Systemic Glossary — Family Constellations from A to Z

Orders of Love

Assent

An inner movement of accepting what is, without judgment. The precondition for any systemic healing.

Deep Assent (deep yes — Hellinger)

A mature systemic movement: a deep 'yes' to one's own life, one's own parents, one's own destiny, without conditions or reservations. The core of Hellinger's work.

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Assenting to Destiny

A mature systemic movement: accepting the destiny that came to be—family, biography, inherited pain—without passive resignation or futile rebellion, opening space to move what can be moved.

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Saying Yes to Life

A fundamental systemic movement: accepting life as it arrived, with the parents who transmitted it and at the cost it incurred.

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Balance (giving and receiving)

Third systemic law: in every deep adult relationship, there must be a balance between giving and receiving. Sustained imbalance breaks the bond.

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Place

The position each member occupies in the family system by order of arrival and function. Having your place is the condition for systemic peace.

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Order (hierarchy)

Second systemic law: in every system, there is a priority by order of arrival. Whoever arrived first takes precedence over whoever arrived later.

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Belonging

First systemic law: everyone who belonged to the system, belongs forever. Excluding someone forces the system to represent them later on.

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Perpetrator and victim in systemic reading

Hellinger's controversial concept: victims and perpetrators belong to the system and need to be named. Recognition is not moral approval; it is the restoration of systemic order.

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Systemic dynamics

Adult anxious-preoccupied attachment

An adult attachment style characterized by intense fear of abandonment, compulsive pursuit of closeness, hypervigilance for signs of withdrawal from the other, and difficulty tolerating separation.

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Disorganized attachment (Type D)

The fourth attachment style identified by Mary Main: the caregiver is simultaneously a source of security and fear. The child develops contradictory responses and is at greater vulnerability to adult trauma.

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Adult dismissive-avoidant attachment

An adult attachment style characterized by apparent independence that masks deactivation of the attachment system. Difficulty with emotional closeness, idealization of self-sufficiency.

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Adult secure attachment

An adult attachment style characterized by self-trust and trust in others, the ability to ask for help, to sustain intimacy without losing oneself, and to tolerate separation without distress.

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Foreign burden (what isn't yours)

Emotional weight, symptom, or destiny that a descendant carries out of loyalty to an ancestor, without having originated it themselves.

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Cycle of Violence (Walker)

Pattern documented by Lenore Walker (1979): domestic violence is not continuous but cyclical in three phases—tension building, acute battering incident, 'honeymoon'—. The cycle repeats and usually escalates.

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Codependency

A relational pattern where a person organizes their life around the compulsive care of another, losing their own identity and needs. Frequent in couples with addiction or chronic illness.

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Maternal and Paternal Complex (Jung)

Jungian concept: an emotionally charged area of the psyche revolving around the maternal or paternal figure, which unconsciously structures adult relationships. It does not coincide with the actual biographical mother or father.

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Transgenerational Repetition Compulsion

The unconscious tendency of a clan to repeat the same pattern in each generation—failures, separations, illnesses, ages of crisis—until someone names it and processes it.

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Programming Conflict (Sellam)

Sellam's concept: a specific emotional situation that precedes the onset of a physical symptom, where the body 'learns' to respond with that pathology to similar future situations.

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Unfinished business

An unresolved matter between two members of the system that imbalance keeps active for generations until it is named.

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Emotional cut-off

Bowen's concept: cutting off physical or emotional contact with family to avoid systemic tension. It doesn't resolve fusion; it transfers it to new relationships.

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Differentiation of self (Bowen)

Murray Bowen's central concept: the ability to maintain one's own identity within the family system without fusing or cutting off. A key indicator of adult systemic health.

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Double displacement

A dynamic where a descendant “replaces” an excluded person, and simultaneously, another member of the system treats them as if they were that ancestor.

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Double bind (Bateson)

A communication pattern formulated by Bateson: the person receives two simultaneous, contradictory messages without being able to meta-communicate or escape. Chronically, it can precipitate severe psychological pathology.

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Original Drama

A foundational traumatic event in the lineage—generally 3-5 generations back—that the clan was unable to metabolize and that continues to generate waves of repetition in descendants.

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Mirror-age

Schützenberger and Fréchet's concept: the descendant reactivates symptoms or crises upon reaching the same age an ancestor was when a significant traumatic event occurred in the clan.

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The Double (Salomon Sellam)

Salomon Sellam's concept: a descendant unconsciously reproduces an ancestor's life, not through partial identification but as an almost exact duplication of dates, professions, and relationships.

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Transitional Space (Winnicott)

An intermediate psychic zone between fusion and separation, where play, art, and creativity reside. Its healthy early construction is the basis for the creative and autonomous adult.

