--- title: "What a Family Constellation Is | Online and in Brussels" description: "A family constellation sets a situation out where you can see it. What it is, what happens in a session, and how to tell if it fits you. Online since 2010." url: "https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/" markdown_url: "https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/index.md" lang: "en-GB" alternates: - { hreflang: "en", url: "https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/" } - { hreflang: "es", url: "https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/constelaciones-familiares/" } - { hreflang: "nl", url: "https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/nl/familieopstellingen/" } - { hreflang: "x-default", url: "https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/" } --- ![](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/constellation-room.webp) Systemic family work # Experience your family system _differently_ A family constellation places the hidden structure of your family in space so you can see it, feel it, and shift it. The facilitator guides and holds the direction, and what you discover, you feel as much as understand. [See the practitioners](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#practitioners) · [Explain it, please](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#what-it-is) [What it is ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#what-it-is) · [What we work on ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#what-we-work-on) · [In a session ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#in-a-session) · [How we work ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#how-we-work) · [Practitioners ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#practitioners) · [Questions](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#questions) ![A practitioner and a client at a table, placing small felt figures to set out a family](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/constellation-figures-table.webp) What it is ## What is a _family constellation_? In a family constellation, you set your family out in space, so that who stands where, and who is turned away, become visible and workable. Often this is done using figures, simple objects standing in for the people in your question. We call these figures or people representatives. Some sessions work without them, instead the picture is held entirely in the mind's eye. The method comes from family therapy and systemic therapy. You feel the picture as well as see it. When you move a representative closer or turn another away, something shifts in your chest or your shoulders before you have words for it, and that felt change is what the session follows. In a group, the people standing in report the same kind of thing from inside their positions, and those experiences are what shapes the process. Much of what you carry reaches back further than your own life, or deeper than your conscious mind. Parents, grandparents, a loss nobody spoke about: these stand in the picture too, and seeing where they stand often leaves you freer to choose your own place. A family is the system most people come with, though it is not the only one the method reads. The same way of working applies to any system you belong to: a team, an organisation, a project, or the parts of your own inner world that pull in different directions. What is set out in space is a set of relationships with others, with those nearest to you, with yourself, and with your past. ![Twelve adults seated in a complete workshop circle, listening to one another](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/workshop-circle-family-constellations.webp) What we work on ## What you might _bring_ to a constellation People arrive with something concrete: a relationship that keeps breaking in the same place, a symptom nobody can explain, a grief that will not settle. Any one of these is enough to start with. ### A relationship that keeps going wrong “I keep having the same argument with the same person.” It might be with your partner, your mother, your father, a sibling, or your child. You have talked about it, avoided it, tried to be more understanding, tried to set boundaries, and somehow you still end up in the same place. A constellation can help you step outside the argument and see the pattern around it. ### Something difficult in the family “There is something in my family that nobody really talks about.” Maybe there was a death, a separation, an affair, an addiction, a child who disappeared from the family story, or simply a period everyone learned not to mention. Sometimes you know exactly what happened. Sometimes you only know that something feels unfinished. ### A feeling you cannot seem to shift “I feel anxious, low, overwhelmed, or just not like myself.” Sometimes there is an obvious reason. Sometimes there is not. You may already understand a great deal about why you feel the way you do, but the feeling itself has not changed. You do not need to know where it comes from before you come. ### Something happening in your body “I have a symptom or pain that I keep coming back to.” Some people come with persistent pain, physical tension, a recurring symptom, or grief that seems to live more in the body than in words. Constellation work can explore what else may be connected to that experience, alongside appropriate medical care, never instead of it. ### A loss, a big change, or a decision “Something changed, and I do not know what comes next.” A death. A separation. Moving country. Becoming a parent. Leaving a job. Deciding whether to stay in a relationship, move home, or make another choice that changes the shape of your life. Sometimes the question is not what happened, but where you stand now. ### Wanting to understand yourself better “Nothing is terribly wrong. I just want to understand myself more.” You may want to understand why certain relationships affect you so strongly, why you keep making the same choices, what you inherited from your family, or what seems to get in the way when you move towards something you want. You do not need to be in crisis to do this work. ### Something you cannot quite explain “Something feels