Of course the question itself raises many more questions. If I achieved this aim, who would I be? Is it really what I want? Or am I aiming for what I think I want, what others want of me? Who do I want to be? What do I want to learn? What issues would I like to shed light on?

I invite you to a half-day workshop on Saturday, January 14th, in Glasgow (1.30-5.30pm) and an evening workshop in Edinburgh on January 18th.

The next day workshop is on February 5th in Edinburgh.

Looking ahead, we are preparing for Stephan Hausner’s Special Family Constellation workshop on June 1-3, 2012. We’ve extended the Early Bird booking until the end of January and introduced a 50% deposit.

Stephan is one of Europe’s foremost constellation facilitators. A naturopathic practioner and homeopath for 20 years, he has faciliatated hundreds of workshops in this innovative phenomenological approach around the world. Stephan relies on the principle that all healing is self- healing, and works towards creating the environment for self-healing to happen. His workshops are of interest to all and his focus on healing is particularly enlighting to people dealing with illness and health issues. You can read more about how he works by having a look at his new book.

It describes what we might call ‘classic’ constellations, outlining the process step by step. And then it has the extra quality that comes from Stephan’s work as a homoeopath and cranio-sacral therapist. He shares valuable insights into the clients, he brings a wealth of experience and his particular knowledge about illness, health, attachment and bonding, respect for life and death and the repeating dynamics he has observed throughout his work with constellations.

Although the subtitle of the book is ‘Systemic constellations and serious illness‘ in my opinion it is definitely of more general interest and relevance. The dynamics and ‘orders’ of love, as described initially by Bert Hellinger are all there in the constellations that Stephan describes. Its a great way to learn about them by witnessing how they occur naturally, and with less of the feel of ‘here are the rules, this is how it works’. There’s always a danger with books and written material on constellation work, that those who are eager to learn take on what is written as if it were the truth, or another and better moral code. When we work phenomenologically and mindfully, we do our best to avoid this, and books like this one help to demonstrate that way of working, with precise detail and careful and compassionate attention to the body.

As my colleague Sheila said “ It is doesn’t shame us when we lend it to people, it does us proud!”

Stephan Hausner will be in Edinburgh in June 2012. If you would like to attend this unique workshop, please book here or contact me.

]]> http://www.carinascotland.com/blog/2011/10/even-it-costs-me-my-life-stephan-hausner/feed/ 0 http://www.carinascotland.com/blog/2011/10/family-constellations-in-belgium/ http://www.carinascotland.com/blog/2011/10/family-constellations-in-belgium/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:30:35 +0000 constellations http://www.carinascotland.com/?p=831 Continue reading →]]> You are invited to two special Family Constellations workshops in Belgium.

The workshops are led by Clare Crombie. Clare is an experienced psychotherapist, supervisor , and teacher. She is the President of ISCA, the International Systemic Constellations Assocation.

The workshops are a unique opportunity to experience Clare’s generous way of working with Family Constellations.

Dates and venues :

26th Nov 2011 at Youth Hostel “Jeugdherberg De Blauwput”,Martelarenlaan 11A-B- 3010 Leuven

27th Nov 2011 at Kasteel Walburg, Stadspark, Walburgstraat 35, 9100 Sint-Niklaas

The workshops take place in English, scheduled from 10 am until 4.30 pm. Cost 80€ for each workshop.

For information or to book your workshop, contact Stephanie Boh-Buyle:
Mob. (32) 473197888
Email: steph@thewateredbamboo.com

The September study group will explore three fundamental questions:

• Why is integration important to our well-being?

• How can we better integrate these parts of ourselves?

• How do we make room for integrity in all parts of our lives?

Why is ‘integration’ key to our well-being?

In previous weekends, we have learnt about Dan Siegel’s work with mindfulness practice and the development of the brain. We will continue this by learning about his understanding of what integration means.

‘Mental health emerges from integration, the linkage of differentiated elements of a system. When integration is present, the system moves in the FACES flow of bring flexible, adaptive, coherent, energised and stable’ (Siegel 2010 The Mindful Therapist’)

We will explore, inquire into, and play with these words:

Flexible – looking at how unresolved trauma and shock makes us rigid, what needs to happen so that flexibility becomes an option?

Adaptive –How can we find out what can be changed and what cannot? And when something cannot be changed how do we adapt to it in the most creative way possible?

