Creativity & Constellation Therapy

This article was originally published in The Knowing Field - International Constellation Journal, Issue 39, 2022.

Pink Lady - the small clay sculpture, based on a dream, that led me to begin studying constellation therapy

Unexpected Connections Between the Creative Field & the Knowing Field

As a visual artist, I have been struck by the parallels between engaging in spontaneous creative expression and constellation sessions. Both practices unfold in a creative space and an intuitive interrelationship with the material and non-material. A balance between embodiment and energetic expansion is required, as is resting in the unknown and receptivity to what emerges, moment-by-moment.

The creative field and the knowing field seem to be intricately intertwined. From a personal perspective, constellation, creative play and ritual have become mutually supportive practices that appear to tap into the same, fundamental source. Using creative expression in conjunction with constellation work has helped to bring ineffable aspects of sessions into conscious awareness.

Unexpected connections have also been revealed through spontaneous creative output that was not intentionally linked to what had transpired through constellation work. Later, these pieces often coincided with emerging themes from the knowing field, reinforcing insights. In this article, I discuss my own experience along with theories that may help to elucidate the connection between these practices.

Personal Experience of Constellation and Art-making

In April 2020, I was drawn to join an online group constellation session. The intense, multi-sensory nature of the experience took me by surprise and I began to attend more sessions, curious about the process and the synchronicities that unfolded. Initial notes on the experiences evolved into a journal, and this expanded into a visual exploration. Creative play became a way to capture the felt sense and curious imagery that was evoked - a method of documenting and understanding experiences that evaded a verbal description. Selecting the right material or medium became an intuitive part of the process and felt like the beginning of a dialogue. Materials or methods that I did not typically work with were most appealing, and I was often drawn to use clay. Its highly tactile nature allowed me to disconnect from my linear mind and engaged me at a somatic level.

Jungian psychologist and art therapist, Jill Mellick (2018), proposes that using unfamiliar materials makes it easier to access unconscious content. This resonates with my own experience. My professional creative practice is focused on printmaking but the meticulous and time-intensive nature of this process meant that I could not fully disengage from my rational mind. Through the process of creating an object in clay, my hands worked autonomously and I became an observer of what unfolded. Serendipitous mistakes, or compulsions during the process of making or painting the object often provided further insight. Observing, holding, and interacting with them afterwards was also a meaningful process that felt as if it connected me to something deep and symbolic. Each piece became an anchor with its own story and a way to encapsulate a particular theme or motif. 

Spontaneous, creative acts connect us to something primal, intuitive, heart-felt, and beyond the reach of cognition. Surrendering to a creative unfolding creates an opportunity to reach deep, collective levels of the unconscious: the symbolic, archetypal realm of art, poetry and myth. There often seems to be a sprinkling of magic in these realms. The Pink Lady (shown above) appeared in a dream that I incubated when wondering whether to commit to a constellation learning course. At the time of making the piece, the two golden discs seemed to represent a polarity that needed to be merged. Over a year later, when the theme of missing twins came up in a constellation session, I was struck by visual and symbolic links between the Pink Lady and other artwork, including a spontaneously created painting (below). Many synchronicities occurred that related to this and appeared to support my quest to understand the historical trauma in my family.

Ancestral Connections

After one constellation session, I felt an unexpected and deeply moving connection to my great-grandmother, Jeannie Jenkins. She had conceived my grandmother out of wedlock in her twenties and was allocated the role of sister while her daughter was adopted and raised by her grandparents. This was the first time I had recognised Jeannie’s true place in the family line. With the realization that she was my great-grandmother, there was a visceral sensation of being encompassed by her love. Immediately after this session I felt compelled to search for her in the online archives. In doing so, I mistakenly typed in another family surname and unexpectedly discovered the birth records of twins, Jeannie and Isabella (who had died at 11 days old). This breadcrumb trail ultimately led me further back, to another Isabella - my great, great, great grandmother. She visited my dreams at night and I felt a deep connection, tinged with grief. 

