The Challenge and Promise for Psychodrama and Family and Systemic Constellations

Abstract

Systemic Constellations—sometimes called Family Constellations—is a phenomenological

approach developed by family psychotherapist Bert Hellinger in the 1970s in Germany. The

experiential method originated to address the trauma passed to both the descendants of

the Nazi perpetrators and Jewish and other victims after World War II and has grown into

an international movement that is comparable to psychodrama. A growing number of

psychodramatists in the United States and around the world are integrating psychodrama

and Systemic Constellations in group psychotherapy and training settings. Others are

experimenting with and adapting principles of Family and Systemic Constellations in

individual sessions. Although this integration has shown positive results, some

psychodramatists voice skepticism; others question the value and future of psychodrama

in their enthusiasm for this new method. Here we discuss the newer method, alluding to

the challenges and possibilities that it poses with respect to psychodrama, and the fact that

a growing number of psychodramatists are integrating its principles with positive results.