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Excluded from the system

A clan member whom the system erases from the narrative. When someone is excluded, the system assigns a descendant the task of representing them.

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False self vs. true self (Winnicott)

Winnicott's concept: when the caregiver doesn't respond to the child's authentic self, the child develops an adaptive 'false self'. The true self remains silenced, accessible only in special moments of play or therapy.

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Phantom and crypt (Abraham and Torok)

Psychoanalytic concepts by Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok: the unconscious family secret becomes 'encysted' (crypt) in the ancestor, and is transmitted as a 'phantom' that inhabits the descendant without belonging to them.

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Emotional flashback

Pete Walker's concept: an overwhelming experience of emotions from the original trauma (terror, shame, loneliness) without a visual image or narrative. Characteristic of C-PTSD from early pre-verbal trauma.

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Life script (Eric Berne)

An unconscious life program that the child receives from their parents before the age of 6 and that defines how their adult life will unfold—if they don't consciously identify and rewrite it.

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Wound of humiliation (Bourbeau)

The third of the five wounds. It originates between 1 and 3 years of age in relation to the body, pleasures, or dignity. Mask: masochist.

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Wound of Injustice (Bourbeau)

Fifth of the five wounds. It originates between 4 and 6 years of age when the child perceives emotional rigidity or disproportionate demands from the parent of the same sex. Mask: rigid.

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Wound of Betrayal (Bourbeau)

Fourth of the five wounds. It originates between 2 and 4 years of age when the child feels that the parent of the opposite sex does not fulfill their promise of presence or protection. Mask: controlling.

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Wound of Abandonment (Bourbeau)

Second of the five wounds. It originates between 1 and 3 years of age when the child does not receive the necessary emotional nourishment, especially from the parent of the opposite sex. Mask: dependent.

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Wound of Rejection (Bourbeau)

First of the five wounds formulated by Lise Bourbeau. It originates when the child does not feel welcome by the parent of the same gender. Mask: avoidant.

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Replacement Child (substitute syndrome)

A child conceived to "replace" a deceased or unborn sibling. Carries the identity of the lost member and lives with the feeling of not having their own place.

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Parentified child

A child who assumes the emotional role of an adult—caring for their parents, mediating between them, containing their sadness—breaking the systemic order.

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Systemic identification

An unconscious mechanism by which a descendant “takes on” the emotional identity of an excluded ancestor and lives their destiny as if it were their own.

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Systemic entanglement (Hellinger)

A specific form of unconscious identification with a clan member, studied in detail by Hellinger and further explored by Sellam. The person lives 'entangled' in the ancestor's destiny without knowing it.

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Invisible loyalty

An unconscious commitment to the suffering or destiny of an ancestor, which the descendant carries unknowingly, out of systemic love.

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Counter-movement

Hellingerian concept: a descendant's attempt (always failed) to reverse through personal effort what the system assigned. Leads to exhaustion without achieving the desired change.

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Bridge Woman

A woman who operates as a mediator between two lineages—typically between her husband's family of origin and her own—absorbing the systemic tension of both.

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Inner child

A concept popularized by Bradshaw and others: the adult part of the psyche that carries the experiences, emotions, and wounds of the child we once were. Its healing requires a dialogical relationship from the adult self.

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Black Sheep of the Clan

A member of the system labeled by the clan as 'the problematic one' or 'the failure'. Systemically, this person often carries the uncomfortable truth that the rest suppress.

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Secret Pact / Pact of Silence

A tacit agreement within the clan not to name an event, a person, or a truth. Although no one verbalizes it, everyone respects it. The silence itself is transmitted as an inheritance.

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First Love (systemic concept)

A deep initial emotional bond—even if brief or unconsummated—that forever belongs to the system and can affect subsequent relationships if not honored.

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Project-purpose (Marc Fréchet)

Concept formulated by Marc Fréchet: the unconscious script that parents project onto their child even before conception. It defines what the child 'comes to do' even though they never chose it.

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Fawn response (appease)

Fourth defensive response to trauma identified by Pete Walker: compulsively pleasing the aggressor to neutralize the threat. Especially common in survivors of prolonged childhood abuse.

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Family shadow (Jung)

Aspects of the clan that the family cannot or will not recognize in itself —shames, secrets, failures, aggression— and that are projected onto a member or silently transmitted.

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Anniversary syndrome

Repetition of life events —illnesses, accidents, crises— on specific dates or ages that coincide with significant events in the lineage.

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Vanishing twin syndrome

Early loss of a twin during pregnancy —medically documented in up to 30% of initial multiple pregnancies—. The survivor carries a chronic sense of loneliness and an inexplicable search.

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Ancestor Syndrome

Salomón Sellam's concept: a child conceived during unmourned grief after the death of a loved one. They carry the energy of the deceased and live emotionally 'lying down,' as if only half-living their own life.

