Mapping out a “family constellation,” explains Dr. Joy Manné, encompasses exploring previous powerful life events from accidents to adoptions and accessing the deepest dynamics in that family system. This process helps us recognize and then resolve deeply seated family patterns. For example, in order to understand a person’s inability to trust, the family history of betrayal must be uncovered and released. These insights replace resentment with respect, pain with understanding.Dr. Manné uses the knowledge gained from her own practice as well as her educational experiences with Bert Hellinger, the founder of Family Constellations therapy, to clearly describe this technique. Most family constellation sessions are carried out in a group setting, with the facilitator first seeking clarity regarding the issue or problem the client has come to work out. Representatives are then chosen from among the group and the constellation is set up and worked in until it comes to resolution. This may be followed by a closing ritual and advice about how to integrate what the constellation has revealed. Through the use of real-life examples of family constellations, Dr. Manné makes this increasingly popular practice understandable and relatable.
"This is a special book.... And it is such easy and beautiful reading. Beyond this, it is soul warming with many surprising hints on how to make our lives and our relationships richer and more fulfilling."
—From the foreword by Bert Hellinger, principal developer of Family Constellations therapy and author of more than thirty books
"You have only to read the table of contents in Family Constellations to know that this is a book that addresses everything you want to know about Bert Hellinger’s system and how it is being used. Joy Manné presents a clear and simple description of this effective method of reconciling with others, with the past, and with ourselves."
—Kylea Taylor, author of The Ethics of Caring: Honoring the Web of Life in Our Professional Healing Relationships
"Family Constellations is the book that I and many others have been waiting for. This introduction to Family Constellations is written in clear language that breathes on the page. Like a good chef making sauce, Dr. Manné has reduced the manifold ingredients of this branch of therapy to the essence of both the practice and its spiritual nature. Aptly illustrated with case histories, the central message uplifts and inspires: when we open our hearts and agree to what is so, rather than what we believe to be so, we meet Love–the one and only healer."
—Philippa Lubbock, Life Alignment therapist, Constellator (Family Constellations), Healing Through the Family Soul
"Joy Manné has done a wonderful job distilling Bert Hellinger’s Family Constellations method. If you are interested in this work, you don’t need to buy a shelf-full of expensive books that you will never have time to read. Dr. Manné has done the work for you and written it all down with a clarity and directness that is all too rare in books about therapeutic approaches."
—Ken Sloan, co-developer of Nature Constellations Work
"Joy Manné has written a succinct, didactic book about Family Constellations that focuses on the essence of the approach. She has a gift for unveiling the method, its usefulness, and the different parts so that readers understand the overall picture before delving into the details. This book is a jewel among books on Family Constellations. Dr. Manné’s wisdom, respect, and love come shining through making this mini-textbook a testimony to the devotion and discipline of Family Constellation facilitators."
—Kate Lindley Scheidegger, The Talent Spirit, Geneva, Switzerland
“This slender guide gives a succinct outline of family constellations work… a useful guide for those new to the method.”
—New Consciousness Review
“[Family Constellations] certainly is very detailed and easy to understand, even to those whose background is not in psychotherapy… [The book] provides a unique view on the causes and solutions to many of life’s problems.”
—Luxury Reading
