Systemic Constellations takes as its primary principle a trans- and multi-generational perspective. We readily accept that physical characteristics are passed on within the family; some illnesses are known to be genetically part of the family. It is also true that emotional and psychological patternings are part of our legacy. In the Attachment work of John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth and others it is well understood that attachment styles are transmitted behaviourally across the generations, however we are talking about a deeper transmission that is part of the collective systemic consciousness of the family (or organisation).
Traumatic events cause a split in the personality and soul of the person involved, and this affects those who bond with the traumatised person. In the very intimate process of bonding the mother’s internal emotional and psychological world is what the child bonds with. The child can do no other, and the mother also, since the trauma reaction is unconscious, can do no other. This also occurs with the father, but usually when the child is slightly older.
Many of the difficulties that we experience in our lives seem unexplainable within the context of our own life experiences, in particular things like chronic depression, panic attacks, chronic anxiety, even addiction, suicide , psychosis and schizophrenia. But if we widen our view to the larger context of two, three or even four generations, and understand the impact of trauma on these previous lives, then we have a different opportunity.