off, but I cannot put my finger on it.” You may not have a clear story or even know what the question is yet. That is fine. A vague sense that something is not sitting right can be enough to begin. Finding the question is sometimes part of the work. The Process ## What _happens_ in a family constellation ![Two adults beginning a quiet conversation in the constellation room](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/stageflow/stage-1-tell.webp) ![A participant placing figures to set out a family constellation](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/stageflow/stage-2-place.webp) ![Adults noticing the relationships between positions in a constellation](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/stageflow/stage-3-notice.webp) ![The group settling at the close of a constellation session](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/stageflow/stage-4-shift.webp) Stage 1 of 4 ### The interview A session opens with an interview, and the interview is already part of the constellation. You talk through what you are bringing until the question underneath it comes clear, in your own words rather than in ours. That can take fifteen minutes or the whole session, and a session that is interview only is complete in itself. Stage 2 of 4 ### Setting the picture Then you set the situation out where you can see it: simple figures in a dedicated online constellation space, objects if you are in a room, or nothing at all, held in your mind’s eye. You place the people who belong in the question, and the arrangement usually says something before anyone comments on it. Stage 3 of 4 ### It moves From there it moves. Your facilitator asks how it feels from where you are standing and where your eyes go, and offers experiments: would you be willing to move closer to her, what happens if you turn and face him. You shape the picture and your facilitator holds the direction and the pace, and it behaves more like a film than a photograph. Stage 4 of 4 ### The closing The closing is protected rather than squeezed. The last stretch is for grounding: coming back to the room you are in, naming plainly what is still open, and leaving steady. The session keeps settling in the days after, which is often where the quieter shifts arrive. All of this can be done online too. We have worked with online constellations since 2010, using both the mind’s eye and a dedicated online constellation space. There is more here on [how online constellations work, what changes and what stays the same](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/online/). Who is who ## _Four roles_ in a constellation The same four roles appear whether you are working privately or in a group. In a private session the people in your question are held by figures you place, rather than by people standing in a room. ![A constellation in progress, with a client, a facilitator, and representatives placed around the room](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/roles/constellation.webp)![The same scene, with the client highlighted](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/roles/client.webp)![The same scene, with the facilitator highlighted](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/roles/facilitator.webp)![The same scene, with the representatives highlighted](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/roles/representatives.webp) The constellation The client The facilitator The representatives A constellation brings a question into view by giving the people or elements involved a place in relation to one another. One person brings the question, a facilitator guides the process, and representatives take the places of the people or elements involved. In a private session, the basic idea is the same. Instead of people standing in the room, we may use figures on a constellation board, work in the mind’s eye, or use a shared online constellation space. The client is the person whose question we are working with. On this page, that means you. You bring what you want to work on and what you would like to be different, in your own words. Together we work out who or what needs to be represented. As the constellation develops, you notice what happens for you and stay involved in where the work goes and how far it goes. The facilitator guides the process from the question you bring towards the goal you have set. They help clarify where to begin, keep track of the wider system, ask what you and the representatives are noticing, and bring attention to patterns or dynamics that become visible. From there, they may suggest movements, changes of position or other experiments and see with you what happens next. In a group constellation, representatives are the other participants who stand in for people or elements in your question. They do not need to know the person they are representing or understand their story. Their task is to pay attention to their own experience in the position: bodily sensations, emotions, impulses to move, where their attention goes, or anything else they notice. They report what they experience rather than trying to interpret it. Anyone can say no to representing or step out of a role at any time. At the end, the role is closed clearly and the representative returns to being themselves. The two settings ## Working _privately_, or in a group You can work one to one with a facilitator, or in a group where other people stand in for the people in your question. ### Private constellations You and your facilitator, and the whole session belongs to your question. You place simple figures, or hold the picture in your mind’s eye. Nobody else is in the room, and the pace is set by what you can hold. - Nobody else is present, and nothing is shared outside the room - One question, followed closely, at the pace you set - In a dedicated online constellation space, or in person in Brussels or Antwerp ### In a group A workshop, where the other participants stand in for the people in your question, and one person works at a time. You set out who stands where. When it is someone else’s turn you may stand in for a person in their picture, which is the same work met from the inside. - Other people carry the roles, and you are witnessed - A feeling