A relatively unusual and unheard of form of therapy, systemic family constellation is based on the belief that our issues, patterns and habits are intricately linked to the lives of our ancestors, and that it’s impossible for an individual to function independently from their family system.
Indeed, the notion that previous generations can influence us psychologically can be found as far back as ancient cultures, where healers promoted the importance of maintaining strong relationships with family ancestors.
Laura Ghita is a psychotherapist, psychologist and a Systemic Family Constellation Facilitator. She hosts private and online family constellation sessions at SEVA Experience, one of Dubai’s most enlightened, unique and community-focused yoga and wellness studios. Despite having been around since the ’90s, Laura says that family constellation therapy is currently experiencing a surge in popularity and attention.
She speaks to Livehealthy about how she uses constellations to help people solve challenges in all areas of their lives, including issues to do relationships, health and professional dilemmas.
What is systemic family constellation therapy?
The truth is, you can’t really understand this kind of therapy until you experience it. It doesn’t matter how much you read about it, or how much someone tries to explain it to you.
We are all part of a family system. Whatever happens in your family system happens inside you as well, and every change or step you make impacts your family. We are all connected in this huge energy field and state of consciousness. Systemic constellation work recognizes this physical and emotional connection.
How does it work?
Our genes, or biological inheritance, comes from the experiences of our ancestors. All of their understandings, traumas, knowledge and skills become part of our genetic system.
When I’m practicing, I open myself up and I allow myself to be curious, to find out what is out there, and why certain issues, patterns or behaviors are still in my life or those of my clients. Often these traits come from parents or grandparents. In constellation work you consciously allow yourself to feel, see and gain understanding.
I love this work. It allows me to explore the energy of a person or even a whole company. I stay in the energy and pay attention to the emotions, thoughts and information that are coming through.

Do some people doubt that it’s real?
Yes, sometimes new people who attend a group constellation, but are not asked to participate, think that it’s just all pretend. But then, when they start to feel things, they realize it’s very real.
Through constellations, you can often feel the emotions of your ancestors represented in your body as physical pain. For example, one client’s leg started to hurt because his grandfather lost his leg in the war. Or others might start to move, behave or speak like their deceased ancestors. It can be quite scary for some people.
However, generally I think that our consciousness is starting to expand and that more people are beginning to pay attention to their intuition. We are realizing that we sometimes have to look inside to find the problem, instead of looking outside and searching for someone to blame. Now we are more interested in discovering who we really are.
We have our physical body, our soul and the higher spirits that we are connected to. It’s time for all of us to explore all the instruments that we have at our disposal and look deep inside ourselves.
I have done a lot of training in therapies and psychotherapies, but I believe that family constellation is the most powerful and profound method. I’ve been working in this area since 2011. The more I dig deeper and deeper within myself, the more I’m able to help my clients.
We need to learn to receive life as it comes, and actively search for who we really are. It doesn’t matter what techniques you use, but please don’t run away from the hard therapies and only go with the soft ones. That’s not enough. You have to be brave and face what is going on inside you.
Can you give some examples of the people you have helped?
I had a lady who had been told that she couldn’t have another baby. But we worked on different aspects of her life and her family system and now she has a gorgeous three-year-old daughter.
Another client was a lady who had lost her very high-powered corporate job after meeting a man. We worked together for about a year and then she moved abroad to get an even better job. Now she is back working with me because she realized that she is always repeating the same patterns in relationships. We can’t deal with everything at once; this kind of therapy has to be done in steps.
Do people come back to you?
Yes. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we are growing and evolving every day. So if you have a break from therapy, you may one day feel that you need to go again to explore a different area of your life. That’s normal with systemic family constellation.
Family constellation is about relationships, but it can also be applied to the corporate world. After all, the different departments of a business all have their own energies. There are always bigger forces at work and they often have to be addressed before a company can resolve any issues it’s having.
For instance, I had one friend who ran her own marketing company, and she told me she couldn’t find the right people for her team. But we did a constellation and within a week she had found two new employees that she was very happy with.
How long does it take for a family constellation to make a difference?
With constellation work we move energies that are stuck, entangled or blocked. After we have moved these energies, they need time to rearrange. So generally we say that you need to wait at least one month for the constellation to work. You can’t expect it to happen immediately. You might need to wait a whole year for something to happen that clicks with what you discovered in your constellation. Only then will you see results. Or it might happen as quickly as a week.
I saw one woman who wanted to have a better relationship with her daughter who lived in another town. During the constellation, we found out that she didn’t respect or feel connected to her own mother either. But, after we finished the constellation and she reconnected with her mother, she got a phone call from her daughter that same day saying that she was going to come and visit her for a holiday. After all, the key in constellations is to learn to respect and honor the ancestors.
If I work in a group of 20 people, we don’t do 20 constellations. I allow myself to feel and pick up the best constellation for everybody in the group. I tell people to always pay close attention to the issues that are brought up in group therapy. They might help them understand more about the things that are happening in their own lives. Everything has a meaning. If we are participating in a constellation, that experience is meant for us in some way.
Is it better to do it as a group?
I think so. Sharing and coming together helps us to understand different perspectives, and see things in new ways. People come with individual issues, but often by the end realise that all the problems in the group were connected in some way.
We can raise each other up and help each other to move forward. If I could, I would only do group work. But some people feel they want privacy. Couples come to me together, and some parents bring their children, too.
For more information about SEVA Experience, visit sevaexperience.com.