Coherent – looking at the stories or narrative of our life and putting the pieces together in a way that gives us space to breathe and space for the heart to heal. Seeking for our blind spots and daring to look into them –with compassion – will bring us into contact with a greater sense of coherence

Energised – where does the energy flow and where is it stuck? What kinds of movements enable flow?

Stable – how do we support ourselves and what sorts of actions create more stability within our bodies and within our systems (family, work etc)?

When we explore an issue from a systemic stance, we are aware of letting go of our usual way of thinking and intellectualising and seeking to ground ourselves in a different aspect of our being. Recent research suggests that this capacity is more located in the right side of the brain. What supports us to integrate the different functions of our brain in order to engage in this work?

Obviously this is far too much for one weekend, so we are going to take Integration as an overall theme, and within that play with and explore the concepts ideas that are coming up in the group.

How can we better integrate the fragments of ourselves?

Using exercises in small groups, some direct teaching, plenty of mindfulness practice, and of course using the constellations throughout.

Making room for integrity in other parts of our lives.

• Integrity is central to the constellation work as we work with issues which have such an enormous impact on well-being and ill-being

• Integrating our larger family systems and history: In family constellations, we recognise where our family system has been wounded and fragmented, and seek to integrate with awareness what and who is excluded or denied. This integration supports us in finding a place within our system that has more peace, stability and potential.

• Integrating other trainings & practices: How do we integrate knowledge and awareness from other trainings and practices? We all have very different backgrounds as practitioners and individuals. Constellation work is still developing and practitioners integrate this work according to their individual background and style. We will take space this weekend to attend to our sense of what we each want and need to integrate into this work.

Further Reading

Ian McGilchrist: The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Dan Siegel: The Neurobiology Of We

Some people use the idea of the ‘miracle question’ to get a flavour of how would our lives be if this problem or this issue had resolved. We usually have a ‘felt sense’ when we think of this question. If a miracle worker had come while you were asleep and taken away the issue, and you woke in the morning unaware of their visit, and started going about your day; how would you know that the problem had vanished? How would you notice? How would someone else notice? Would it be your body that would let you know or something else? Your thoughts? Your perceptions? Your actions?

Sometimes what happens next as we stay with this question is that we get a sense of the different aspects of our identity: If I weren’t this person with this issue, who would I be? How would my life be? The issue may have had the function of keeping me connected to my identity in a way that is safe, even though uncomfortable. The issue might also be intricately involved in a relationship as well, keeping a sort of comfortably uncomfortable balance.

Book now for the October 6^th, 2011 evening workshop where we will be exploring this very first step through teaching, exercises, meditation, and practice.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call or email me: info@carinascotland.com.

Next workshop: November 10^th, 2011: Am I in a good place to help this person? More details to follow.

As the venue is located 15 minutes away from Glasgow Airport, bus and train stations, I thought it might be of interest to those of you travelling from further away. It is around 45 min away from Prestwick airport. There are also possibilities for affordable accommodation locally, contact us for details. Spaces are limited, I invite you to book early.

If you are looking for some reading to further your journey, I invite you to discover a new Resource Section on the website. I will be adding suggestions as I go along. I have just received Stephan Hausner’s new book: “Even If it Costs Me My Life: Systemic Constellations and Serious Illness”. Stephan will be facilitating a workshop in Edinburgh in June 2012. You can reserve your place your place now.

Stephan is one of Europe’s foremost constellation facilitators, a naturopathic practioner and homeopath. Since meeting Bert Hellinger, Stephan has faciliatated hundreds of workshops in this innovative approach over the past 16 years. He relies on the principle that all healing is self- healing, and works towards creating the environment for self-healing to happen.

Some time to catch your breath.
Some time to reflect on your work.
On your own life.
How the two work together.
Some time to attend to that niggly worry that has been on the back of your mind.
Some time to reflect on something that has thrown you off balance.

Come and join us for an evening to centre yourself, to learn new ways of being, and widen your perspective.

The evening will start at 6.30pm with a light meal. We will take the time to arrive with a mindful awareness meditation and a brief introduction. Short exercises will help us learn new ways of looking at old problems. We will set up a constellation to experience how it can shed light on some previously unseen dynamics. As time is limited, if you would like to bring an issue or you are thinking about or working with, kindly contact me before the workshop. We will finish the evening with another meditation.

Do you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or book your place now. Places are limited.

