What are Constellations

I’m very passionate about Constellations. It has been love at first sight. I remember the first time I participated to a workshop in 1999. I was so impressed by the uplifting power of Constellations that I decided right on the spot: I want to know more. Since then I’ve been studying and practicing Constellations for my own personal development and in my work.
What are Constellations?
The word Constellation is a technical term used in the human sciences to refer to a set of elements which are in relationship to one another. So we can use the word Constellation to refer to a group, a work team, a relationship, the elements of a project, the options of a decision or our inner parts.
Constellations are a methodology to guide clients – individuals, teams, groups – into an experiential exercise which enable them to quickly increase self-awareness about the current situation, foster harmony and open up the way to change.
How do they practically work in a coaching session?
We create a physical representation of the key elements of the topic proposed by the client. In a one-on-one session, for example, we will use space holders on the floor or post-its on the tabletop to create the representation. With a group or a team, instead, we will use the people who are present as elements of the representation.
What are the main steps of a Constellation session in one-on-one coaching?
We have basically a four steps process.
Step one. This is a conversation between the Coach and the Coachee to find out what are the key elements of the situation.
Step two. The Coachee will map out the situation, creating the representation of the key elements, and the Coach will guide the client to experience what is really going on for each element of the system.
Step three. The Coach and the Coachee work together to make the system evolve into a better state where there is a higher level of harmony among the different elements, so that the system can work better.
Step four. The Coach helps the client in integrating the learning and defining the next steps.
What are the benefits of Constellations?
Whatever the topic presented by the client, by using Constellations, we are able to develop Self-leadership, increase self-awareness and create more harmony in both the outer and the inner system.