Spontaneously created painting that later seemed to link to what was revealed through constellation practice.

Later, I discovered that in the mid-1800s, Isabella had lived in Newtonmore in the Scottish Highlands and had moved to North Lanarkshire (where I was born) leaving her young daughter, called Jessie, behind to live with her grandparents. I could not get this situation out of my mind. In a constellation session exploring missing twins, the facilitator suggested we bring in a space for Jessie. The next day, I travelled to Newtonmore with my family and we visited a cemetery looking for Tolmie ancestors. After walking down each row and failing to find anything recognisable, my mum (who was not aware of what had transpired in the constellation session) wandered back alone to the entrance and discovered a headstone for a woman whose maiden name was Tolmie. It was Jessie’s grave. Sitting at her resting place was a meaningful moment that felt fated - a conversation beyond space and time. My inability to fully grasp these connections from a rational perspective seemed irrelevant. It was clear that there was a dialogue taking place at another level. Despite her obvious grief, the clay model of the Pink Lady became an anchor that held space for something highly significant, yet ineffable. Now, she always has a place on my desk during online constellation sessions. 

The Missing - Clay sculpture with 23.5ct gold leaf and small stones

Transgenerational Trauma & Healing

As with so many other people, stones and pebbles have felt like a natural extension of constellation practice. The missing and unseen always called to be represented by stones, embellished or arranged in some way. These creations have varied from a small clay form gilded in gold leaf and enclosing pebbles that represented missing children (shown above), to a raised stone pond I felt compelled to build in lockdown when my ancestors began to make themselves known. For over seven years, I had collected hundreds of stones and arranged them around my garden, an unexplained activity that had brought me comfort and a sense of protection after a stressful relocation. It was shortly after using the stones to create the pond, which I dedicated to my ancestors, that I discovered that I had relocated to an area close to where they had been displaced during the Highland clearances in the 19th century.

Acknowledging the loss and displacement experienced by my family over 150 years ago has helped me to understand the intensity of the emotion I felt during the first three years after moving and created a more expansive perspective. The pond now feels like a protective portal where I can connect to my ancestral lineage, each of the many stones and pebbles representing a soul. 

Creative Expression, Constellation & the Mind’s Eye

While clay was ideal for capturing the essence of specific motifs, and stones for representing missing or unacknowledged souls, digital collage was more suited to capturing the atmosphere of scenes. This process allowed me to quickly collate multiple elements, and play with arrangements until the set-up felt right. In a session focused on my paternal line, the use of phrases seemed blocked by strong resistance and echoed back, unheard. The digital scene depicted below attempts to recreate what appeared in my mind’s eye; a long, regimented line of men beside a monolithic structure that represented the government and/or the church. As I said the phrases, the wall began to show signs of being eroded, but ultimately felt unyielding. In my journal I noted that it had “felt massive, overpowering and impermeable”. 

Digital collage depicting the ancestral paternal line as experienced in my mind’s eye during a constellation session

In a session focused on my maternal line, a need for land and safety emerged. A semi-transparent white sphere appeared on a small island of green land beneath my feet, and spread out as if it was water. My mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were standing behind me, connected by a ribbon of green land. This image (shown below) felt as if it represented an underlying energetic structure of land that linked the family line, and was capable of healing the fractures of ancestral displacement. 

Digotal collage showing the maternal line and a space for land emerging, as it appeared in my mind’s eye.

Art as Healing Ritual

In a more recent session, I was confronted with a semi-amorphous form that oscillated between a small, vulnerable creature seeking comfort, to a parasitic organism that had long tendrils stretching deep into my abdomen. Seeing this creature emerge while forming it in clay created a visual and felt-sense of its multi-faceted nature. Resting it on its back engendered nurturing feelings because it seemed exposed and in need of nurture, whereas holding it the other way it appeared poised to move and felt threatening (see image below). Painting the surface of clay objects usually adds another dimension to the relational quality, creates insight, and generates more positive feelings. Although this piece remains unpainted, interacting with it feels like a healing ritual. It now sits on a shelf with my other clay pieces, so I see them every day. 