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Triangulation

A dynamic where a third party (typically a child) steps in to emotionally support the tension between two members of the system, disrupting the order.

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Drama Triangle (Victim-Persecutor-Rescuer)

A dysfunctional relational pattern formulated by Stephen Karpman: system members oscillate between the roles of victim, persecutor, and rescuer, perpetuating conflict without resolving it.

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Interrupted bond

An early break in the bond between a child and their primary attachment figure—usually the mother—leaving a deep systemic imprint.

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Traumatic bonding (emotional Stockholm Syndrome)

Intense attachment of the victim to their aggressor in prolonged violent relationships. A psychological survival mechanism documented in hostages, abuse victims, and cult members.

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Technique and method

ACT — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Therapeutic method developed by Steven Hayes (1980s). Combines mindfulness, acceptance of internal experiences, and commitment to personal values. Empirically validated for multiple conditions.

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AEDP (Diana Fosha)

Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy: a method developed by Diana Fosha that combines attachment theory, affective neuroscience, and deep experiential processing of emotions.

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Transactional Analysis (TA)

Therapeutic method founded by Eric Berne (1950s). An accessible model of the psyche (Parent-Adult-Child ego states) and a method for analyzing communicative transactions.

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Authentic Movement (Mary Whitehouse)

Somato-meditative practice created by Mary Starks Whitehouse (1950s). Spontaneous movement guided by internal listening, in the presence of a silent witness. Deep work on the bodily unconscious.

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Bioenergetics (Lowen)

Somatic psychotherapy method founded by Alexander Lowen (1956). It works on the Reichian muscular armor through grounding, breathing, and expressive movement. A direct predecessor of contemporary somatic methods.

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Brainspotting (David Grand)

Trauma processing method developed by David Grand (2003): identifying 'brainspots' by accessing them through eye position to process somatic memories.

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Knowing field (morphic field)

A shared information space that allows representatives without prior information to perceive the real dynamics of the family system.

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Co-consciousness (clan consciousness)

A group sense of belonging to the clan that operates above individual consciousness and dictates unconscious loyalties.

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Coherence Therapy (Bruce Ecker)

A therapeutic method by Bruce Ecker based on memory reconsolidation: the only known neural process that allows for the elimination (not just regulation) of deeply learned emotions.

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Compassion Focused Therapy (Paul Gilbert)

Paul Gilbert's therapeutic method: working with the brutal self-criticism typical of early trauma by systematically cultivating self-compassion and neural affiliation systems.

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Constellations of Order (Brigitte Champetier)

Clinical style developed by Brigitte Champetier de Ríos: working with absolute respect for the three classic Hellingerian laws, methodological sobriety, critical distance from spiritualist tangents.

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School Constellations (educational)

Application of the systemic method to the educational field, developed by Marianne Franke-Gricksch. Works with classroom dynamics, learning difficulties, and the teacher's role from a systemic perspective.

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Spiritual Constellations / Constellations of the Spirit

The final phase of Hellinger's work (2010s): an explicit opening to a dimension that transcends the familial. Working with 'the great spirit' or 'the whole.' A controversial position within the field.

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Constellations and Medicine (Stephan Hausner)

Specialty developed by Stephan Hausner: careful application of the systemic method to serious medical cases — cancer, autoimmune diseases, sclerosis — complementary to conventional medical treatment.

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Family Constellation

Therapeutic method developed by Bert Hellinger that makes visible the hidden dynamics of the family system through representatives in space.

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Organizational Constellation

Application of the systemic method to companies, teams, and organizations. Reveals hidden dynamics (roles, hierarchies, exclusions, conflicts) that affect collective functioning.

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Biological Decoding (Hamer / Sabbah)

A system developed by Ryke Geerd Hamer and popularized by Christian Flèche and Claude Sabbah, which posits that every illness has a 'biological meaning' as a response to a specific emotional conflict. Deeply controversial.

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EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Therapeutic method by Francine Shapiro (1989) that uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, alternate tapping) to reprocess traumatic memories. Empirically validated as a treatment of choice for PTSD.

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Soul Phrase vs. Positive Affirmation

Key difference: the healing phrase acknowledges what is; the positive affirmation attempts to create what is not. Only the former reorders the system.

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Healing phrase

A brief prayer, in the first person, that the client pronounces before a representative to reorder the system. It is not an affirmation: it is an acknowledgment.

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Geno-sociogram

An advanced variant of the genogram developed by Anne Ancelin Schützenberger. It incorporates an extended social network + psychological data + key events by date.

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HeartMath and Heart Coherence

A method developed by the HeartMath Institute to train 'heart coherence': a physiological state in which heart rate, breathing, and positive emotions synchronize, improving autonomic regulation.

