The **internal image** —Hellinger used the term *Imago* or *innere Bild*— designates the unconscious representation that each member of the family system carries in their psyche of the totality of the clan: parents, grandparents, siblings, excluded members, power and exclusion dynamics, empty and occupied places.
**Central premise**: even if the client consciously 'does not remember' most of the dynamics of their extended clan, their psyche does register it. This internal image —not necessarily literal but systemic— structures their life decisions, their attractions, their symptoms, their blockages.
**How it operates**: when a person chooses a partner, when they face a crisis, when they feel blocked in something seemingly simple, the internal image of their clan is operating in the background. The person lives out the script that their internal image dictates, without knowing it exists.
**Change in the Constellation**: the work of the Family Constellation consists, ultimately, in **reordering the internal image**. When the client in session 'sees' (through the representatives) how the system truly is —including what they were not consciously aware of—, and when the system is reordered in the session, the client's internal image is updated. After the session, the person now 'carries a different map' of their clan, and this operates silently in their daily life in the following weeks.
**Why the session works even if it seems symbolic**: this is the mechanism. It is not magic or esotericism. It is a reorganization of the internal image —a deep cognitive-affective structure— which then modulates adult behavior.
Evidence and contemporary voices
The term 'internal image' (Imago) in Bert Hellinger's Family Constellations lacks support in contemporary academic research in systemic psychology or family therapy. No peer-reviewed studies in databases such as PubMed, PsycINFO, or Scopus are identified that validate its therapeutic role through controlled trials or longitudinal analyses. In empirical systemic family therapy (Minuchin, 1974; Bowen, 1978), analogous concepts such as 'internalized family images' are explored within cognitive-behavioral frameworks, but without a direct connection to Hellinger's phenomenological reordering. Researchers like Ortiz-Talló and Gross (2010) analyze clinical cases of Constellations, attributing effects to general systemic principles, not specifically to the 'Imago', without experimental controls. Institutions such as the Spanish Association of Clinical Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology (AEPC) classify Constellations as pseudotherapy with no evidence of efficacy beyond placebo (Fundación PSF, 2023).
Verifiable citations
- "unconscious representation that each member carries of the entire family system" — Bert Hellinger, Love's Hidden Symmetry: What Makes Love Work in Relationships (1994).
Researchers and references
- Bert Hellinger — Founder of Family Constellations — Development of the Imago concept
- María Ortiz-Talló — University of Málaga — Case analysis in Family Constellations
- Anne Ancelin Schützenberger — University of Nice — Psychodrama and transgenerational work
Auditable Sources
Notes and Open Debates
The 'Imago' concept is based on unfalsifiable phenomenological observations, lacking a testable explanatory model or evidence of causality in therapeutic change, which places it in the pseudoscientific realm according to APA and COPE criteria (Real et al., 2009). Methodological criticisms highlight group suggestion and the absence of control groups, with risks of iatrogenesis in vulnerable populations.
Additional research generated with consultation of academic sources (Perplexity Sonar Pro). Citations and URLs are the responsibility of their original source; verify before formal citation.
Bibliography
- Love's Hidden Symmetry — Bert Hellinger. Herder, 2001.
- Family Constellations: Order, Hierarchy, Balance — Brigitte Champetier de Ríos. Editorial Grupo Cero, 2005.
These books are in the reference library that nourishes Constelando el Origen.
Related Terms
Image-solution
Final configuration of representatives in a constellation when the system is reordered and energy flows without tension.
View entryKnowing Field (Morphic Field)
Shared information space that allows representatives without prior knowledge to perceive the real dynamics of the family system.
View entryCo-consciousness (clan consciousness)
A group sense of belonging to the clan that operates above individual consciousness and dictates unconscious loyalties.
See detailsFamily Constellation
A therapeutic method developed by Bert Hellinger that makes visible the hidden dynamics of the family system using representatives in space.
See detailsA session that names what hurts
If you recognize this dynamic in your own story, a Family Constellation can reveal where it comes from and what movement orders it. Daniela respectfully accompanies each case.
Sessions in Spanish only