The Systemic Perspective on Schizophrenia, Bi Polar and Autism

 Recently I received these kind words and wonderful news from a client I have worked with over the past few years.

“I was introduced to the Systemic Constellation Work by a very dear friend. I went to the Family Constellation Workshop with an open mind to create mental health in my family as my two sons were diagnosed with Schizophrenia and my brother had been diagnosed with this illness more than 25 years ago. Under Krista’s expert guidance in the Constellation process we worked through the pain and suffering my ancestors had experienced in WWII.  Shortly after the workshop things started changing with my children and my brother. Today, three years later, both of my sons are doing very well, attending college and are fairly well adjusted.  One of them has not taken medications for over two years.  My brother has been communicating with us for approximately two years now as he has been willing to take medication.  My brother tells he had gone on a long 25 year trip somewhere and is now back.  I am so grateful that I was introduced to this amazing work. Thank you Krista for your gift in facilitating, and giving me back my family”…   Albuquerque, New Mexico

This testimonial reminded me of one of my early experiences of working with Bert Hellinger many years ago. The training was a five day intensive on "Psychosis in the Family." It was an extraordinary experience to say the least. Day after day, client after client we saw the same hidden dynamics revealed in the Constellations. Someone in the client’s family linage had experienced a difficult fate, usually a murder. This lead to someone in the current generation identified with both the victim and the perpetrator, causing a deep inner conflict, and carrying the burden of Schizophrenia, Bi Polar or possibly Autism.

“Schizophrenia is a family issue that goes through several generations. Schizophrenia is not a personal issue- it affects the whole family. You need only work with a member of the family, not the schizophrenic person. The main influence comes from those that were excluded. If you look at schizophrenia as an ill person, you cannot help. The system has an unresolved issue of murderer and victim. When the murderer and victim are both excluded, they are represented in one person. A schizophrenic person does service to the family out of a deep love. This deep love can point to resolution. The solution works for all members of the family.” Bert Hellinger

You may wonder how this is possible, that it could show up so often. But considering we are only a few generations from WWII and just a generation from the Vietnam War, and every conflict that has followed, it becomes much easier to understand. A few generations back, life was very different, people carried guns as a way of life, and accidents happened, people where run over by farm equipment, machinery, cars, and trains. I have worked with them all. In every case the perpetrator (even by accident) must be seen and included. It is profound.. and it is this movement that brings peace and resolution to the family.

I am continuously heartened and humbled by the depth and scope of this work, and its effect on those courageous enough to allow the truth to come to light, unburdening loved ones, and offering new opportunities to participate in life.

The Ghost in your Genes

  A child's severe allergies connected to the murder of a great grandfather.

Unexplained depression and chronic health problems, a soul response to a family leaving their homeland three generation past.

Life-long anger related to violence in the family four generations ago. 

We are getting closer to having a scientific understanding of exactly how tens of thousands Constellations world wide are changing peoples lives for the better, when so much else has failed. This new understanding is coming through the fascinating study of epigenetics. 

The BBC documentary, Ghost in your Genes tells the story of how biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics - hidden influences upon the genes - that affect every aspect of our lives. At the heart of this new field is a simple but extraordinary idea - that genes have a 'memory'. This is leading to scientific proof that the lives of ancestors effect us directly. We are more than individuals, we the sacred vessels of genetic memories, including events, difficult fates, and traumas.

In a Family Constellation when the unseen are seen, and a simple truth is spoken, and felt in the body, there is a soul movement, issues find resolution, and slowly dissolve. Amazingly the work we do in the Constellation moves beyond the client, effecting change throughout the family system.

The BBC documentary, Ghost in your Genes tells the story of how biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics - hidden influences upon the genes - that affect every aspect of our lives. At the heart of this new field is a simple but extraordinary idea - that genes have a 'memory'. This is leading to scientific proof that the lives of ancestors effect us directly. We are more than individuals, we are vessels of genetic memories, including events, difficult fates, and traumas.

 This work is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in scientific thinking. It will change the way the lives of ancestors are viewed, as well as the importance of lifestyles and family relationships. What people do no longer just affects themselves, but can determine the health of their children and grandchildren in decades to come. "We are," as Marcus Pembrey says, "all guardians of our genome." 