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IFS — Internal Family Systems

Richard Schwartz's therapeutic model: working with the internal 'parts' of the psyche as if they were an inner family, mediated by the adult Self.

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Internal Image (Imago)

A Hellingerian concept: an unconscious representation that each member carries of the entire family system. Its reordering in the constellation produces the real therapeutic change.

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Solution-Image

Final configuration of representatives in the constellation when the system is reordered and energy flows without tension.

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Constellation intention

Specific question with which the client arrives at the session. Defines what is worked on and what is left out. A clear intention makes the session powerful; a diffuse one disperses it.

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The 'new constellations' (late-phase Hellinger)

Late phase of Hellinger's method (from approx. 2001): work with less intervention from the constellator, more silence, greater trust in the field, open spiritual dimension.

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The three rounds of systemic work

Clinical structure documented by Champetier: the complete session consists of the current image (what is), exploration of the field (what is missing), and the solution-image (what reorders).

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Lifespan Integration (Peggy Pace)

Peggy Pace's therapeutic method (2003): integrate traumatic memories by connecting them with the complete timeline of life. Especially effective for early pre-verbal trauma.

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Logotherapy (Frankl)

A therapeutic method founded by Viktor Frankl. The third Viennese school, after Freud and Adler. It works on the search for meaning as a fundamental human motivation, especially in the face of inevitable suffering.

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MBCT — Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

An adaptation of MBSR for preventing depressive relapses, developed by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, and John Teasdale. Combines mindfulness practices with elements of cognitive therapy.

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MBSR — Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

An 8-week structured program created by Jon Kabat-Zinn (1979). Combines sitting meditation, body scan, and conscious yoga. Empirically validated for multiple conditions of chronic stress and trauma.

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MSC — Mindful Self-Compassion

An 8-week program created by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer (2010) that integrates mindfulness with the systematic cultivation of self-compassion. Especially effective for toxic shame and self-criticism.

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Metagenealogy

A method of transgenerational analysis developed by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa. It combines psychoanalysis, tarot symbolism, and systemic readings.

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Movement of the soul

An evolved form of the method where the constellator intervenes minimally and allows the field to find its own solution.

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Systemic movement

An internal action or physical gesture that reorders the image of the system during the constellation and releases the blocked dynamic.

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Feldenkrais Method

A system of somatic education created by Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984): slow, conscious, exploratory movements to reorganize motor and self-image patterns.

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Hakomi Method (Ron Kurtz)

A therapeutic method developed by Ron Kurtz (1970s): combines mindfulness, somatic work, and depth psychology. Predecessor of Sensorimotor (Pat Ogden).

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RAIN Method (Tara Brach)

Tara Brach's acronym for working with difficult emotions: Recognize · Allow · Investigate · Nurture. A practical four-step emotional self-regulation tool.

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Psychobiogenealogy (Sellam)

A clinical synthesis by Salomón Sellam that integrates classic French psychogenealogy, biological decoding of symptoms, and the Hellingerian systemic approach. It combines these three perspectives into a unified therapeutic framework.

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Psychodrama (Jacob Moreno)

A therapeutic method founded by Jacob L. Moreno (1920s-30s): the client enacts scenes from their own life with the help of 'auxiliary egos,' revealing dynamics that words alone cannot capture.

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Psychology of Liberation

A Latin American psychological current founded by Ignacio Martín-Baró. It starts from the historical-political reality of the oppressed Latin American, not from imported metropolitan theories.

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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (Pat Ogden)

A method developed by Pat Ogden: working with trauma from the body's wisdom, identifying truncated defensive movements and completing them to resolve trauma at a somatic level.

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Representative

A person or object that the client places in space to embody a member of their family system during the constellation.

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Closing and Resonance Round

The final moment of the session in which the client stays with the solution-image, representatives exit their roles, and the group (in group format) closes the open field.

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Round of healing sentences

Ritual structure of the work: the client, facing a representative, pronounces several systemic sentences in sequence, observing the effect on their body and that of the representative.

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Individual vs. Group Session

The two modalities of the method: in a group, people are used as representatives; in an individual session, dolls, templates, or the floor are used.

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Somatic Experiencing (SE)

A method for the somatic processing of trauma developed by Peter Levine: releasing 'frozen' traumatic energy from the nervous system by completing interrupted defense responses.

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TRE — Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises

David Berceli's method: a series of physical exercises that activate the natural neurogenic tremor response, releasing deep muscular tension associated with chronic stress and trauma.

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Structural Family Therapy (Minuchin)

Model of family therapy founded by Salvador Minuchin (1970s). Works with the structure of the family system—hierarchies, boundaries, subsystems—to restore healthy functioning.

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Narrative therapy (White and Epston)

Therapeutic model by Michael White and David Epston: identifies the 'dominant story' a person tells themselves about themselves and allows it to be rewritten with material that story had omitted.

