Systemic work

The core of systemic work

Systemic work is based on the idea that we are all part of groups, or systems, and that within all those systems (unconscious) patterns and dynamics determine how individuals move. Those systems exist naturally, the first system already simply because you are born: your family. A class, a sports club, a team in an organization, a region, a country, society: all are systems within themselves.

Often when a problem arises, on a personal level, in the workplace or within the family, we zoom in. On the details of the situation, on the individual. Systemic work zooms out to the whole and looks first at the why of the issue. What unconscious patterns have led to the situation? By looking judgmentally and intentionally at the whole system, a systemic facilitator helps a questioner(s) explore where there is room for an entirely new approach to the situation.

In systemic work, these two questions play an important role in the exploration of issues:

“For what is this issue a solution?”

“What in the system wants to be seen and have a place in history again?”

Key points of systemic work

German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger (1925-2019) was the founder of systemic work. In the late 1980s, he developed family constellations as a method in its own right. He called it “life help. By doing many constellations, insights emerged for him about how systems work. Those insights became the foundations of systemic work as we know it today.

Systemic work rests on a number of pillars:

• The whole is different from the sum of its parts. You can speak in advance to the participants of a meeting or the family members of a family and form a picture of what each individual wants to bring in or achieve. But once the group comes together, the entire conversation, energy and/or outcome changes.
• Every system is part of a larger system. Each system carries its own dynamics and patterns that in some way become embedded in the participants within that system.
• Patterns are an essential part of systems and therefore of every human being. They repeat themselves, they are transferred, they arise as a result of a particular cause. They are difficult to get rid of, not least because they are often unconsciously embedded in an individual or team.
• In the moment, the past, the present and the future participate. The challenge is which of the three participates the most and most determines the pattern a person is in.

Sample research questions with systemic work

Suppose an employee cannot take his place within an organization. Where does the cause lie to begin with, within the family system, within the organizational system or in both? And where do you begin to investigate?

If an employee has experienced this situation more than once, chances are that the cause is in the personal system. If this is not the case, then the cause is likely to lie more within the organizational system.

Basically, the approach is not that different. Both the family and the organization are systems that “want” something. Systems want to be complete. To survive, everything must belong. Even unpleasant events. Also what has been or what is yet to come. But what do they need for that? Only when you have an answer to this question can there be room for movement and growth.

What requires attention?

– The past. Patterns within systems arose in the past. Where did they originate and why? What from the past wants to belong? It may be a grief from the family, or it may be the departure of a colleague that has not yet been processed by the department.

– The present. In the present, the system demands clarity about everyone’s place within the system. Belonging: can I have a place? Ordering: where is my place? Exchange: is there a balance of give and take?

– The future. The future has two guises. One is planable, what do I want to do and what can I do to achieve it? The other is evolutionary, it comes at you and you cannot direct it yourself. The question from the evolutionary future is: what is your destiny? Is it (still) what you think it is?

You explore that whole spectrum with systemic phenomenological work. In doing so, you look beyond the symptom, zoom out from the details to the whole and ask: Where does this question touch a theme that could have this effect? In what ways is a recurring pattern an unconscious loyalty to (for example) your parents? Are you free to make choices or is there something in your background that keeps you trapped in a pattern?

Systemic work requires not wanting to solve immediately, to have an open and curious look at why. Once you have seen what lies beneath the symptom, you also come to other choices and possibilities for resolving it.

Systemic work with and without constellations

Systemic phenomenological work can be applied in different forms of work, with or without the use of constellations. In all forms we explore the interrelationships and dynamics between the different elements that have been set up.

In systemic work without constellations, you can choose to have conversations with systemic questions and interventions. This can be a 1-on-1 conversation with a systemic coach or systemic facilitator, but can also be with a team of several people. Sometimes it is already an intervention when some explanation is given about how systems work and you ‘lay down’ what is happening in your system. The facilitator questions, observes, gives back observations and can invite you to look differently or ‘think around’.  

Working with constellations is all about depicting a family or organizational system that you are part of or involved in. You make an issue external and visible and can use it to explore covered, unconscious connections.

Constellations can be done in several ways. The most common way is with human representatives. They are used to represent a person or an abstract element (a concept, product, business unit) in the constellation. You can also set up without people, but use objects. The table constellations with dolls are a good example of this. You can also guide the constellation in the imagination. Or work with horses.