Bert Hellinger
Encyclopedia
The German
psychotherapist
Bert Hellinger (born 16 December 1925, in Leimen
, Baden
, Germany
as Anton Hellinger) is associated with a therapeutic method best known as Family Constellations
and Systemic Constellations
. In recent years, his work has evolved beyond these formats into what he now calls Movements of the Spirit-Mind. Several thousand professional practitioners worldwide, influenced by Hellinger, but not necessarily following him, continue to apply and adapt his original insights to a broad range of personal, organizational and political applications.
as a missionary.
The local Hitler Youth
Organization tried without success to recruit the teenage Bert Hellinger. This resulted in his being classified as 'Suspected of Being an Enemy of the People' In 1942, Hellinger was conscripted into the regular German army. He saw combat on the Western front. In 1945, he was captured and imprisoned in an Allied P.O.W. camp in Belgium
. After escaping from the P.O.W. camp, Hellinger made his way back to Germany. Hellinger entered a Catholic
religious order, taking the religious name Suitbert, which is the source of his first name "Bert". He studied philosophy
and theology
at the University of Würzburg
en route to his ordination as a priest. In the early 1950s, he was dispatched to South Africa
where he was assigned to be a missionary to the Zulus. There he continued his studies at the University of Pietermaritzburg and the University of South Africa
where he received a B.A. and a University Education Diploma, which entitled him to teach at public high schools.
Hellinger lived in South Africa for 16 years. During these years he served as a parish priest, teacher and, finally, as headmaster of a large school for African students. He also had administrative responsibility for the entire diocesan district containing 150 schools. He became fluent in the Zulu language
, participated in their rituals, and gained an appreciation for their distinct worldview.
His participation in a series of interracial, ecumenical trainings in group dynamics led by Anglican clergy in South Africa in the early 1960s laid the groundwork for his leaving the Catholic priesthood. The trainers worked from a phenomenological
orientation. They were concerned with recognizing what is essential out of all the diversity present, without intention, without fear, without preconceptions, relying purely on what appears. He was deeply impressed by the way their methods showed it was possible for opposites to become reconciled through mutual respect.
The beginning of his interest in phenomenology coincided with the unfolding dissolution of his vows to the priesthood. Hellinger tells how one of the trainers asked the group, "What is more important to you, your ideals or people? Which would you sacrifice for the other?" This was not merely a philosophical riddle to him. He was acutely sensitive to how the Nazi regime sacrificed human beings in service of ideals. He says, "In a sense, the question changed my life. A fundamental orientation toward people has shaped all my work since."
After leaving the priesthood, he met his first wife, Herta, and was married, shortly after returning to Germany. He spent several years in the early 1970s in Vienna
training in a classical course in psychoanalysis
at the Wiener Arbeitskreis für Tiefenpsychologie (Viennese Association for Depth Psychology). He completed his training at the Münchner Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Psychoanalyse (Munich Psychoanalytic Training Institute) and was accepted as a practicing member of their professional association.
In 1973, he left Germany for a second time and travelled to the USA to be trained for 9 months by Arthur Janov
. There were many important influences that shaped his approach. One of the most significant was Eric Berne
and Transactional Analysis
.
Nearing age 70, he had neither documented his insights and approach nor trained students to carry on his methods. He agreed for German psychiatrist
Gunthard Weber to record and edit a series of workshop transcripts. Weber published the book himself in 1993 under the title Zweierlei Glück [Capricious Good Fortune; aka Second Chance]. He hoped to sell two thousand copies within the community of German psychotherapists interested in alternative approaches. To everyone's surprise, the book was received with acclaim and quickly became a national best-seller, selling two hundred thousand copies. During the next 15 years, he authored or co-authored 30 books.
Hellinger travelled widely, delivering lectures, workshops and training courses throughout Europe
, the USA, Central and South America, Russia
, China
, and Japan
. Hellinger alienated some potential colleagues and supporters by his idiosyncratic behaviour, such as making sweeping statements that reduced complex issues to single root causes or his manner of sometimes addressing clients in a caustic, authoritarian tone. Many practitioners distance themselves from the method's founding figure. Many others continued their association, integrating the further developments into their own practices.
Hellinger and his second wife Maria Sophie Hellinger operate the Hellinger School.
If you bring a perpetrator to justice, then the victim will atone for what is done to the perpetrator."
Hellinger goes on to tell a story of an incest/abuse victim who became suicidal, because the perpetrator was prosecuted.
In German:
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
psychotherapist
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
Bert Hellinger (born 16 December 1925, in Leimen
Leimen (Baden)
Leimen is a town in north-west Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is about south of Heidelberg and the third largest town of the Rhein-Neckar district after Weinheim and Sinsheim...
, Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as Anton Hellinger) is associated with a therapeutic method best known as Family Constellations
Family Constellations
Family Constellations is an experiential process that aims to release and resolve profound tensions within and between people...
and Systemic Constellations
Systemic Constellations
The Systemic Constellation process is a trans-generational, phenomenological, therapeutic intervention with roots in family systems therapy , existential-phenomenology , and the ancestor reverence of the South African Zulus...
. In recent years, his work has evolved beyond these formats into what he now calls Movements of the Spirit-Mind. Several thousand professional practitioners worldwide, influenced by Hellinger, but not necessarily following him, continue to apply and adapt his original insights to a broad range of personal, organizational and political applications.
Life
Anton Hellinger was born into a Catholic family in Germany in 1925. Hellinger's parents' "particular form of [Catholic] faith provided the entire family with immunity against believing the distortions of National Socialism." At age 10, he left his family to attend a Catholic monastery school run by the Order in which he was later ordained and that sent him to South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
as a missionary.
The local Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
Organization tried without success to recruit the teenage Bert Hellinger. This resulted in his being classified as 'Suspected of Being an Enemy of the People' In 1942, Hellinger was conscripted into the regular German army. He saw combat on the Western front. In 1945, he was captured and imprisoned in an Allied P.O.W. camp in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. After escaping from the P.O.W. camp, Hellinger made his way back to Germany. Hellinger entered a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
religious order, taking the religious name Suitbert, which is the source of his first name "Bert". He studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at the University of Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
en route to his ordination as a priest. In the early 1950s, he was dispatched to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
where he was assigned to be a missionary to the Zulus. There he continued his studies at the University of Pietermaritzburg and the University of South Africa
University of South Africa
The University of South Africa is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities.-History:...
where he received a B.A. and a University Education Diploma, which entitled him to teach at public high schools.
Hellinger lived in South Africa for 16 years. During these years he served as a parish priest, teacher and, finally, as headmaster of a large school for African students. He also had administrative responsibility for the entire diocesan district containing 150 schools. He became fluent in the Zulu language
Zulu language
Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...
, participated in their rituals, and gained an appreciation for their distinct worldview.
His participation in a series of interracial, ecumenical trainings in group dynamics led by Anglican clergy in South Africa in the early 1960s laid the groundwork for his leaving the Catholic priesthood. The trainers worked from a phenomenological
Phenomenology (psychology)
Phenomenology is an approach to psychological subject matter that has its roots in the philosophical work of Edmund Husserl. Early phenomenologists such as Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty conducted their own psychological investigations in the early 20th century...
orientation. They were concerned with recognizing what is essential out of all the diversity present, without intention, without fear, without preconceptions, relying purely on what appears. He was deeply impressed by the way their methods showed it was possible for opposites to become reconciled through mutual respect.
The beginning of his interest in phenomenology coincided with the unfolding dissolution of his vows to the priesthood. Hellinger tells how one of the trainers asked the group, "What is more important to you, your ideals or people? Which would you sacrifice for the other?" This was not merely a philosophical riddle to him. He was acutely sensitive to how the Nazi regime sacrificed human beings in service of ideals. He says, "In a sense, the question changed my life. A fundamental orientation toward people has shaped all my work since."
After leaving the priesthood, he met his first wife, Herta, and was married, shortly after returning to Germany. He spent several years in the early 1970s in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
training in a classical course in psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
at the Wiener Arbeitskreis für Tiefenpsychologie (Viennese Association for Depth Psychology). He completed his training at the Münchner Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Psychoanalyse (Munich Psychoanalytic Training Institute) and was accepted as a practicing member of their professional association.
In 1973, he left Germany for a second time and travelled to the USA to be trained for 9 months by Arthur Janov
Arthur Janov
Arthur Janov is an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and the creator of primal therapy, a treatment for mental illness that involves repeatedly descending into, feeling, and expressing long-repressed childhood pain. Janov directs a psychotherapy institute called the Primal Center in Santa...
. There were many important influences that shaped his approach. One of the most significant was Eric Berne
Eric Berne
Eric Berne was a Canadian-born psychiatrist best known as the creator of transactional analysis and the author of Games People Play.-Background and education:...
and Transactional Analysis
Transactional analysis
Transactional analysis, commonly known as TA to its adherents, is an integrative approach to the theory of psychology and psychotherapy. It is described as integrative because it has elements of psychoanalytic, humanist and cognitive approaches...
.
Nearing age 70, he had neither documented his insights and approach nor trained students to carry on his methods. He agreed for German psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Gunthard Weber to record and edit a series of workshop transcripts. Weber published the book himself in 1993 under the title Zweierlei Glück [Capricious Good Fortune; aka Second Chance]. He hoped to sell two thousand copies within the community of German psychotherapists interested in alternative approaches. To everyone's surprise, the book was received with acclaim and quickly became a national best-seller, selling two hundred thousand copies. During the next 15 years, he authored or co-authored 30 books.