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Tonglen — Buddhist practice of transformation

Tibetan Buddhist practice popularized by Pema Chödrön: inhaling suffering (one's own and others') and exhaling compassion and peace. A radical inversion of the defensive impulse to avoid pain.

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Trauma-Sensitive Yoga

Specific adaptation of yoga developed by David Emerson and Bessel van der Kolk for trauma survivors. Avoids postures that can re-traumatize and emphasizes the power of somatic choice.

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Symbology and genogram

Abortion in the genogram — conventions

McGoldrick: small filled triangle + cross (spontaneous) or triangle + horizontal line (induced). In Hellinger reading: sometimes darkened circle. The divergence is deliberate and clinically significant.

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Work Altar in Session

A symbolic physical space that some Family Constellation facilitators create in the room —candles, photos, objects, offerings— to honor ancestors during the work. A practice integrated by van Kampenhout.

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Family Atlas

An expanded visual map of the family system that includes a standard genogram + systemic readings + emotional data + transgenerational events in a single visual piece.

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Color and Ribbon as Role Marker

Some Family Constellation facilitators use colored ribbons to identify specific roles during the Constellation —red for victims, black for excluded, white for deceased, gold for honored ancestors—.

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Group Circle in Constellation

In a group Family Constellation, participants who are not representing sit in a circle around the workspace. This circularity has a symbolic and operational function of containing the field.

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The Symptom as Systemic Messenger

Hellinger's concept: the client's symptom (physical, emotional, vital) is not 'the illness' but the system's messenger, asking to name something unresolved. Its function is communicative.

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Excluded in the genogram

Member erased from the family narrative. In Hellinger's work, it is drawn pale grey, outside the main grouping, with the annotation EXC. Re-including them is the first healing movement.

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Reconstituted family (second unions, step-parents)

System with separated, divorced, or widowed parents who form new relationships: children from previous unions, common children of the new couple, step-fathers and step-mothers. Everyone belongs.

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Arrow of inherited burden

Curved or diagonal arrow from an excluded or deceased person to a descendant who carries their destiny. It is noted as "carries the destiny of X". Systemic convention.

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Key systemic phrases (sub-categories)

Hellingerian healing phrases are grouped into categories according to function: belonging, order, balance, assent, inclusion of the excluded, return of burden. Each category has its own form.

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Clinical genogram

Standardized family diagram that maps at least three generations with universal symbols (McGoldrick). Visual basis of systemic work.

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Unrecognized child (extramarital)

A child conceived outside of marriage whose paternity is hidden or not formally acknowledged. They equally belong to the system, and their exclusion creates transgenerational ripples.

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Aborted children in the system (full category)

The family system includes ALL unborn children: miscarriages, voluntary abortions, lost pregnancies, neonatal deaths. Each one retains their ordinal place and needs to be named.

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Systemic laterality (left/right)

A convention used by many Constellation facilitators: the client's left side = mother/feminine/past/unconscious. The right side = father/masculine/future/consciousness. It's not absolute but a frequent pattern.

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Ordinal place of the lost child (Hellinger's rule)

In the systemic field, a deceased sibling—including abortions and premature deaths—retains their ordinal place. If there was an abortion before the first living child, the first living child is "the second."

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Sibling line and birth order

The horizontal line from which children hang in birth order, from oldest (left) to youngest (right). All siblings—living, deceased, unborn—occupy their ordinal place.

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Systemic Timeline

Visual representation of the clan's temporal axis: births, deaths, traumas, migrations marked on a line. Allows for identification of temporal patterns (anniversary syndrome, mirror-age, cycles).

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Couple Lines in the Genogram

Solid horizontal line (marriage), dashed line (cohabitation), one oblique bar (separation), two oblique bars (divorce). Universal McGoldrick convention.

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Phantom Member of the System

A clan member who is not named but whose unconscious presence dominates the system. Hellinger frequently identifies this: the silenced abortion, the erased previous partner, the unmourned suicide.

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Migration in the Genogram (wave symbol)

Double wave (~~) above or next to the symbol of the person who migrated. Formalized by McGoldrick in her 4th edition (2020). A single wave = bicultural.

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Representative's Gaze

The direction in which the representative looks during the constellation. A therapeutic, not decorative, key: it indicates the bond, the task, or the conflict of the represented member.

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Bow / Reverence movement

Key physical gesture of the method: the client bows (a deep reverence) before parents, ancestors, or significant figures as a ritual movement of recognition.

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Golden child and invisible child

Systemic roles within the sibling subsystem: the golden child receives the positive projection of the clan; the invisible child remains outside the family's focus. Both pay an adult price.

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Objects and figurines in individual constellation

In the individual work developed by Ursula Franke, figurines, templates, or objects from the client are used to represent system members. Each choice and position provides systemic information.

