Participants' Experiences in Hellinger's Family Constellation Work: A Grounded Theory Study

Abstract

As a recently introduced to the U.S. model of intergenerational systemic therapy from Germany, Bert Hellinger's Family Constellation Work (FCW) has very limited research support. Hellinger himself has authored a number of publications referencing hundreds of cases, where he implemented his method to approach a broad array of physical, emotional, and relational issues. Isolated case studies by some of his followers (Cohen, 2009; Lynch & Tucker, 2005) shed light to the interventions and different styles of facilitation in family constellation work. However, very little is known about the participants' perspectives and their views on how FCW works. That gap in the literature became the focal point of this study. This study employed a grounded theory methodology as outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1998). The researcher conducted thorough interviews with a total of thirteen participants. The data collected from interviews were transcribed, coded and categorized into distinct concepts that also intersected with one another. The core category that integrated all lower levels of data delineated the final substantive theory called Meaning-making Process through Reflective and Experiential Understanding. The first goal of the study was to understand how participants in FCW workshops experience this therapeutic modality both as representatives and clients. The second goal was to uncover new perspectives on how clients experience FCW in a group setting that would offer to facilitators a more informed view on the clients' perception of FCW that could invoke potential changes in the facilitation of FCW workshops to improve the participants' experience. The researcher aimed at imparting the knowledge acquired through this study on the participants' outlooks on FCW to the family therapy field, so that more systems-oriented clinicians can familiarize themselves with this intergenerational approach and/or incorporate it to their practice as a complementary therapeutic tool. The generated theory focuses on the meanings individuals attach to their FCW experience. In the participants' retrospective reports, the attribution of significance to the experience was mediated by cognitive processing of the experience (via reconstructed memories and comparison with their previously defined reality) and recollection of the most intense experiential components (feelings and the experience of group dynamics). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]