further investigation shows that the neighboring trees are also diseased. The farmer delves deeper into the systemic interplay of wind, soil, gravity, and sunlight, even examining the fertilizer. On the radio, he hears that diseased trees are widespread across the country, caused by a fungus spreading this year. The solution is simple, but it’s crucial that all trees and farmers treat the issue nationwide. A young boy has been suffering from stomachaches for the past few weeks. His parents take him to the doctor, where they explore his diet, check for allergies, and examine his stool. Everything appears normal; he seems healthy. However, the stomach pain worsens—until the weekend, when it mysteriously fades. By Monday, when the boy returns to school, the pain reappears. His parents speak to his teacher and discover that there’s tension at the school due to conflicts between the principal and other staff members. Once the school resolves the conflicts, the boy’s stomachaches disappear.
Systemic Work – Family Constellations
German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger is considered the founder of family constellations, a method used in systemic therapy. He discovered how systemic therapy could make hidden dynamics within relationship systems visible. In a family constellation, representatives are chosen to play the roles of the client and their family members. By observing how these representatives move and feel in relation to each other and the client, hidden systemic dynamics are revealed.
Key Aspects of Systemic Work
Systemic work requires an understanding of how systems naturally function. It involves viewing things from multiple dimensions, focusing on:
- Hierarchy and Order: Every system, from families to workplaces, schools to societies, has a hierarchy—even when it’s not visible. In some institutions, the hierarchy is quite apparent, such as in the military or religious organizations. Nature also has its own hierarchy—consider a beehive, where the queen bee plays a different role than the worker bees. Hierarchy isn’t inherently negative, even though it is often resisted. It’s a natural aspect of systems, where everyone has a place. Time is also a form of hierarchy—one child is born before another. In constellations, individuals can experience what it feels like to take their rightful place.
- Belonging: In family constellations, hierarchy extends beyond the family tree of grandfather-father-son. Hidden or unspoken family events often come to light during constellations. For instance, if a grandfather had an affair and fathered an illegitimate child, that child is still considered part of the family system. Ignoring the child’s existence can have consequences for other family members born later. Everything and everyone has a place in a system. Even if you want to escape it, you cannot cease belonging to a system. Just as everything has an order, no one can be excluded from having a place. Excluding someone is unnatural and can weaken the entire system. The functioning of systems relies on the acceptance that everyone within the family system is essential.
- Giving and Receiving: There is a visible and invisible dynamic between giving and receiving that, according to systemic laws, must remain balanced. The system of giving and receiving, also known as the law of karma, creates both personal and systemic consciousness. Personal consciousness manifests in feelings of guilt and innocence. Taking too much builds systemic guilt, while taking too little, surprisingly, results in the “guilt of innocence.” By not receiving enough, you burden someone else with debt, creating an imbalance. In addition to personal feelings of guilt and innocence, there is also a systemic consciousness that operates more subtly, safeguarding the family system. Honoring everyone within the system is crucial for achieving systemic balance.
Systemic Entanglements – The Shadow Side of a System
Unresolved situations from the past can manifest in future relationships as impulsive behavior and intense emotions. Identifying with another person in the system can leave you feeling “not quite yourself” or thinking, “I don’t know what came over me.” In such cases, you are under the influence of someone else within the system—you are entangled in invisible threads. This can lead to irrational or overly intense reactions beyond your control. To untangle such entanglements, you need to search for what is missing. Who or what has been excluded or silenced? In other words, what is the system’s shadow?
Benefits of Systemic Work
Systemic work is not about passing moral judgment on people; in fact, it often removes judgment by placing things in the context of systemic dynamics. Systemic work helps restore balance within families and organizations, allowing things to flow once more. The magic of systemic work lies in working with the “field”—when balance is restored during a constellation, it often carries over into real life.