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Stepfather and stepmother (systemic role)

The partner of a biological parent who is not the child's progenitor. Belongs to the system with their own place—not as a substitute for the biological parent. Their systemic function is complementary, not replacement.

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Previous partner belongs (Hellinger convention)

A previous partner of a parent or grandparent is drawn completely, with the marriage line severed by divorce, but remains in the genogram. Hellinger: "exes are not erased."

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Index Person (proband)

The subject from whose perspective the genogram is constructed. Marked with a double border and an oblique arrow to distinguish them from the rest of the system.

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Spatial position in the Constellation

How representatives are distributed in the room's space reveals the system's dynamics. Distances, directions, front/back, and heights are documented systemic language.

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Family branch (maternal vs. paternal)

The family system has two independent branches: the maternal (mother, maternal grandparents, maternal aunts/uncles, ancestors) and the paternal. Each branch transmits different information to the descendant.

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Emotional relationships in the genogram

Second level of the genogram: 2 parallel lines (close), 3 lines (fused), dashed (distant), red zigzag (conflict), double slash (cut off).

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Suicide in the genogram

X inside the symbol (same as any death) + annotation "S" or "Suic." next to the year. Hellinger treats it with special systemic weight due to its transgenerational impact.

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Symbol of Vital Flow and Interruption

Systemic convention: the vital flow from ancestors to descendants is represented as a continuous descending line. Interruptions (excluded members, early deaths, secrets) are visible cuts in the flow.

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Basic Genogram Symbols

Empty square (living male), empty circle (living female), diamond (non-binary / unknown). X inside the symbol indicates deceased. Universal McGoldrick convention.

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Disease Symbols in the Genogram

McGoldrick conventions for marking diseases: bottom half of symbol filled in = addiction; left half = mental illness; specific quadrants = hereditary conditions.

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Symbols of Family Secret in the Genogram

Convention: the family secret is represented by a dotted cloud or shaded area around the involved member. Annotation 'secret' or '?' indicates that the official clan information does not match the real information.

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Representative's Body Symptoms

Sensations, emotions, and physical impulses reported by the representative during the constellation are key clinical material—not fantasy. They reflect information from the real member being represented.

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Ancestors and Lineages

Adoption (Systemic Reading)

Adopted child: two systems operate simultaneously —the biological (where they belong forever) and the adoptive (where they received daily life). Honoring both is the clinical key.

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Ancestral Altar (Ritual Practice)

A practice present in many traditions (Mexican, African, Asian, Andean): a physical space where ancestors are honored with photographs, objects, or candles. A complementary tool for systemic work.

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Andean Cosmovision (Pachamama, Ayni, Sumak Kawsay)

Cosmological system of Andean peoples (Quechua, Aymara, Kichwa). Recognizes Pachamama (Mother Earth), ayni (reciprocity), and sumak kawsay (good living) as structuring principles.

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Clan Body (Family Soul)

Hellingerian concept that designates the family system as a living entity, with its own consciousness, operating above the individual will of each member.

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Mexican Curanderismo

Traditional Mexican healing system combining pre-Hispanic indigenous heritage, Hispano-medieval medicine, and Afro-Mexican practices. Alive in rural and urban communities, with recognized figures (curanderas).

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Children of the disappeared (LATAM dictatorships)

Direct descendants of disappeared victims during Latin American dictatorships (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, etc.). They carry specific political-familial trauma documented by decades of research.

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Honoring ancestors (ritual of recognition)

Practice of formally recognizing ancestors—named or anonymous—as part of one's own system. A systemic movement that restores the flow of the lineage without necessarily confronting the living.

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Liminality (Victor Turner)

Anthropological concept developed by Victor Turner (1969): a 'threshold' phase of ritual where the subject is between two states, belonging fully to neither. A liminal state can be fertile or destabilizing.

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Severed lineage

Interruption of the lineage flow due to adoption, exile, traumatic migration, early separation, or unknown biological origin. Generates a feeling of not belonging.

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Maternal lineage (matrilineal)

The line of experiential and biological transmission that goes from woman to woman: the client, her mother, her maternal grandmother, and further back. The mitochondrial "memory of three women".

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Non-biological lineage (chosen family)

Deep bonds sustained over time with non-biologically related people: intimate friends, mentors, communities. They belong to the symbolic system, though not to the genealogy.

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Paternal lineage (patrilineal)

Line of transmission that goes from man to man: the male client, his father, his paternal grandfather. For women: the father, the paternal grandfather, and all males on the paternal side.

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Ancestral memory

Set of experiences, traumas, and learnings lived by ancestors that the descendant carries unknowingly, manifesting as symptoms, patterns, and inexplicable attractions.

