Laura arrived deeply distressed. She was about to be admitted to hospital with severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and felt she had tried everything. Having heard a little about family constellations, she was willing to explore her illness from a systemic perspective, hoping this work might support her healing.
I often wonder what will unfold in a session, and this one was no different. As we mapped Laura’s family history through a genogram, themes of war, migration and the early deaths of partners, parents and children emerged. These are some of the experiences we explore in constellation work, and they featured prominently across her Polish family’s history.
We approached her symptoms with a central question: Whose story might the symptom be telling?
Laura’s grandfather had been killed when a bomb struck the house, and her paternal great-grandmother had been killed by Nazi soldiers. Her family’s history was marked by the trauma of war, including children taking on the responsibility of raising other children.
Particularly significant was her father’s horrific experience of the war: whom he had managed to save from his family, and how they had escaped Nazi firing squads. He experienced illness throughout his life.
Following these threads, we explored the family’s experiences through a constellation. Stories of suffering and trauma emerged across three generations of Laura’s ancestors.
When working systemically, we ask “Who?”, “When?” and “How?” to elicit the facts, rather than focusing primarily on “Why?”
During the constellation, a connection emerged between Laura’s experience of her symptoms and the story of her paternal great-grandfather. As she deeply acknowledged what had happened, she described a sense of energy, experienced as grey smoke, leaving her body.
Over the following weeks, Laura reported that her symptoms eased, with some disappearing. This was her reported experience following the session, rather than evidence that the constellation had treated her ulcerative colitis.
For Laura, the constellation offered a way to acknowledge her family’s stories of suffering and injustice, and to recognise those who belonged within the family system. The work centred on bringing these experiences into view and exploring a renewed sense of belonging, balance physically and systemically and support.
Are you the symptom bearer of an ancestors story that was too big for them to hold?
