- Is an In-Person session more beneficial than a Skype session?
Deep emotional work can be done during In-Person or Skype sessions; they are just conducted differently. The work is adapted for the different mode of communication. In the global village of today we are fortunate that Systemic Constellations can be done at a distance and many facilitators have been encouraged to use alternative means of working with clients.
- Do you facilitate Family Constellations workshops?
Yes I do, although I have no group workshops planned at the moment. As well, I facilitate small group workshops. A workshop could be created for a group of your choice. A workshop fee would be organized in advance on a cost per participant basis.
- What kind of symptoms benefit from Systemic Constellations?
Any condition that has an underlying emotional component to it will benefit from the insight gained during a Systemic Constellation. Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease, chronic fatigue, Crohn’s Disease, bipolar disorder, immune issues, IBS, ADD, ADHD, anxiety, depression, PTSD, colitis, reproductive health issues, addictive behaviours, feelings of unworthiness or meaninglessness, guilt, fears, phobias, shame, lingering grief, panic disorders, OCD, anger issues, psychosomatic conditions, cancer, asthma, reproductive health issues, intimacy issues, relationship difficulties, financial difficulties, family violence, abuses, eating disorders, chronic illness, continuous dark or negative thoughts, reoccurring symptoms, overwhelming stress, repeating life patterns, self-destructive impulses, fertility issues, parenting issues, or any other challenging condition that keeps you from enjoying life fully.
- How many appointments will I have to book?
Quite frequently one appointment will be enough to significantly begin the shift for an issue. As we peel back the layers of emotional suppression held in the body, some people book another appointment to address what has been revealed. It is up to the client to decide if they want another appointment and when.
- What is a family system?
In systemic healing work the family system is quite extensive and it includes: you, your biological parents, your children, your current or past intimate partners, your siblings, your parent’s siblings, your grandparents, and your grandparents siblings or your great grandparents if there is something relevant or significant to acknowledge from the past. Families today are sometimes quite complex with half siblings, stepparents, stepsisters and stepbrothers, adoptions, surrogate mothers, sperm bank fathers, and any other dynamic you might be experiencing. All family members have some impact on the emotional development of the child. Each family is what it is and this is stated without blame or judgement.I use the term “family” expansively on many levels. We have our family into which we are born and I will refer to this as our family of origin. We have our family system, which includes a number of extended family members far greater than our family of origin, and it may include many others to whom we are energetically or emotionally tied. We have the family system that develops through employment. We have our family system of supportive friends. We have our universal family that links all of us on the planet together in a shared human being experience. Finally, we have our soul family in the realm of spirit, those who assist us to create this human life experience that is filled with challenges and opportunities for spiritual growth and expansion.
- Can Systemic Constellations save my marriage?
Constellations can potentially help any relationship by aiding you to understand yourself and your partner better. If you understand yourself and your family system at a deep level, you respond differently in stressful situations. Family systems are about relationships. Whether a couple is married or not, they bring into the relationship a number of family entanglements. It’s often said that there are six in bed with you in any relationship: you, your partner, your mother, your father, your partner’s mother, and your partner’s father. In reality there are even more dynamics at play. There is the person you think you are, the person your partner thinks you are, the person you think your partner is, the person your partner thinks they are, there is the person your partner authentically is inside, and the person you are authentically inside. Wow, that makes for at least a dozen people in your marital bed. So, there is little wonder so many relationships run into difficulties struggling to thrive!! If you take the time to understand who you are authentically at the core, and who your partner is at the core, you will respond differently to all these other dynamics and emotional perceptions that tug at you energetically. The development of healthy energy boundaries is another significant aspect of being in relationship with others that needs to be developed and this work begins in a session with Patricia.
- What is an inherited entanglement?
