What are systemic constellations?

Helping you to sense into unseen dynamics

Sometimes, no matter how much we reflect or plan, something stays stuck.

We repeat the same patterns. A relationship feels off. A project won’t move. We carry a heaviness that doesn’t seem to make sense.

These moments aren’t always problems to fix. Sometimes they’re clues. Signals that something is out of alignment, not just within us, but in the wider system we’re part of.

What is a Systemic Constellation?

Systemic Constellations is a practice that helps us make the invisible visible. It allows us to explore the deeper relational, emotional and historical layers that shape our lives and work. Rather than analysing, we map what is happening in physical space and listen to what the system wants us to see.

This approach began with the work of Bert Hellinger, who spent time living and working in South Africa. There, he observed how Zulu communities worked with ancestral connection and collective harmony. He noticed that love and belonging weren’t just individual needs, but systemic forces. If someone in the family or community was forgotten, excluded, or dishonoured, the system would find a way to restore balance, sometimes through symptoms or struggles in future generations.

Hellinger brought this understanding into his work with families and named what he saw the “orders of love.” When these orders are disrupted, the system becomes entangled. When they are restored, flow and vitality return.

Over time, this work expanded into organisational and leadership contexts. Practitioners like John Whittington began using constellations to support teams and leaders. As he puts it, constellations help us see the system we serve, not just the role we play in it.

How it works

In a constellation, we take an issue you’re working with and map the parts of the system connected to it. This could include people, roles, values, blocks, or even abstract elements like “the future” or “a decision.”

We might use objects on a table, pieces of paper on the floor, or representatives in a group setting. This creates a living map. From here, we begin to sense the dynamics, not just think about them. Where is there distance or tension? Who or what is missing? What wants to be seen?

The practice doesn’t seek to fix. It seeks to reveal. Often, a simple acknowledgement is enough to bring movement or insight.

As John Whittington writes, “The client’s system becomes more visible, and the intelligence within the system starts to reorganise itself in the presence of attention and respect.”

About group constellations

Group constellations offer a powerful way to engage with the field collectively. In this format, members of the group are invited to stand in as representatives for different elements of a system — such as a family member, a workplace role, a symptom, or even an abstract force like “the future” or “freedom.”

What often unfolds is a kind of embodied sensing: representatives begin to feel emotions, impulses, or movements that belong to the role they are holding. This reveals hidden dynamics and allows what has been excluded to be acknowledged, welcomed, and reintegrated.

Group constellations can be deeply moving not only for the issue-holder, but for everyone in the space. As we step into roles beyond ourselves, we often gain surprising insight into our own lives. There’s a sense of shared presence — of being in service to something larger than any one of us.

These sessions are held with great care, and with attention to consent, safety, and collective dignity. You don’t need prior experience — just a willingness to be present.

Why this work matters

We all belong to systems: families, workplaces, cultures, communities. These systems carry memory. What has been excluded doesn’t disappear. It lingers, often unconsciously, shaping our experiences.

When something is out of place or unacknowledged, we can find ourselves:

• stuck in roles or behaviours that don’t make sense
• repeating patterns that aren’t ours to carry
• experiencing burnout despite our best efforts
• feeling disconnected or unsure of our next steps

Constellations offer a way to pause, sense, and see. They create a space where something old can be acknowledged and something new can begin.

This work often brings a sense of spaciousness, clarity or release. Sometimes it is subtle. Sometimes it lands like a quiet truth finally named.

What happens in a session?

In a one-to-one session, we begin with something you’re sitting with. It might be a question, a challenge, or a repeating pattern that you’d like to understand more deeply.

We gently map the system using objects, movement or spatial placement. Together, we listen for what emerges. We notice what feels out of place, what hasn’t been seen, and what may need to be included.

This isn’t about problem-solving. It’s about listening to the field. Following what’s ready to be acknowledged. The system often knows what is needed. Our job is to create the conditions for it to speak.

You might leave with:

• a shift in perspective or sense of clarity
• a deeper understanding of a personal or professional dynamic
• a release of something you’ve been carrying
• a clearer sense of where your energy wants to move next

When to consider a constellation

This practice can support individuals, leaders and teams who are navigating:

• repeating challenges that don’t resolve with logic alone
• family or ancestral dynamics that feel heavy or unresolved
• team tensions or organisational misalignment
• big life transitions or role changes
• questions of belonging, purpose or direction
• decisions that feel stuck or confusing despite reflection

Constellations can help us reconnect with what has been forgotten. They create room for systems to find new balance and for us to return to a place of presence, agency and flow.

As Hellinger once said, “The movement of the soul is always toward inclusion.”

If you’re curious about what might become possible when the system is seen with fresh eyes, I’d love to explore it with you.