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World-renowned philosopher and teacher, Bert Hellinger has become a leading voice of reconciliation among individuals, families, and communities. His paradigm-shifting approach enlists the known and the mysterious to set problems (work-related, relational, physical, mental or emotional), and their solutions, within the context of the broadest possible landscape. With a lense that takes in all, Hellinger’s views are often seen as provocative because he refuses to exclude any aspect of existence in the effort to find ways to heal the broken heart, the broken spirit, the broken person, the broken cord. Instead, Hellinger looks with wide eyes as the flow of life takes in everything and everyone to imagine how we might meet it in ways that are more conducive well-being. Stepping outside the contracted position of judgment and blame, he invites clients to move through the threshold of small interpretations and analysis. The work requires an essential, seemingly paradoxical, understanding: personal responsibility within an engaged ackowledgment of forces far greater than us.
The family constellations, which are one of the hallmarks of Hellinger’s contribution, set a particular aspect of life’s ebb and flow into a dimensional sphere in which people can see and experience the true meaning of their symptoms and possible ways to change course. Hellinger leaves the consequent tasks to those involved, steering clear of rescue or condemnation; roles that undermine individual strength and obscure the loving embrace in which we are all held.
Hellinger acknowledges as powerful influences on his development: his parents and brother; 20 years in the priesthood, especially his experience with the Zulu; participation in interracial, ecumenical training in group dynamics; and the many teachers with whom he studied in Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, Ericksonian psychotherapy, and others. Blending as well an extraordinary range of investigation into healing connections -- from Buddha to Freud, from Jesus to Rilke – Hellinger has found a way to communicate and apply insights that are usually held captive by common language. His vocabulary, however, is not common; he hears beneath everyday dynamics and then speaks to core issues. What is revealed, then, is not just a strategy to deal with one thing, but a positive shift in stance that can be life-altering.
Hellinger’s work always has been moving toward now -- even as it now moves beyond.