Watch The Ghost in your Genes

Taking our Mothers and Receiving Life

"All therapy is about taking our parents"..Bert Hellinger

My relationship with my mother hasn't always been as warm and connected as it is today. Not that it was horrendous, but there was definitely something there that did not allow our hearts full access to each other, no matter how hard I tried or what type of healing work I did.

There was much standing in the way. Her mother died of pneumonia when she was a little girl of two. Later as a young women going through WWII in Germany, she experienced the loss of her dear brother, and the loss of her beloved, the father of her first child in the war. When she married my father there was again the loss of a child before I was born.

To know my mother you never ever would have guessed it. She was one of the happiest, cheerful women you would want to meet. I had a happy childhood. So what was wrong with me..unhappiness, depression, difficult relationships, immune diseases. I was determined and courageous in my search for solution but nothing quite addressed the issues at the level required.

Then one life saving day I was introduced to Family Constellation Work. My world expanded and my heart opened, as I began to discover that it was I that held the pain, grief and trauma for my dear mother, and it was showing up in my life in the most challenging ways.

I discovered we all do it to varying degrees. This holding or identifying it is done on a soul level, out of love, as we are in service to our family. These deep energetics points of separation, and paradoxically bonds of love do not go away, they are to be held by someone in the family for many generations if necessary until seen, honored, and given a place in the hearts of those it belongs to.

Today the lead or weight that I carried for my mother has been forever transformed, and turned into gold through the alchemical process of the Constellation Work. My mother now has a place in my heart that is joyful, spacious and full.  

In my nine month Immersion Learning Program, participants reach a point where they can begin to take their parents in on a very deep level.This is a destination of our time together.

One of the the pieces of work I offer in this weekend is a deep process with the following words by Bert Hellinger. These are powerful words of healing. In honor of Mothers Day I am pleased to share them with you.

Thanksgiving at the Dawning of Our Lives

Dear Mother,

I accept from you everything,

all of it, with all that is included,

and at the full price that you paid for it,

and that I too am paying for it.

I will make something of it,

for your pleasure, and in your memory.

It shall not have been in vain.

I will hold onto it and honor it

and when I can, I will pass it on, as you did.

I take you as my mother

and you can have me as your child.

You are the right mother for me

and I am the right child for you.

You are the Big One, I am the Little One

You give and I receive – Dear Mother.

Calling on the Ancestors ~ Soul Support for difficult times

Recently I have been working with how do we stay centered in this time period of turbulent change, and loss. How do we avoid overwhelm, and stand with open-hearted strength to be with the enormity of these times. I am reminded to call on my ancestors. Through this deep experience I find my place, come into balance, and resonance with the greater knowing.  

I am happy to share this you: I create a sacred space by inviting in my parents to stand behind me, with my ancestors standing behind them. Allowing myself the time to connect deeply, together we face in the same direction, towards whatever may difficult to face. With the support of my own ancestors who have experienced the losses and traumas of their lives standing behind me, I feel strengthened, and connected to the foundation to life itself.

All Constellation Work is about seeing and feeling what is difficult, and connecting to the greater knowing present. When we do this there is a blessing for all, for myself, my ancestors, that which we are seeing, their ancestors, and all of our descendants. We are all one, and life goes on, even when it appears otherwise.

No matter what the issue, our ancestors want us to thrive. They are invested in the future through us. The challenges we face on a personal and planetary level seem overwhelming at times. To face them alone is absurd. All indigenous cultures are aware of the foolishness, and danger of living life as if the past does not affect the present.

I invite you to join in me this work, either by phone, or in person and discover the deep support and resolution that is available for most any issue. As we experience the hidden dynamics in our life and family, reconnecting to the truth and love of our ancestors, we are strengthened and free to take our rightful place in life.

Avatar and the Ancestors

Avatar Home Tree

Avatar was an amazing movie experience, but what really surprised and thrilled me was the story line of the people that inhabit the extraordinary planet Pandora. The Na'vi culture is based on a deep connection to the creative life force and their ancestors on which they rely for support and guidance. In the movie "The Home Tree" can be destroyed and they can carry on, but if they loose "The Ancestor Tree" that will mean they perish. The Na'vi people are in deep resonance with the ancestors, without that connection their civilization ceases to exist. The respect they hold for all life and being seen is so similar to our experiences of Constellation Work that someone suggested our healing sentence "I see you" was taken from that movie. Of course this deep and simple statement has long been a cornerstone of the work. To be seen and taken in just as you are is a key turning point in a Constellation.
It is very exciting that this message is being seen and received on a global level.
What is disturbing is that the Pandora world and its culture is apparently so foreign to a whole generation of young people that is causing deep depression and suicidal thoughts requiring care and support. As I reflect on our generations part in this response from the young, I am aware of the implications of our disconnection to our parents and our ancestors. The pop psychology of the last 20 -30 years has been to" cut the cords to Toxic Parents", take a new name, go study with some other culture and pretend we are free from our past. Of course this is not possible. Over and over the Constellations reveal the strength that comes from taking our parents and ancestors deep into our hearts just as they are. When we do the Constellation Work in" the knowing field" we have the remarkable opportunity to direct access to a truth, and a voice for those that came before, just as in the movie.

