Constellation Therapy

By Armando T. Dahan

Meet You in the Field: Weekly Family Constellations Sessions in Puna

If, at the mention of the word “constellation,” your mind wanders to the heavens above, you’d be right. A constellation is, after all, a cluster of stars. Alone, the dots appear random. When lines are drawn between them, an image appears.

The same is true of Constellation Therapy, only instead of stars, the dots represent your traits, shadows, relatives, and other facets of your life, laid out for you on a plane. The connections between them form a constellation from which you and other participants can glean answers and find breakthroughs. 

Kalapana resident Haylie Basch has been hosting Constellation Therapy sessions out of her home for several years now. “To me it is so tantalizing,” she tells me. “And I haven’t found a lot of things in life that can extract that level of satisfaction.”

Constellation Therapy was developed by the late psychotherapist Bert Hellinger, who drew inspiration from family systems therapy and his years observing Zulu communities as a missionary, and later consolidated his experience and practice into the method practiced today.

Basch trained in practice for two years under the tutelage of renowned Constellation Therapy practitioner Jack Blackwell. The practice focuses on revealing personal or ancestral dysfunctional patterns and allowing the nervous system to relax, assess, and create distance so that healing can occur. The group setting is also integral to the practice as “it allows multiple nervous systems to integrate [and hold] what a single one cannot,” Bash adds. 

Community is at the heart of Constellation Therapy, I found. Every practice begins with the opening of a communal circle from which all participants enter “the field,” which is essentially a state of mind of openness to oneself and the others in attendance, not unlike what you might find in medicinal ceremonies.

Traditional Constellation Therapy focuses on looking at the past-self, finding trauma and then drawing a line from that distortion to the present self. But after years of practicing, Bash says she’s created her own version of it. 

“I actually don’t believe in the past,” she adds, “If there is a traumatic event, we focus on what’s coming up in the ‘now’; to me, a person is already healed.”

Intrigued by the description and eager to try it myself, I set out one summer evening to Basch’s Kalapana beachfront home to join one of her sessions. Each session, I learned, is unique and dependent on who is in attendance. At ours, there were eight in total (plus a baby!). 

Each session also focuses on an individual, with the others in the group enacting aspects or traits of that person’s life, though the lessons gleaned can apply to anyone in attendance. To my surprise, I was the focus of my first-ever constellation therapy.

There were participants representing Mother Nature, myself, disgust, shame, and grief, to name a few. Even the baby brought a sense of innocence and levity to the circle. You never know the dynamics of the circle until you’re there. 

At my second attendance, for instance, the circle was smaller, and I was not the focus. Instead, I got to stand in for someone’s grandmother and interacted with the other stand-ins. 

Constellations Therapy is part theatrical, requiring you to assume a character or role. But there is no script and no wrong answers–you say what you feel as the role you assume. Basch facilitates the session from beginning to end, dropping in and probing questions when needed, ensuring that the dialogue and interactions continue to evolve. 

But participation is also voluntary, ensuring that no one is forced to do anything they don’t want to. The key to enjoying and getting the most out of Constellation Therapy is being in a relaxed state. 

Having tried the practice on two separate occasions, I can say that I enjoyed it. Like magic, every aspect of each session–from the interactions to whatever is said, shared, or felt–seems just right. That may be attributable to the energy of the circle itself and the trust that is established therein. 

 “The people in the roles that are playing in the field are having a one-on-one authentic experience of the mystical or the divine, or fill in the blank,” Basch says. Each session lasts approximately two-and-a-half to three hours, with some time left afterward for group discussion. If the duration of the sessions alarms you, don’t let it. I found that time passed quickly “in the field.” 

So how do you know if Constellations Therapy is for you? Basch has an answer for that, too. “If you hear the description of what it is and it resonates with you, then it’s for you,” she says. There’s no preparation needed prior to attending either, though it’s recommended you wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing. 

Basch holds weekly Constellation Therapy sessions in the Puna Palisades area. Sessions occur in the evenings from 5:30–8:30 pm and cost $20 per person. To find out more and to contact Basch, visit her website at https://constellatingoneness.com/