shared with the group, and transformed together - A workshop, online or in Brussels [See the workshops](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/workshops/) Either way, the question is yours, the pace is yours, and you set the rhythm. How we work ## How a constellation is _held_ here Constellation work is held differently in different places, and the name alone does not tell you much. These are the commitments the sessions here run on. ### You lead the session You set the question and the goal in your own words. Everything your facilitator offers is an experiment you can decline, and one that does not work still tells you something. ### The interview is already the constellation Before anything is placed, you talk through what you are carrying until a clear question emerges. That conversation does its own work, and it may take a whole session. ### Felt in the body A constellation reaches you through your body as well as your mind. When the picture changes you notice it physically, perhaps as a release in the chest or a steadiness in the legs, and that is the change the session follows. ### What is felt, from a position What appears in a constellation is what someone feels from a position in your system, reported plainly as sensation and impulse. It is not a verdict on your family, and you decide what it is worth. ### The nervous system sets the pace Feeling safe comes before anything is asked of you, and the pace follows what you can take rather than what would be interesting. The aim is enough movement to leave you in a freer place, and the closing is protected so you leave grounded. ### Your own worldview holds If meaning, faith or ancestry matter to you, they belong in the session and we work with them as yours. If they do not, nothing changes, and nothing here asks you to believe anything in advance. Practitioners ## Five practitioners, _one way of working_ All five see clients, as well as teach together on the three-year training at EISEC. So the way a constellation is held is shared between them through cooperation. What differs is language, experience and style, and the choice is about who feels right to you. [![Cecilia Altieri](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/cecilia.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/cecilia/) [Write to](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/cecilia/) ### [Cecilia Altieri](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/cecilia/) [Psychotherapist · SSP provider · Executive coach · Systemic facilitator · Trainer](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/cecilia/) [Available for therapy, family constellations and listening therapy. Cecilia works on enquiry first, so start with writing her a message. Works in English, Spanish and Portuguese, with close attention to the nervous system and your pace.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/cecilia/) [Write to Cecilia](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/cecilia/) [![Simon Maebe](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/simon.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/simon/) [Book your constellation with](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/simon/) ### [Simon Maebe](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/simon/) [Systemic coach · Systemic facilitator · Head Trainer](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/simon/) [Open to new clients for family constellations and systemic coaching, online and in Brussels. Works in English and Dutch, making complex patterns clearer and easier to navigate.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/simon/) [Book with Simon](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/simon/) [![Anca Florea](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/anca.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/anca/) [Join the waiting list for](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/anca/) ### [Anca Florea](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/anca/) [Systemic facilitator · SSP provider · Trainer](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/anca/) [Away on maternity leave, with a waiting list open. Works in English and Romanian, with a gentle, unhurried approach that follows the pace your body sets.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/anca/) [Join Anca’s waiting list](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/anca/) [![Xilo Espinoza](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/xilo.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/xilo/) [Book your constellation with](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/xilo/) ### [Xilo Espinoza](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/xilo/) [Systemic facilitator · Trainer](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/xilo/) [Open to new clients, online and in Brussels. Works in Spanish and English, integrating breath and movement.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/xilo/) [Book with Xilo](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/xilo/) [![Mina Kanashiro](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/mina.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/mina/) [Book your constellation with](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/mina/) ### [Mina Kanashiro](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/mina/) [Systemic facilitator · Trainer](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/mina/) [Open to new clients, privately or in a group, online and in Brussels. Works in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish, with a calm, grounded presence and an instinct for bringing order to what feels scattered.