In the Constellation Work we have a primary experience of Unity, a connection to the Unified Field that connects all, and is seeking inclusion at all times.

The future is now.
Your Ancestors want you to thrive, what are you waiting for?

Circle of friends ~ Michael Diven

 

We sit around in a ring and suppose, but the Secret

sits in the middle and knows.   ~Robert Frost

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Constellation

 

Accelerated change and transition is all around us. How do we stay centered when it feels like the very ground we stand on is crumbling beneath our feet?  How do we avoid fear, attack, and blame?  Where do we find home, a job?  In this post I share the profound experience of a Nature Constellation for the oil and gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

A client came to the workshop day very ill. She had been in bed with fever, sore throat and laryngitis for several days. She shared with me privately that she had become sick and overwhelmed with deep sadness in relationship to the unfolding oil and gas leak situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Many in the group that day shared they also had been affected in various ways.

 

The client has been devoted to the work with a focus on family work. After a brief private interview where I discerned the overwhelm was not systemic in origin, and blame was not part of the issue I set up a  "blind" Constellation. Represented in the Constellation where *The waters of the Gulf of Mexico, *The flora, fauna,and wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico, * The oil and gas, and as always in an Abstract Constellation * A representative for an Unknown aspect operating.

 

It is my method of working to set up all Constellations "blind" (meaning the representatives do not know what they are representing) that leaves the chosen, free of projections, open to any truth that would want to show up on a soul level in relationship to the clients issue, of which they have no information.

 

The Representatives where chosen and placed in the circle by the client, allowing the roles to come to them, the movements started The waters take the center moving and twirling,Oil and gas was very joyful dancing and swirling around the room, The flora, fauna,and wildlife was more still and feeling the way around the circle. As their movement took more of the center, The waters slowly went down to the floor. Following this movement The Unknown aspect came to life following movements of connection to The waters. After a period of time the Unknown assisted the waters in standing once again and joining the others in the circle. 

 

As The waters rose up from the floor The flora, fauna, wildlife started a slow movement towards it. They came into a silent and profound embrace, and tears came to the observers in the room. Accompanying this movement was The oil and gas and The Unknown aspect encircling them with healing hands. After a long embrace The flora, fauna, wildlife started a very slow movement down to the ground where it lay for quite a time.

 

The others circled around it with hands held in a healing position. Very slowly The flora, fauna, wildlife came into a sitting position on the floor. With this movement it was clear to those present "life goes on" and as quickly as we had this thought The flora, fauna, wildlife was standing up supported by The waters. Slowly The oil and gas stood behind The flora, fauna, wildlife, I could see a distinct resemblance between the two, as if looking into the distant past. The oil and gas stood there for some time bringing to our awareness an incredible connection. In the ancient past these where one, being of organic origin, with most oil coming from plants and perhaps also animals, which were buried and fossilized in sedimentary source rocks. As this awareness moved out to the client once again tears flowed and the room was filled with beauty and awe. The past was present in the room in a profound new manner.

There was then a movement with all four Representatives as The waters, The oil and gas,The flora and fauna, wildlife, and The Unknown aspect came together to hold hands in a circle and slowly raise them to the sky. For quite sometime they stood in the circle in a peaceful silence. I ended the Constellation when all four where standing on their own as each had found their place and the room was filled with peace.

I shared with the group what I had set up and what they where representing. The Representatives where amazed and humbled as the issue set up was revealed. The representative for The oil and gas shared, in the role he was so joyful and just wanted to spread joy and energy around the Constellation circle.  

The client was awestruck and deeply moved by the Constellation movements and profound insights that where brought to light. With tear stained cheeks and a wide eyed smile she reported feeling much relief, hope and peace.