The Core Sentence^®
 

Family traumas live in our bodies, in our anxieties, in our fears— even in the words we speak. The residues of these traumas can even be felt intergenerationally. A woman, for example, may carry a trauma of sexual abuse— but it may not be her trauma. A man may live his entire life depressed, estranged from those around him, and never understand why. As therapists, we often encounter clients who carry symptoms of a particular trauma, yet know of no such information in their lives or in their family history. At the Center for Behavioral Genetics, we teach our students how to get to the core of a client's issue.

In our Core Language^® workshops and trainings, therapists learn how to uncover trauma in the family system by exploring their client’s words, fears, symptoms and body language. Therapists also learn how to extract a Core Sentence^® from their client’s “list of complaints,” and develop it into a core image. In this method, therapists use a key inquiry: :"What is your worst fear... the worst thing that could ever happen to you?^TM" With this profound tool, the trauma in the system can surface within minutes and be transformed into a healing resourcee.

 

Working with Children: The Systemic Approach
 

Bonded by a deep loyalty, a child will often attempt to ease a parent's suffering by sharing the parent's burden. It’s a common theme: sad mother, sad daughter... alcoholic father, alcoholic son... the relationship difficulties of the parents, mirrored by the children. Likewise, if one parent is ignored or disrespected by the other, a child may attempt to balance this injustice in the form of an oppositional or self-destructive behavior, or by representing the excluded parent by manifesting the rejected behaviors. Learning 
and attention difficulties, eating and sleep disorders can all be 
forms of unspoken family loyalty. In the conventional  model, we tend to look to our children for answers to problems that rarely rest in their hands alone. The systemic approach allows us to broaden our lens to include the parents. In this model, a child's behavior or condition is viewed as an expression of a problem 
between the parents or of an unresolved event in the family system. Such a lens allows us to view who’s been rejected or what's been disregarded in the family.



Anxiety and Panic Disorders:
A Systemic Family Therapy Perspective

This training is designed to provide a nonpharmacologic, family systems approach to treating anxiety and panic disorders in adults and children. Distilled from systemic principles originated by Bert Hellinger, Virginia Satir, Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, Milton H. Erickson and others, this course provides therapists with an overview of the dynamics in family systems that lead to anxious behaviors, as well as offers practical tools and methods for safe and effective intervention.

Therapists will be able to identify systemic causes of anxiety and panic disorders and implement practical treatment plans to help clients break destructive family patterns. Therapists will learn to expand the traditional “family tree” to include those members whose exclusion or rejection caused discord in system, and learn methods to reconcile relationships with missing fathers, biological parents, deceased siblings, etc., even when contact is not possible. Upon completion, therapists will be able to apply systemic principles in their own practices with groups, couples or individuals.

 
 

The Anatomy of Love: Success and Failure in Relationships

This training is designed to get to the heart of what prevents us from having the closeness we all desire. Therapists will learn how to work with singles and couples, and what to look for when couples struggle. We'll explore the forces that influence relationship choices on a subconscious level — silent sabotage, hidden family loyalties, invisible identifications, as well as the habitual behaviors that erode our intimate relationships. We'll examine in depth the dynamics affecting the success and failure of relationships, learn how to determine who holds the true weight in a relationship, and discuss the importance of an equal balance of giving and taking. We will learn to differentiate between mama’s boys and father’s sons as well as between daddy’s girl’s and mother’s daughters. Upon completing this training, therapists will be able to diagnose and recognize dynamics affecting relationships, as well as be able to construct pathways toward successful resolutions. Once couples are free of entanglements from the past, new ways of giving and receiving love can begin to take root


Trauma and Reconciliation:
Interventions in Individual and Group Sessions

 

Therapists are frequently called upon to evaluate and treat clients who have experienced trauma. A client may present with a specific history of trauma, or with vague symptoms, which can often be traced to an underlying traumatic event in the family system. Symptoms such as mood swings, lack of concentration, anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, eating disorders, insomnia, migraines, chronic pain and substance abuse can all be manifestations of trauma.