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Collective historical memory

Social, legal, and symbolic processing of massive collective traumatic events—dictatorships, wars, genocides. Its elaboration or absence affects several generations of descendants.

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Godparents (systemic role)

Significant adult figures who assume a symbolic role of protection and guidance for the godchild. In Latin traditions, the godparent bond is a real systemic link, not just a ritual formality.

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Transgenerational patterns

Repetitions across several generations of life events, professions, crisis ages, illnesses, or relationships. A key clinical indicator of active systemic dynamics.

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Rite of passage (van Gennep / Turner)

Anthropological concept (Arnold van Gennep, 1909): rituals that accompany life transitions (birth, puberty, marriage, death) in traditional cultures. Their absence in modernity generates unprocessed transitions.

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Family secret

Significant information within the system—abortion, suicide, infidelity, unrecognized child—that the clan hides or silences. The silence is transmitted as a burden to subsequent generations.

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Science & Evidence

Amygdala and fear response

A key subcortical brain structure involved in detecting and responding to danger. In trauma, it becomes hypersensitive, leading to emotional reactivity to stimuli that the cortex has not yet processed.

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BDNF (neurotrophic factor) and trauma

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor: a key protein for neuronal plasticity. Its expression is diminished in victims of early trauma and their descendants, recovering with specific interventions.

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Cortisol

The main human glucocorticoid. A stress hormone released by the adrenal glands. Its basal and response levels are altered in trauma victims and children of survivors.

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Post-traumatic Growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun)

A concept formulated by Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun (1996): positive psychological change that some people experience after facing severe traumatic situations. Distinct from resilience.

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Structural Dissociation of the Personality

A model developed by van der Hart, Nijenhuis, and Steele: severe trauma fragments the personality into 'apparently normal' parts (ANP) and 'emotional' parts (EP) with distinct functions.

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HPA Axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal)

The central neuroendocrine system of the stress response. It connects the brain and adrenal glands via cortisol. Its dysregulation is the biological correlate of chronic trauma.

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Gut-brain axis and microbiome

Bidirectional communication between the enteric nervous system (microbiome) and the brain via the vagus nerve, immune system, and metabolites. Implicated in trauma, anxiety, and depression.

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Epigenetics

Study of changes in gene expression that do NOT alter the DNA sequence, are heritable, and can be activated by life experiences—including trauma.

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Flow state (Csikszentmihalyi)

Optimal psychological state formulated by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: total absorption in an activity with just the right challenge, clarity of objective, and immediate feedback. Antidote to dissociative states.

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ACEs Studies (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

Vincent Felitti & Anda (1998): 10-question questionnaire predicting adult risk of physical and mental illness and early mortality based on accumulated childhood trauma.

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Yehuda's studies on Holocaust survivors

Rachel Yehuda's research program at Mount Sinai that documented epigenetic, hormonal, and HPA axis alterations in Holocaust survivors and their descendants.

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FKBP5 (stress gene)

Gene that regulates the sensitivity of the glucocorticoid receptor to cortisol. Its epigenetic modifications are one of the central findings in the transgenerational transmission of trauma.

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Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma

Symptoms developed by therapists, doctors, social workers, and caregivers chronically exposed to the trauma of others. Includes empathic exhaustion, hypervigilance, and indirect traumatic intrusions.

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Hippocampus and trauma memory

Brain structure key for explicit memory and the temporal integration of experiences. In trauma, its function can be inhibited, leaving memories 'frozen' outside of narrative time.

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Implicit vs. explicit memory

Two distinct memory systems: implicit (procedural, emotional, somatic) operates without conscious awareness. Explicit (autobiographical, narrative) requires conscious recall. Early trauma remains predominantly implicit.

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DNA methylation

Key epigenetic mechanism: addition of methyl groups (CH3) to DNA cytosines. Tends to silence gene expression. Documented mediators of transgenerational transmission.

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Mansuy Model (transgenerational transmission in mice)

Studies by Isabelle Mansuy at ETH Zurich that documented, in mice, transmission up to the 4th generation of behavioral effects from early trauma via sperm RNA.

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Mirror neurons

Neuronal system discovered by Giacomo Rizzolatti (1990s) that activates both when performing an action and when observing it in another. Neurological substrate of empathy and attunement.

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Highly Sensitive Persons (Elaine Aron)

Psychological construct by Elaine Aron (1996): approximately 15-20% of the population has a nervous system particularly sensitive to stimuli. It is NOT a disorder, but a neurobiological trait.

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Fetal programming (Barker hypothesis)

Hypothesis by David Barker (1990): pregnancy conditions—maternal nutrition, stress, health—biologically program the fetus and predict risk of adult disease decades later.

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Telomeres, stress, and trauma (Blackburn)

Studies by Elizabeth Blackburn (Nobel 2009): chronic stress and early trauma shorten telomeres (protective ends of DNA), accelerating biological cellular aging.