Two facets of the clay form created after a constellation session.

Embodied Creativity, Flow, and the Constellation Process

In the constellation process, as in art, working in an embodied way involves becoming attuned to waves of sensation and feelings. Being guided by the subtle nudges of the body in this way appears to move us gracefully into flow, where transformation is possible. Just as representatives in a constellation space create a physical map revealing hidden orders, a creative expression also operates as a symbolic constellation comprising of form, colour, spatial presence, and the interrelationship between different elements.

Constellation sessions taking place in the mind’s eye are particularly evocative of the imaginal awareness that often guides artistic creative expression. By using the mind’s eye in constellation or the creation of art, the potential of deep imagination is liberated. Body-centred and imaginal processes create the opportunity to bypass the multiple, often opposing, views of the discursive mind. McGilchrist (2009) asserts that the right hemisphere of the brain is more connected to the body, and Ferrer (2008) asserts that our physicality is essential in connecting to our spiritual nature and creating a solid base for transformation.

The Body as a Sacred Vessel

Although the significance of the body in connection with our spiritual nature seems somewhat paradoxical, it is clear when considering the importance of the body in constellation therapy and creative work. By acting as a vessel that can receive, contain, and transmute non-physical energy, the body becomes a translator of signals that can guide us through creative flow. Being fully present in our physical body can create a foundation for expansiveness, and become a portal to our spiritual nature.

Kalsched (2021) emphasises the importance of acknowledging the sacred as a source of healing, noting how creative expression can connect us to our spiritual nature and a more expansive source of wisdom. A sacred connection is inherent in constellation practice when we connect with the energetic network within the knowing field with reverence and healing intention, surrendering to flow. According to Rossi (2005), the spiritual, or numinous, can affect us on a physical and biological level, increasing brain plasticity and altering gene expression. This supportive, multi-directional connection between body and spirit is evident in the healing potential of creative acts that create a bridge between the material and non-material. Both constellation sessions and art-making are naturally embodied and appear to have the potential to connect us to deeper levels of consciousness where transformation can occur. 

Creative Play and the Constellation Process as Dialogue

Despite the seemingly innocuous nature of play, it has an important role. As well as restructuring our psychic contents and integrating experiences (Humphris, 2019), spontaneous creative expression and play facilitate a synergistic interaction between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, and the conscious and unconscious contents of the mind. In art therapy it is understood that this dialogic process is a key element of healing and integrating trauma. Swann-Foster (2018) emphasises how such processes can amplify awareness and catalyse a shift in consciousness. Similarly, in constellation, a creative dialogue is initiated through engaging with inner imagery or other representatives, allowing spontaneous movements to emerge, and using specific phrases. This multi-modal, embodied, and intuitive process creates shifts on multiple levels.

From a psychological perspective, creative and spontaneous processes reveal hidden elements of the psyche, migrating them into conscious awareness where they can be assimilated. From a physical perspective, the body is often reacting independently of our intention and so provides authentic information on our internal state. Levine (2017) states succinctly, “the body is the unconscious” (ch. 9, 5:14). From a transpersonal point of view, these processes can take us beyond the personal domain into deeper levels of consciousness, potentially expanding the possibilities for accessing expansive knowledge, healing and transformation. 

Spontaneous Expression, Resonance, & Integration

The use of phrases in constellation practice is also a form of creative expression. As a representative, speaking aloud freely feels similar to the compulsive urge to make a particular brush stroke across a canvas, or form and mark clay in a way that externalises an emotional landscape.

Verbal and artistic expression have an inherent emotional component that can have an effect on the maker and also create a reaction in an observer through resonance or repulsion. Rothschild (2000) notes the potential of language in integrating unconscious material, while Pennebaker and Smyth (2016) outline the benefits of expressing traumatic material that would otherwise be repressed and create mental and physical health issues. Similarly, in art therapy this transformational process is observable when the physical expression of an internal state creates insight by bringing it into conscious awareness, as well as facilitating a cathartic release.