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/mina/) [Book with Mina](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/mina/) > The tension at my work was growing worse and worse … To my surprise, the constellation highlighted my grand-parents' helpless suffering under the Soviet regime. The emotions were strong, yet Cecilia guided me through them skilfully and compassionately. From that day on, the fear at work disappeared, just as the stomach pain before unit meetings. For the first time ever, I was able to voice my boundaries in a constructive way. Dace [Read more in Hugs →](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/hugs/) > Thank you very much for my constellation. It was great to have my constellation set yesterday. I am still overwhelmed and full of positive energy. Stefan D. [Read more in Hugs →](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/hugs/) > I've been working with Anca on different topics and I love our sessions. She gets me to reach the root cause of my problems and makes me understand where it all comes from, in the same time guiding me gently to release whatever is blocking me... I mostly have one session per topic, so the sessions are very effective and efficient for me. Diana [Read more in Hugs →](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/hugs/) > I experienced a deeply revealing family constellation session and I am blown away by the work and way of perceiving deeply unconscious feelings and patterns held in the family line and carried on until it is felt and returned to its rightful place and keeper. Sam [Read more in Hugs →](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/hugs/) > Working with Mina felt natural and comforting from the start. She helped me see and understand family patterns I'd never noticed before, especially around who I am and where I belong... Since our sessions, I've noticed I communicate better with my partner and family. A. M. [Read more in Hugs →](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/hugs/) > The work with you has moved and created the deepest of changes within me and my system. I have a state of deep gratitude towards you, the work you do and how it has helped me in my life. Nils [Read more in Hugs →](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/hugs/) Questions ## The questions that _come up first_ Before you start The method Practical What do I need to prepare? It helps to have a clear question in mind, and a goal you want to work towards. Though this is something we can also explore within the session. For online sessions, a quiet hour where you will not be interrupted helps. And if you are coming in person, comfortable clothes, since you may stand or move. Your facilitator explains each step as it comes and asks before anything is tried. How long is a session? A session is an hour with Anca, Mina, Xilo and Simon, and fifty minutes with Cecilia, covering the interview, the constellation if there is one, and the closing. Some sessions are mostly interview, some are mostly constellation, and the balance follows what you bring. The length for the session you are arranging is confirmed when you book. How many sessions will I need? There is no fixed number. A piece of work is built around one question, and it can take a single session or span several: the interview, the constellation, and the integration afterwards. Some people come once and stop there; others return across weeks or months, for a new question or to let the first one settle further. How much you do is yours to decide. If it helps to think through what you would bring, ask us and we will prepare it with you. Do I have to believe in this for it to work? No. The question underneath this one is usually whether scepticism will stop it from working, and it does not. What a constellation works with is what you notice once the picture is in front of you, and noticing does not ask you to believe anything first. Your own experience of the session is the best guide you have, and it is the one we would point you to. We work with what you already believe rather than asking you to take on a worldview of ours. Is it spiritual? That depends on you rather than on us. Where meaning, faith or ancestry matter to you, they belong in the session and we work with them as yours. Where they do not, a constellation runs exactly the same, and nothing here asks you to hold a belief. Is it evidence-based? Research specifically on constellations is a small field, and we do not present this as a proven treatment. What holds it up is the tradition it sits in and the way it is run: work that reads the whole family system, moves at a pace you can hold, and stays led by you. How can this work with people who have never met my family? It is the question most people arrive with. Someone placed in a position and asked simply to notice what arises will reliably report sensations and pulls that match something real in your system. Practitioners see it again and again. We call it representative perception. You do not need that person to know anything about your family, only to be present and honest about what they notice. What if nothing happens? Three things can honestly happen in a session. A full constellation can unfold, where the picture visibly shifts; a focused exploration can test one movement or one question carefully; or the interview can take the whole session and complete the constellation for that day. Sometimes a session is quiet and the movement arrives later, in the days after. How does this fit with therapy I am already in? It sits alongside it. A constellation reaches material through the body and through arrangement in space, which works differently from talking, and what surfaces there can be taken back into your therapy and worked further. It is worth telling your facilitator that you are in therapy, so they can hold that while you work. How does an online constellation work? You work in a dedicated online constellation space, where the figures are placed and moved on screen, or entirely in your mind’s eye, guided by your facilitator. What carries a constellation is the felt sense of where people stand in relation to you, and that comes through a screen. Sessions have run online here since 2010, and in a dedicated space since 2012, long before the field moved online. What do I need at my end? An internet connection, a quiet room where you will not be interrupted, and a screen large enough to see figures on. A laptop or a tablet is easier than a phone. There is nothing to install: a standard web browser is all it runs in. Your facilitator sends the link and walks you through the space if you have not used one before. What if I am in another country, or another language? Sessions run across