About Family Constellations | How It Works & What to Expect
Family Constellations is a therapeutic, experiential approach that uncovers and resolves hidden family patterns and generational entanglements. These dynamics—often rooted in trauma, loss, or broken bonds—can influence relationships, health, behavior, and life direction.
Rather than focusing only on the individual, Family Constellation therapy explores how unresolved experiences within a family system may continue to affect present-day life. These influences may appear as: repeating relationship patterns, anxiety, depression, or emotional overwhelm, chronic physical or emotional issues, a sense of being stuck or disconnected, and difficulty finding direction or stability.
Family Constellations helps reveal and release entanglements with burdens that do not belong to you, allowing for greater clarity, balance, and connection especially in a private online Family Constellation session.
Family Constellation Private Sessions, Groups & Workshops
-
![Online Private Family Constellation Session]()
Private Family Constellation Sessions (Online)
Work one-on-one to explore and resolve hidden family patterns, generational trauma, and relationship dynamics in a focused, confidential setting.
-
![Screenshot of a virtual meeting with 15 diverse participants, each visible in their own video window, smiling and engaging from home.]()
Chicago Family Constellation Group Sessions
Monthly in-person Family Constellations group sessions in the Chicago area offer a powerful, community-centered healing experience to uncover and release hidden family and ancestral patterns.
-
![Three women engaged in conversation at an indoor event, with other people in the background.]()
Chicago Family Constellation Group Sessions
Monthly in-person Family Constellations group sessions in the Chicago area offer a powerful, community-centered healing experience to uncover and release hidden family and ancestral patterns.
-
![Family Constellations Online Workshops]()
Family Constellation Workshops (Special Topics)
Themed workshops that combine learning, experiential exercises, and constellations to explore specific family and systemic dynamics.
-
![]()
Family Constellations Sessions with Representatives (Online)
Uncover and heal hidden family patterns and generational trauma in a safe, confidential online space with volunteer representatives.
-
![Chicago Family Constellations Intensive Workshop]()
Chicago 4-Day Intensive Workshop
Restoring Harmony, Wholeness and Balance to Our Family System and for Ourselves. A 4-day Intensive Workshop in Chicago, August 13 - 16, 2026.
What Can Family Constellations Help With?
Family Constellations can support a wide range of challenges, including:
Relationship difficulties and family conflict
Anxiety, depression, and emotional patterns
Unresolved grief and trauma
Generational or inherited trauma
Feeling stuck, disconnected, or burdened
Repeating patterns in relationships, health, or success
This work offers a way to understand challenges within a larger systemic context, opening the possibility for meaningful and lasting change. Many people begin with a private Family Constellation session to explore one of these challenges in a focused and supportive setting.
How Family Constellations Works
Family Constellations is a living, experiential process rather than a talk-based method.
In a session, we begin by identifying what you would like to explore—such as a relationship, life pattern, or emotional or physical concern.
From there, the constellation unfolds:
In group sessions, participants represent members of your family system
In private sessions, objects or visualization are used
In some online sessions, live representatives may be included
As the process develops, representatives or elements begin to reflect the underlying dynamics of the system. Hidden loyalties, unresolved events, and relational patterns become visible.
Through this process, a new ordering can emerge—often bringing relief, clarity, and a deeper sense of connection.
The Knowing Field in Family Constellations
One of the most distinctive aspects of Family Constellations is what is often called the knowing field.
This is described as a shared informational field through which hidden family and systemic dynamics become visible during a constellation.
Participants (called representatives) may begin to experience emotions, physical sensations, or impulses that reflect members of a family system—even without prior knowledge.
In private Family Constellation sessions, this same process can unfold using objects—such as small items or markers placed to represent family members. Even without other participants, clients often notice meaningful shifts in awareness and perception as the constellation develops.