Quantum Energetic Exchange

An energetic component is also evident. Fierke and Mackay (2020) refer to quantum theory, to demonstrate how the use of language in constellation could contribute to disentangling the field and also collapse multiple possibilities into a particular reality where the truth is either seen or unseen. On this basis, it seems possible that simple words or gestures could be capable of creating a complex restructuring that ripples through the physical and energetic in a feedback loop. Similarly, by creating a physical manifestation of an inner experience through art, an external relational object is created. In addition to mobilising psychological shifts at the time of making, this process could also potentially facilitate an ongoing energetic exchange through observation and interaction.

In my own experience, spontaneously created artwork has an autonomous existence, containing symbols and hidden meanings that unfold over time and offer new insights. Just as verbal expression could potentially cause a wave function collapse, could other forms of creative expression and abstraction work in a similar way? If a subtle perception is translated into a solid, physical manifestation could this act possibly influence the unfolding of reality? 

Consciousness, creativity, and the brain

There is evidence that certain brain states have a role in creating a connection to a more expansive source of wisdom. Some theories on consciousness posit that the brain is a transceiver that both receives and transmits information.

Quantum mechanics provides evidence backing up the view that the mind extends beyond the body and is therefore not limited by space or time (Beauregard et al., 2018). Similarly, neuroscientist Richard Silberstein (2021) proposes that certain networks of the brain, such as the default mode network (DMN) act as a filter to a wider consciousness, while other areas may be capable of inhibiting access to transpersonal sources of information. Silberstein also points to empirical research by Freedman et al. (2018) concluding that the frontal lobes of the brain may mediate mind-matter communication and influence psi ability. This suggests that particular brain states may not be restricted by the material world and laws of classical physics, and are more conducive to accessing a larger reality. There has been significant research conducted into the role of the DMN in meditation (Brewer et al., 2011), shamanic states (Huels et al., 2021), creativity and unconscious processes (Kuhn et al., 2014) and many other altered states of consciousness.

Extending scientific inquiry to explore the neural correlates of representing in a constellation space could help to illuminate how stepping into the knowing field facilitates a connection that is non-local and non-temporal, and how it may connect with other creative processes. 

Symbol, Metaphor, & Communication with the Knowing Field

A recent article by Ranal (2021) on constellation points out the immensity of the informational field in which we are intertwined, and how particular frequencies can be accessed by intention or directed thought. In order to access another field, a balance between focus and surrender seems to be required. Perhaps setting an intention locates a particular space or frequency, and surrendering to the flow creates a specific state of consciousness that facilitates the channelling of information. Metzner (1998) considered symbols and metaphor (the language of the right brain hemisphere and the body) to be a gateway to different levels of consciousness.

Dialoging with symbolic representations and engaging the right hemisphere helps to bypass the rational, linear mind and appears to create an entry point into flow. Both artistic creative practice, and the creative act of constellation, provide the opportunity to transcend the perceived limitations of what can be known from a materialistic perspective.  

Direct Perception & Holistic Awareness 

It is interesting to note that in constellation sessions, representatives often have access to a holistic grasp of complex systems. This is typically evident through an emotional and embodied response to the shifting landscape of the session rather than a conscious understanding (which might occur later). In the same way, expressive art requires a shift in awareness that facilitates an intuitive flow, moment-by-moment, leading to a finished piece that captures something in its entirely but that cannot be comprehended by the rational mind. While the left hemisphere prefers to categorise and separate, the right brain hemisphere is holistic, somatically-attuned, and intuitive (McGilchrist, 2009). Research by Flor-Henry et al. (2017) into shamanic trance states posits that the non-linear mode of processing information used by the right hemisphere, and its primarily experiential nature, could enable disengagement from pre-existing theoretical frameworks and cultural biases.