There is a measurable energy field connecting all of us to one another. Even after someone dies, you still remain energetically tied to one another. Death doesn’t end a relationship; it just changes it. For example, if your ancestor died with unresolved emotional issues over their involvement in World War I or World War II, perhaps they returned from the war and never spoke about their experience with anyone again or they became emotionally distant or they lost their zest for life, then any one of their descendants can inherit this unresolved emotional trauma. This creates an inherited energetic entanglement. Through research into Epigenetic Inheritance we are learning that the way our genes continually express themselves is greatly impacted by emotional trauma of earlier generations.
- What can I expect from a Family Constellation?
Constellations allow us the opportunity to turn unhealthy relationships into healthy relationships. They illuminate an issue or stuck situation and provide fresh insight that helps us end repetitive patterns of destructive or dysfunctional emotional behaviours. They provide understanding as to why it is that we feel the way that we do, and/or why we do the things that we do. We come away from a Constellation with a body felt sense of how we are impacted by unresolved past emotional family trauma. Constellations provide a visual image that brings clarity around any issue or concern.
- What happens after the Systemic Constellations session?
I recommend that you just let the energy work sit within you. Drink lots of water and relax after the session. Some people like to journal and reflect on the insight that came forward from the Constellation. As much as it’s tempting, don’t start to talk about the insight with others. If you immediately begin to talk to others about the work then you lose the impact of the deep insight and the integrative body focused work at the deep core inner level. Talking takes you out of your body and into your head as you begin to rationalize what you experienced in the body. Rationalizing potentially harms the beneficial unconscious energy shift or movement that wants to occur following energy work.
- Can Systemic Constellations be used by organizations with issues?
Yes, constellations are highly effective for bringing new insight to problems or concerns within an organization. Everything from relationship issues to organizational planning can be set up in a Constellation. The work gives priority to the organizational family system rather than the family system of each individual employee or company executive, although these can come into play. We must remember that we each take our family along with us emotionally and energetically to work, that is inevitable. Organizations succeed when everyone has a clear understanding of their respective role in the organization, everyone has a place to be or to perform their work, and relationships are healthy. Each employee, customer, company executive or owner, and supplier is a member of that organizational family system. An organizational constellation may reveal old traumas that occurred in the organization’s past and show what might be done to stop the impact of these traumas on current employees.
- Do you work with children?
The healing work of a young child is really the healing work of the parents. All systemic healing work looks beyond the individual to the greater family system. This is particularly true when working with a child. Through Family Constellations work, it has been found that when children have symptoms or issues they are frequently in an emotional response pattern to something going on within the family system or they are energetically entangled with someone else in the family system. Out of love and unconscious loyalty to the family system, a child will energetically sacrifice themselves to bring awareness about something that is unresolved in the family system. As well, children may be trying to bring to awareness through their symptoms any person who is being left out or shunned by the family. The child may in some way mimic the behaviours or reflect the emotional situation of the one who is left out or missing. Sometimes the child is energetically entangled with a sibling, aunt, or uncle that died too early. There are many potential energetic explanations for the symptoms of a child and each case needs to be addressed in context.The wellness of the child generally tends to flow when mom and dad do their own healing work and heal any relationships that are unhealthy in the family system. I prefer to work with the parents and allow the energetic shifting to radiate out to the child. An older teen is quite capable of being involved in their own healing work, although mom and dad still need to do their work or the child remains in the same unchanged emotional environment. The parents take energetic priority over the child and this is because the child would not exist without the parents. The wellness of the parents will continue to impact the wellbeing of the child; even if some work is done with the child. The child is emotionally moulded throughout childhood by the parents. A child’s wellness comes when he or she can fully take into their body the love of mom and dad without feeling split between the two or pulled toward one or the other. If mom rejects dad or dad rejects mom then this is not possible. If the child is too close to mom or too close to dad this also creates emotional issues for their lifetime ahead. Sessions may include mom with the child; dad with the child; mom alone; dad alone; or mom, dad, and the child together.
- How do I pay for my session?
If the session is In-Person with Patricia then payment is made by cash, cheque, credit card, or advance payments by PayPal or INTERAC e-Transfer. For a Skype session, payment is made in advance by PayPal or INTERAC e-Transfer.