This training is designed to provide a nonpharmacologic, family systems approach to treating trauma in adults. Therapists will learn how to implement safe, practical and effective treatment plans to help clients restore physical, psychological and emotional 
equilibrium. Reframing the trauma and reconciling the experience between victim and perpetrator will be addressed. Whether working one-on-one or in a group setting, therapists will learn the importance of using dialogue, imagery, body-centered awareness techniques, homework and ritual to support healing and resolution.

 

The Genetics of Success

This course offers practical, effective tools for any business leader who wishes to understand the systemic influences on employee behavior and performance in the workplace. Unresolved family issues can affect an employee’s productivity, camaraderie, stability and reliability. As personal family dynamics play out in the workplace, the consequences not only affect the employee, but many of those with whom he or she interacts: team members, bosses, managers, vendors, etc. Once understood, the past can remain in the past, allowing the present to become productive and fruitful.

The Effects of War

We belong to a nation, like a big protective family, that exists to protect its people who cannot do it on their own. This bond must be acknowledged. Failure to do so can invite suffering in the successive generations. For example, a man who leaves his country to avoid fighting in war often cannot take his being saved when others in his community perished or paid a difficult price. Later on, someone in his family may be drawn to war, or suffer like those left behind who suffered. In this training, we will learn how to work with the effects of war trauma in the family system. We’ll explore the dynamics affecting subsequent generations, and demonstrate ways to bring about healing and reconciliation. We'll take a close look at PTSD and learn how to work with soldiers who have witnessed the death of a fellow soldier, been attacked or taken another's life.

Self-Injury and the Family System 

They cut themselves, pull out their hair, pick at their skin, etc. They’re caught between an unacknowledged victim and perpetrator in the family system. They enact both fates in one body, harming themselves and then suffering from self-inflicted distress. In this training, therapists will learn to recognize the dynamics behind self-injury, as well as learn to perceive the self-injurer’s words, symptoms and physical actions as signs leading to traumatic events in the family system. Methods for integration will be demonstrated. Whether working one-on-one or in a group setting, therapists will learn the importance of using body-centered awareness techniques, ritual and homework to support healing and resolution. 


The Foundations of Hellinger's Systemic Therapy

This intensive training is designed to provide a working knowledge of the principles, practical aspects and applications of Bert Hellinger's phenomenological approach to working with family systems. Together we will construct a systemic lens through which therapists  can explore their personal as well as their clients' most complex and difficult issues. Therapists will learn to expand the traditional “family tree” to include those members whose exclusion or rejection caused discord in system. Other topics will include: Orders of Precedence, Three Levels of Conscience, What Creates Bonding and Belonging in Families, Guilt and Innocence and the Systemic Messages that keep us mired in destructive patterns. Upon completion, Therapists will be able to apply systemic principles in their own practices with groups, couples or individuals.

The Advanced Training

 

This training offers the opportunity to deepen understanding, anchor intervention, and support possibilities for change.  We will discuss ways to unearth hidden trauma in the family system, ways to fine-tune the intake process and ways to design homework assignments, both to anchor the constellation work and to "leave it with the client.” Additionally, we will examine the complexity of dynamics behind patients' issues, as well as how to work both in group and individual settings. Students will also be encouraged to bring in cases for in-depth case supervision.

The Training Program

THIS TRAINING PROGRAM is designed to provide a rich and deep understanding of Bert Hellinger's phenomenological approach to working with family systems, as well as to provide a thorough working knowledge of the principles and practical aspects of facilitating systemic therapy in groups and individual sessions. We'll explore the unconscious loyalties and destructive patterns present in our families and learn pathways that lead to possible solutions. With personalized guidance and varied opportunities to practice all aspects of systemic work, both in class and as part of ongoing study groups, students will deepen the awareness necessary to become effective facilitators. Profound internal shifts take place throughout the course of our experience together as new definitions of healing and health begin to take root.


THE FORMAT: 18 days divided into 6 three-day weekends (Friday through Sunday, 10-6 PM) spaced approximately six weeks apart. This schedule is designed to allow students the time necessary to absorb the essence of the work, practice the tools and integrate the concepts.

COST: $3000. A $300 deposit is required to ensure your space. Limited to 24 students. A CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION from the Center of Behavioral Genetics will be issued at the end of the course.

 

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