Given that embodiment, subtle perception, and expansive states of consciousness are connected to constellation practice, it seems possible that the right hemisphere is significant in this process. Research has demonstrated that during deep, meditative states the brain hemispheres show harmonious EEG patterns, as opposed to ordinary states of consciousness where the left and right hemisphere function more independently (Olistiche, cited in Lazlo, 2004). Not only that, but for people meditating together, individual brain patterns become synchronised with the group. Research into whether constellation practitioners have a similar hemispheric harmony, and the synergistic effects of working as a group with a shared intention, would be very interesting.

Brain Hemispheres & Constellation Therapy

With regards to brain hemisphere function in relation to constellation practice, the association between the right hemisphere and the storing of non-verbal traumatic experiences (Kalsched, 2021) is also relevant. Just as the integration of right and left hemispheres in art therapy can help to process personal wounding and trauma, it may also serve a more expansive function by assisting in the healing of trans-generational and collective trauma. 

Certain artistic traditions are connected with a sense of non-duality between the observer and the observed, such as Taoist painters who become one with their subject to capture the essence of its nature (Chang, 2011). Experiential, non-linear ways of knowing have been used in religious and spiritual traditions for millennia; this deep understanding appears to be a form of attunement that is connected to a holistic, embodied understanding of the object of attention. Indeed, it could be argued that there is no ‘object’ of inquiry because, beyond the material plane, the idea of boundaries and separation become illusory.

When the abstract artist, Jackson Pollock was questioned about why he did not work from nature he responded ‘I am nature’ (cited in Shlain, date, p. 248). Visionary artist Alex Grey (1998), asserts that art can be a spiritual practice that can transcend space and time, and connect us to a divine source. In constellation such fluid boundaries are evident through the process of taking on a representative role and surrendering our sense of ‘I’ to receive information from a source that extends beyond our rational mind and physical limits. 

Assimilation and Integration of Anomalous Phenomena

Although the positive effects of documenting adverse or traumatic experiences are well-researched, there are also significant benefits to recording anomalous phenomena. As well as increasing understanding and helping to process the event, making a record can also outwit the tendency of the rational mind to dispute such experiences, or diminish them over time. Amiras (2008) describes how confusion, fear, or lack of credibility can lead to dismissal or suppression of the extraordinary. He refers to the ‘strangeness curve’ which is a continuum of unusual phenomena; at the extreme end of strangeness the lack of a framework for understanding the experience will likely mean it is simply eradicated from memory.

The process of creating and engaging with a symbolic representation can help to keep the experience alive and thereby improve assimilation. Perhaps this is particularly relevant for constellation work because there is a belief that lengthy discussion about a session can interfere with its unfolding, and hamper the disentangling process. By exploring the constellation session through creative expression the process also remains embodied and in the symbolic, metaphorical domain of the right brain hemisphere, rather than being rationally dissected, prematurely categorised, and potentially diluted. 

Conclusion

The complex, multi-layered nature of constellation sessions - often a layering of visual, kinaesthetic, auditory, and emotional information - can make it challenging to describe in linear language. The symbolic worlds of art, poetry and myth are capable of containing and synthesising layers of complexity and paradox. Creative play, centred around these prominent motifs or scenes, provides an opportunity to continue dialoguing symbolically with elements that are particularly resonant. In this way, it can be used autonomously to bridge therapeutic or group sessions in addition to offering a way for participants to share their inner experiences.

Projecting the internal world into external reality also allows therapists and facilitators to gain further insight into the internal experiences of those they are working with. For constellations that take place in the mind's eye, where the field is not flowing through a group, using creative methods to process the experience can offer a springboard for new insights and further exploration. Having a physical reminder of a session could also foster integration of unusual experiences that may be resisted or diminished by the rational mind.

Creative flow is an inherent aspect of constellation practice and the knowing field. Ultimately, artistic expression offers the opportunity to continue this embodied dialogue with an expansive source of wisdom, and nurture the energetic seeds of healing and transformation.

References

Amiras, M. Z. (2008). The ‘strangeness curve’ and integral transformative practice. Social Analysis, 52(1), 127-143.