Click on the links below to book your place now:

• December 2, 2011 - 'Get Some Perspective' Evening: Glasgow, in
• December 8, 2011 - Pers & Prof Development Evening, in Edinburgh
• January 18, 2012 - 'Get Some Perspective' Evening: Edinburgh, in Edinburgh

View the full Family Constellation Workshop calendar or email Clare Crombie for more information.

Family Constellations allowed us to slowly open up to a wider picture, making space for movement and truth. I would like to share with you a gentle “Breath Awareness” meditation led by Dan Siegel. You can download the free MP3 from his website. Mindful Awareness is a powerful skill to practice. It allows us to stay in the present, to stay in the clear and still depths of the ocean without being pulled into the waves and the storm at the surface. We are then free to notice shifts in our own body or in someone else’s, a useful skill for a working relationship with a client or any human interaction actually.

When was the last time you took some time for yourself? Time to nourish your soul, time to attend to that niggly worry that has been on the back of your mind for a long time, or something that has come up recently and thrown you off balance?

Come and join us on July 2nd for a Family Constellation Workshop. You can bring an issue that’s on your mind (if you would like some help defining what that might be and what ‘better’ would be, just get in touch). Or you can also choose to come as a representative. In helping others open up to a larger truth, you will no doubt make new connections in your own story and sometimes find answers to questions you didn’t realise you had.

Watch this space for a lot more events coming up in the next few months.

My name is Clare Crombie. I’ve been working as a counsellor and psychotherapist for 20 years I still really enjoy the challenge of helping clients shift problems that seem to refuse to shift.

I love the moment when our minds open to include a wider picture. I love the compassionate curiosity that is willing to look at the truth. It doesn’t matter what the truth is, but the truth does matter. I love to learn and teach about the mind and brain, about recovering from trauma and taking care of the nervous system.

I love to use one of my favourite methods- called ‘family constellations’. Family constellations are just a fantastic tool when it comes to opening to a bigger picture. We often look for healing without understanding that the original cause of the problem lies hidden in the stories of previous generations.

These kinds of traumas come with deep, secret loyalties that resist like mad in order to hang on – as if evolution itself has an investment in them staying put.

I work with all sorts of clients – in therapy one to one, in supervision, in study groups and constellation workshops.

I invite you to two workshops: This weekend’s study group is open to all: professionals, therapists, social workers, and everyone with an interest in learning.
We will be working on the wisdom of intuition and the body, the ‘Art of Helping’, the ‘giving and taking’ in relationships between mother and child, or equal adults. We will cover some essential ideas about memory, how the brain works, and how trauma effects us. There will also be space for some personal or supervision constellations. There are a few spaces left: 4-5th June in Edinburgh. You can also reserve your place for the next weekend on Sept 24-25th.

The next Family Constellation Workshop is on July 2nd in Edinburgh. If you would like to explore an issue that has refused to shift until now, this could be the chance to make progress. You can also join us as a representative, helping others in their constellations and gaining great insight into your own journey.

Despite experience which shows that pharmaceutical or mainstream medical care is limited in its effectiveness, our culture of quick fixes nonetheless encourages such solutions. In contrast to these limited approaches, the hallmark of Bert Hellinger’s work is the gentle yet profound process of systemic constellations, which shed light on and honor ancestral influences.

The compassionate awareness that results provides unique access to the deepest dynamics influencing the system, offers new ways to understand ourself and others, and points us toward lasting resolutions.“ -Sheila Saunders, RN, LMFT

Stephan Hausner, one of Europe’s foremost constellation facilitators, is a naturopathic practioner and homeopath who has been in private practice for 20 years. Since meeting Bert Hellinger in 1993 at a holistic conference, Stephan has faciliatated hundreds of workshops in this innovative phenomenological approach in 20 countries on 4 continents, over the past 16 years. Stephan relies on the principle that all healing is self- healing, and works towards creating the environment for self-healing to happen.

The English translation of his book, Even if it Costs Me My Life! is due for publication this fall. Stephan lives in Germany with his wife and six children.

Where: Gillis Centre: 100 Strathearn Rd, EH9 1BB

When: Friday June 1st, 2012 (2.30-7pm)
Saturday 2nd, 2012 (10am-6pm)
Sunday June 3rd (10am-4pm)

Contact Clare for more information: info@carinascotland.com or 07909 680397