time zones, and the time is agreed between you and the practitioner you choose. Between them the practitioners work in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French and Romanian, and each one’s own languages are on their card. Is anything recorded? Nothing is recorded without your explicit consent. What you say in a private session stays between you and your facilitator. In a group, what is shared in the room stays in the room, and identities are not spoken of outside it. What does a session cost, and how do I pay? Fees differ from one practitioner to another, and you are told the fee for the practitioner you choose before anything is booked. Payment is by bank transfer, credit card, or cash. Is any of this reimbursed? Family constellations are not reimbursed. Belgian mutualities generally do not reimburse therapy sessions either, though some international insurers cover therapy depending on the policy, so it is worth asking your own insurer. In practice, most people here pay privately. Notes ## Where it comes from, and _what to expect_ The history, the technique, then the practical next step: a session. [![](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/blog/history-family-constellations.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/history-of-family-constellations/) [The method](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/history-of-family-constellations/) [about 10 minutes](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/history-of-family-constellations/) ### [The history of family constellations](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/history-of-family-constellations/) [The method’s creator was a Hamburg psychiatry professor almost nobody names. The real history, with sources: Thea Schönfelder, Virginia Satir, movement therapy, and what Hellinger actually did.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/history-of-family-constellations/) [Read more](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/history-of-family-constellations/) [![](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/blog/techniques.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/family-constellation-techniques/) [The method](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/family-constellation-techniques/) [about 6 minutes](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/family-constellation-techniques/) ### [The techniques a constellation actually uses](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/family-constellation-techniques/) [The interview, the spatial image, representative perception, movements and statements. A trainer takes the method apart into its real parts.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/family-constellation-techniques/) [Read more](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/family-constellation-techniques/) [![](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/images/blog/expect-session.webp)](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/what-to-expect-in-a-session/) [Sessions](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/what-to-expect-in-a-session/) [about 4 minutes](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/what-to-expect-in-a-session/) ### [What to expect in a session](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/what-to-expect-in-a-session/) [What actually happens in a one-to-one family constellations session, from the first question to the last ten minutes, told by a psychotherapist.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/what-to-expect-in-a-session/) [Read more](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/blog/what-to-expect-in-a-session/) Looking for a different path? [Private sessions The five practitioners, their languages, and who has room at the moment. ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/sessions/) · [Listening therapy The Safe and Sound Protocol, a listening programme for adults and children. ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/ssp/) · [Workshops Group days online and in Brussels, where other people stand in for your question. ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/workshops/) · [The training The three-year facilitator training at EISEC, taught by the people behind this practice.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/training/) [Private sessions The five practitioners, their languages, and who has room at the moment. ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/sessions/) · [Listening therapy The Safe and Sound Protocol, a listening programme for adults and children. ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/ssp/) · [Workshops Group days online and in Brussels, where other people stand in for your question. ](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/workshops/) · [The training The three-year facilitator training at EISEC, taught by the people behind this practice.](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/training/) ## Find what works for you Online anywhere, or in person in Brussels. If you already know which practitioner you want, book with them. If you do not, ask us and we will work it out with you. [See the practitioners](https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/#practitioners) Scope and safety ## The right support at the _right time_ Sessions support change in how you live, relate and decide. They sit alongside medical and psychological care, and they do not replace it. If you are in crisis right now, or you are having thoughts of harming yourself, please turn first to your doctor, to a crisis line where you live, or to the emergency services. If you are being treated for a psychiatric condition, or you have questions about medication, that care belongs with your prescriber, and our sessions can run alongside it. If you are unsure where to start, ask us. We will tell you honestly whether this is the right support for you now. --- _Markdown version of https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/family-constellations/, generated from the published page. Site index: https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/llms.txt. Not sure where to go? Start at https://www.ceciliaaltieri.com/agent-lobby/_