Beauregard, M., Trent, N. L., & Schwartz, G. E. (2018). Toward a postmaterialist psychology: Theory, research, and applications. New Ideas in Psychology, 50, 21-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.02.00

Brewer, J. A., Worhunsky, P. D., Gray, J. R., Tang, Y. Y., Weber, J., & Kober, H. (2011). Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(50), 20254-20259. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112029108

Chang, C. (2011). Creativity and Taoism: A study of Chinese philosophy, art and poetry. Singing Dragon.

Huels, E. R., Kim, H., Lee, U., Bel-Bahar, T., Colmenero, A.V., Nelson, A., Blain-Moraes, S., Mashour, G. A., & Harris, R. E. (2021). Neural Correlates of the Shamanic State of Consciousness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.610466  

Humphris, M. (2019) Sandplay and art. Jung Journal, 13(3), 143-155.

https://doi.org/10.1080/19342039.2019.1636362

Fierke, K. M., & Mackay, N. (2020). To ‘see’ is to break a quantum entanglement: Quantum measurement, trauma and security. Security Dialogue, 15(5), 450-466.

Ferrer, J. (2008). What does it mean to live a fully embodied spiritual life? International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 27(1), 1-11.

Flor-Henry, P., Shapiro, Y., & Sombrun, C. (2017). Brain changes during a shamanic trance: Altered modes of consciousness, hemispheric laterality, and systemic psychobiology. Cogent Psychology, 4(1), 1313522. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2017.1313522

Freedman, M., Binns, M., Gao, F., Holmes, M., Roseborough, A., Strother, S., Vallesi, A., Jeffers, S., Alain, C., Whitehouse, P., Ryan, J. D., Chen, R., Cusimano, M. D., & Black, S. E. (2018). Mind-matter interactions and the frontal lobes of the brain: A novel neurobiological model of psi inhibition. Explore, 14(1), 76-85. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2017.08.003

Grey, A. (2018). The mission of art. Shambhala.

Kalsched, D. (2021) Trauma and the soul: A psychospritual approach to human development and its interruption. (J. Telfer, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Taylor & Francis Distribution. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Trauma-and-the-Soul-Audiobook/036762446X

Kuhn, S., Ritter, S. M., Müller, B. C. N., van Baaren, R. B., Brass, M., Dijksterhuis, A. (2014). The importance of the default mode network in creativity: A structural MRI study. Journal of Creative Behavior, 48 (2), 152 - 163.

Laszlo, E. (2004). Cosmic connectivity: Toward a scientific foundation for transpersonal consciousness. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 23(1), 21–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2004.23.1.21

Levine, P. A. (2017). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. (E. Nash, Narr.) [Audiobook]. North Atlantic Books. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/In-an-Unspoken-Voice-Audiobook/B075ZFBZGT

McGilchrist, I. (2009). The master and his emissary: The divided brain and the making of the Western world. Yale University Press.

Mellick, J. (2018). Piercing the mundane: The role of creative expression in transpersonal psychology. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 50(2), 145-158.

Metzner, R. (1998). The unfolding self: varieties of transformative experience. Origin Press.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Smyth, J. M. (2016). Opening up by writing it down: how expressive writing improves health and eases emotional pain. Guilford Press.

Ranal, M. A. (2021). The field: The virtual reality of constellations and other integrative and complementary therapies. Brazilian Journal of Health Review, 4(1), 2676-2690. https://www.brazilianjournals.com/index.php/BJHR/article/download/24484/19555

Rossi, E. L. (2005). Creativity and the nature of the Numinosum: The psychosocial genomics of Jung’s transcendent function in art, science, spirit and psychotherapy. https://www.ernestrossi.com/ernestrossi/keypapers.html

Rothschild, B. (2000). The body remembers: The psychophysiology of trauma and trauma treatment. W. W. Norton & Company.

Shlain, L. (1991). Art & physics: Parallel visions in space, time and light. William Morrow & Company.

Silberstein, R. (2021). The neuroscience of the creative brain. Theosophy in Australia, 85(3), 89-95.

Swan-Foster, N. (2018). Jungian art therapy: A guide to dreams, images, and analytical psychology. Routledge.