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Polyvagal theory (Stephen Porges)

Stephen Porges' neurophysiological model: the autonomous nervous system regulates our social and safety responses. Trauma and early bonding leave measurable traces in vagal tone.

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Mitochondrial transmission (mtDNA)

Exclusively matrilineal biological mechanism: mitochondria and their own DNA (mtDNA) are transmitted only from mother to children. Biological substrate of 'matrilineal memory' described in psychogenealogy.

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Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

DSM-5 diagnosis: a persistent pattern of relational, identity, and emotional instability. Contemporary research documents that BPD is generally an adaptive response to severe early trauma.

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Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

DSM-5 and ICD-11 diagnosis: presence of two or more distinct personality states that alternately control behavior. Extreme form of structural dissociation due to severe early trauma.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Clinical picture defined by DSM-5 and ICD-11. Persistent symptoms (intrusion, avoidance, cognitive/mood alterations, hypervigilance) after exposure to a severe traumatic event.

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Complex Trauma (C-PTSD)

Disorder formulated by Judith Herman (1992): trauma resulting from prolonged exposure to abuse, neglect, or severe dysfunctional relationships, especially in childhood. Different from classic PTSD.

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Birth trauma (mother and baby)

Documented clinical picture: approximately 30-40% of women report traumatic birth; 4-9% develop post-birth PTSD. The baby can also somatically register difficult births.

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Intergenerational vs. Transgenerational Trauma

Important technical distinction: intergenerational = trauma transmitted to the next generation (parents-children). Transgenerational = crosses several generations, including those not exposed to the original trauma.

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Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Biological indicator of the autonomic nervous system's flexibility. High HRV = good regulation. Low HRV correlates with chronic stress, trauma, and psychopathological vulnerability.

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Window of Tolerance

Concept by Daniel Siegel: optimal range of nervous system activation within which a person can process experiences without dissociating (hypo) or becoming overwhelmed (hyper).

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Obstetric violence

A specific form of institutional violence against women during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Legally recognized in several Latin American countries. A frequent form of maternal birth trauma.

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Missing a term?

This glossary grows with each session

If there's a systemic concept you'd like to see explained here, we write the next entries based on questions that arise in sessions. Request it and it will be added to the glossary.

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The language of Constellations

Orders of Love

Assent

Deep Assent (deep yes — Hellinger)

Assenting to Destiny

Saying Yes to Life

Balance (giving and receiving)

Place

Order (hierarchy)

Belonging

Perpetrator and victim in systemic reading

Systemic dynamics

Adult anxious-preoccupied attachment

Disorganized attachment (Type D)

Adult dismissive-avoidant attachment

Adult secure attachment

Foreign burden (what isn't yours)

Cycle of Violence (Walker)

Codependency

Maternal and Paternal Complex (Jung)

Transgenerational Repetition Compulsion

Programming Conflict (Sellam)

Unfinished business

Emotional cut-off

Differentiation of self (Bowen)

Double displacement

Double bind (Bateson)

Original Drama

Mirror-age

The Double (Salomon Sellam)

Transitional Space (Winnicott)

Excluded from the system

False self vs. true self (Winnicott)

Phantom and crypt (Abraham and Torok)

Emotional flashback

Life script (Eric Berne)

Wound of humiliation (Bourbeau)

Wound of Injustice (Bourbeau)

Wound of Betrayal (Bourbeau)

Wound of Abandonment (Bourbeau)

Wound of Rejection (Bourbeau)

Replacement Child (substitute syndrome)

Parentified child

Systemic identification

Systemic entanglement (Hellinger)

Invisible loyalty

Counter-movement

Bridge Woman

Inner child

Black Sheep of the Clan

Secret Pact / Pact of Silence

First Love (systemic concept)

Project-purpose (Marc Fréchet)

Fawn response (appease)

Family shadow (Jung)

Anniversary syndrome

Vanishing twin syndrome

Ancestor Syndrome

Triangulation

Drama Triangle (Victim-Persecutor-Rescuer)

Interrupted bond

Traumatic bonding (emotional Stockholm Syndrome)

Technique and method

ACT — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

AEDP (Diana Fosha)

Transactional Analysis (TA)

Authentic Movement (Mary Whitehouse)

Bioenergetics (Lowen)

Brainspotting (David Grand)

Knowing field (morphic field)

Co-consciousness (clan consciousness)

Coherence Therapy (Bruce Ecker)

Compassion Focused Therapy (Paul Gilbert)

Constellations of Order (Brigitte Champetier)

School Constellations (educational)

Spiritual Constellations / Constellations of the Spirit

Constellations and Medicine (Stephan Hausner)

Family Constellation

Organizational Constellation

Biological Decoding (Hamer / Sabbah)