Systemic structural constellations

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Insa Sparrer, Matthias Varga von Kibéd · 1994 · Munich, Germany

What it is

SySt is not a single therapy with a fixed course. It is an intervention method, which its authors call a transverbal language used by a group as a model system. The client sets up the structure of a concern in space, using people (representatives) or objects. The elements can be family members,…

Format

• SySt has no phase model in the sense of a treatment course, and no source gives a fixed number of sessions. What it does have is a set sequence within one constellation, set inside solution-focused talks before and after.
• Settings and format

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• A client who cannot step into the miracle. Use the present exceptions first.
• Clients flooded in one role. Bring them back to their own place (see section 5).
• Drift into Hellinger-style verdicts about what the family "must" do. SySt explicitly avoids this.
• Treating a test result as a fact about the real system. It is only information about this picture.
• Hierarchy and confidentiality. Use covert labels when people in the room hold the represented roles.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.