Hellinger travelled widely, delivering lectures, workshops and training courses throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the USA, Central and South America, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Hellinger alienated some potential colleagues and supporters by his idiosyncratic behaviour, such as making sweeping statements that reduced complex issues to single root causes or his manner of sometimes addressing clients in a caustic, authoritarian tone. Many practitioners distance themselves from the method's founding figure. Many others continued their association, integrating the further developments into their own practices.
Hellinger and his second wife Maria Sophie Hellinger operate the Hellinger School.
Adolf Hitler
Hellinger created controversy in writing a poem dedicated to Adolf Hitler which asks the reader to identify something of themselves in Hitler and to respect that part of themselves. Several articles related to this appeared in the Dutch antifascist magazine "Alert!".Incest
Hellinger's position on Incest that the perpetrator should not be punished is regarded as questionable in the therapeutic community and is summarized by this quote taken from one of his recent books:Now about incest. If you are confronted with cases of incest, a very common dynamic is that the wife withdraws from her husband, she refuses a sexual relationship. Then, as a kind of compensation, a daughter takes her place. This is an unconscious movement, not a conscious one. But you see, with incest there are two perpetrators, one in the background and one in the open. You cannot resolve that unless this hidden perpetrator is brought in. There are very strange sentences that come to light. The daughter can tell her mother, "I do it for you." And she can tell her father, "I do it for mother." What is the effect of these sentences? Incest cannot go on anymore. If you want to stop it, this is the best way without any accusations.
If you bring a perpetrator to justice, then the victim will atone for what is done to the perpetrator."
Hellinger goes on to tell a story of an incest/abuse victim who became suicidal, because the perpetrator was prosecuted.
Other controversial positions taken by Hellinger
- A breast cancer victim may secretly want to die due to a woman's unconscious "war with her mother."
- Homosexuality may result because a boy unconsciously assumes the feelings of a deceased aunt or great aunt when there are no female descendants in the lineal family system.
- Rape and incest create a bond; the perpetrator must receive "due respect" before the victim can bond with another.
Works
Hellinger has published more than 30 books with combined sales of one million copies in at least ten languages. Some of his books translated into English include:- Hellinger, B. (2001). Love's own truths: Bonding and balancing in close relationships (M. Oberli-Turner & H. Beaumont, Trans.). Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.
- Hellinger, B. (2002). Insights: Lectures and stories. (J. ten Herkel, Trans.). Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
- Hellinger, B. (2002). On life & other paradoxes: Aphorisms and little stories from Bert Hellinger (R. Metzner, Trans.). Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.
- Hellinger, B. (2003). Farewell family constellations with descendants of victims and perpetrators (C. Beaumont, Trans.). Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
- Hellinger, B. (2003). Rachel Weeping for Her Children: Family Constellations in Israel Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-International.
- Hellinger, B. (2003). Peace begins in the soul: Family constellations in the service of reconciliation (C. Beaumont, Trans.). Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
- Hellinger, B. (2006). No waves without the ocean: Experiences and thoughts (J. ten Herkel & S. Tombleson, Trans.). Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
- Hellinger, B. (2007). With God in mind. Berchtesgaden, Germany: Hellinger Publications.
- Hellinger, B. & ten Hövel, G. (1999). Acknowledging what is: Conversations with Bert Hellinger. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.
- Hellinger, B., Weber, G., & Beaumont, H. (1998). Love's hidden symmetry: What makes love work in relationships. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.
In German:
- Zweierlei Glück. Konzept und Praxis der systemischen Psychotherapie (1993)
- Ordnungen der Liebe (1994)
- Die Mitte fühlt sich leicht an (1996)
- Wo Schicksal wirkt und Demut heilt - ein Kurs für Kranke
- Wie Liebe gelingt (1999)
- mit Gabriele ten Hövel - Anerkennen, was ist. Gespräche über Verstrickung und Heilung
- Mit der Seele gehen
- Ordnungen des Helfens - Über die Ordnungen und Unordnungen sinnvollen professionellen Helfens
- Gedanken unterwegs
- Gottesgedanken - Über die Gottesvorstellungen der Menschen und ihre Wirkungen und Funktionen in Systemen.
- Wahrheit in Bewegung
- Der große Konflikt
- Ein langer Weg - Biographie (2005)
- Rachel weint um ihre Kinder - Familien-Stellen mit Überlebenden des Holocaust. Vorwort v. Haim Dasberg (Herder Verlag 3/2004, ISBN 3-451-05443-4)
External links
- hellinger.com Official page
- hellinger.co.uk United Kingdom website for Hellinger therapy
- Yahoo group discussing controversies about Bert Hellinger and his work