Through this process, a constellation may reveal:
Unconscious family loyalties
Generational trauma and inherited patterns
Hidden or excluded family members
Emotional burdens carried across generations
While the knowing field is not fully explained by conventional science, many experience it as a direct, embodied awareness of systemic relationships. Bert Hellinger described this as a deeper organizing movement within families, where past and present influences can be experienced in the moment.
This process helps bring clarity to hidden dynamics and supports movement toward balance, connection, and resolution.
Ways to Experience Family Constellations
There are several ways to experience this work, depending on the depth and setting you are looking for:
Private Online Family Constellation Sessions
A one-to-one process to explore a specific issue in depth. These sessions provide a focused, confidential space to work with family patterns, generational trauma, and relationship dynamics. Schedule a Private Session
Private Online Sessions with Representatives
A private session supported by live representatives who participate in your constellation, allowing deeper dynamics to emerge and be experienced directly.
Online Family Constellation Group Sessions
Monthly online Family Constellation group sessions where several constellations take place. You may participate as a client, representative, or observer.
In-Person Family Constellation Group Sessions (Chicago)
Live group sessions in Chicago where participants gather in person for a shared, experiential process.
Family Constellation Workshops (Special Topics)
Workshops focused on specific themes, combining teaching, experiential exercises, and live constellations.
What to Expect in a Session
A typical Family Constellation session may include:
Identifying the issue or pattern you would like to explore
Setting up the constellation (with representatives or objects)
Observing movements, sensations, and relational dynamics
Allowing a new resolution or shift to emerge
Integration and reflection after the process
Insights often continue to unfold after the session as the work integrates over time.
Explore Further
You can learn more about how different generational issues can be understood and resolved in Family Constellations including:
Is Family Constellations Right for You?
You may benefit from this work if:
You notice patterns that don’t change despite your efforts
You feel connected to something larger than your personal story
You are open to an experiential, body-based process
You are willing to explore family and generational influences
Take the Next Step
Whether you are drawn to the depth of a private session or the shared experience of a group, Family Constellations offers several ways to begin.
You can explore:
Private online Family Constellation sessions
Online group sessions
In-person group sessions in Chicago
Family Constellation workshops
Each offers a different entry point into this work, depending on your needs and level of readiness. A private session offers the most direct and personalized way to begin.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Many clients report powerful insights and emotional shifts after just one session. Family Constellation Therapy is not about talk therapy or analysis—it works on a deeper, energetic, and systemic level. While results vary, clients often feel more clarity, emotional relief, and improved relationships. At Healing Body Therapeutics, we've seen this process support lasting change for those open to healing intergenerational patterns.
-
The Knowing Field is an informational field experienced in Family Constellations that allows hidden family and systemic dynamics to become visible. Through this field, representatives may sense emotions, impulses, or physical experiences that reflect relationships and patterns within a client’s family—often without any prior knowledge. This can reveal what has been unseen or unspoken, and support movement toward greater clarity, connection, and resolution.Item description
-
No. Family Constellation Therapy works with your internal image of your family. In both group and individual settings, representatives (or objects in virtual sessions) are used to access the family system and reveal hidden patterns.
-
Yes. Online sessions use symbolic tools or guided visualizations to represent family members and dynamics. Barry Krost offers online private and group sessions that are just as powerful and transformative as in-person constellations.
-
Yes, when guided by a trained facilitator. At Healing Body Therapeutics, safety and consent are prioritized. While deep emotions may surface, the process is held gently with the intention of integration and healing—not re-traumatization.
-
Some clients experience significant shifts after just one session, while others benefit from multiple sessions over time. The number of sessions depends on your goals and the complexity of the issue. Healing is a process that unfolds uniquely for each person.
-
While side effects are generally positive, such as increased awareness and emotional release, some individuals may experience temporary discomfort as old wounds or suppressed feelings surface. This is part of the healing process. At Healing Body Therapeutics, Barry Krost ensures each session is supported with care, integration, and grounding practices.