SCASA Blog
Launch of SCASA Blog – Editorial Comment
The SCASA website blog is the ‘brain child ‘of Tanja Meyburgh. The SCASA team envisioned a space where constellations facilitators could share their knowledge and experiences with each other and their broader community and exchange ideas. This would not only enhance each practitioners’ working knowledge, but also serve to educate people new to constellations who visit the website.
This exchange of knowledge and ideas was imagined to be somewhere between an informal reflection and the formal model of an academic journal; a way to bring both creativity and freedom together with a sound knowledge base already in existence, without the spirit and joy getting lost in overwhelm inducing referencing and academic styles. It means acknowledging sources of knowledge, but without overly formal style, and including auto-ethnography and personal reflection and learning. It is also important that certain ethical standards such as informed consent and confidentiality of clients are maintained.
Continue reading below.
From the book Reclaiming Ancestors by Tanja Meyburgh
Following Bert Hellinger's Tracks: I've often wondered why the founder of Systemic Constellation work, Bert Hellinger was so shy to talk of his time spent in South Africa, or of the traditional African origins of [...]
Functional Fluency and Systemic Constellations – integrative reflections by Dr. Layo Seriki
In this blogpost I reflect on my personal development journey as a professional working with people in organisations in various sectors and different parts of the world. I look at what led me to this [...]
Reflections on Resourcing / Re-Sourcing in Constellations Work by Dr Undine Whande
On 26th July 2024, the SCASA Practitioner community circle focused on the theme and practice of ‘resourcing’ in constellations work. ‘Resourcing’ refers to a variety of ways in which facilitators make visible the already existing [...]
Working with Nature as co-facilitator By Paula Kingwill
This blog is based on an extract from a chapter that I am in the process of co-writing with two other dramatherapy collegues. In this blog, I will reflect on “nature” as a conscious participant [...]
Continuation of Editorial Comment
This editorial comment serves not only to introduce our first edition authors, but to invite future authors to respond to what we hope to be a joyful opportunity for creativity, and to put into writing your insightful moments of expanded awareness and understanding, or support others with helpful tips and exercises. It can also contribute more formally to the body of constellation work by integrating it with other lineage roots, knowledge systems, scientific evidence, and the theoretical models found in other disciplines and intervention methods. It therefore may begin a conversation/dialogue, to which other practitioners can then respond.
There is an editorial team consisting of Cathy Geils, Angela Hough, Gail Wrogemann and Tanja Meyburgh to assist with editing as well as being a peer ethical guide. The authors who have contributed to this first edition are Paula Kingwell, Dr Undine Whande, Dr Layo Seriki and Tanja Meyburgh.
Paula Kingwell is a remarkable individual who embodies the synergy between nature’s serenity and the transformative power of drama therapy. As a drama therapist and cattle farmer with a Master’s degree in Dramatherapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies, USA, Paula has honed her craft over decades of practice, leveraging the arts for healing and personal growth. Paula facilitates Expressive Arts therapy and Family Constellations workshops.
Dr Undine Whande is an executive coach since 2006, first trained in Organisational Constellations and adding her Family Constellations training to the work from 2012/13 (African Constellations). She is a Southern African Systems Constellations Association (SCASA) accredited constellations trainer and has taken groups through to facilitator certification in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Dr Layo Seriki is an organisational consultant and leadership development coach. She concentrates on identifying what is needed to optimise the effectiveness and contentedness of people at work. Transactional Analysis and Systemic Constellations are important modalities contributing to her own development and her work with clients. Horses have fascinated and inspired her for as long as she can remember, and they support Layo’s work as emotional mirrors in coaching sessions or as representatives in constellations as and when needed. Layo is a co-founder and director of Functional Fluency International and works with clients one-on-one and in groups, in various spaces – from offices to horse paddocks and zoom rooms.
Tanja Meyburgh, founder of African Constellations, is a renowned Family and Systems Constellations trainer and supervisor for 21 years and is a regular contributor to the international conferences and publications in this field. She is known for her inclusion of land, embodiment, collective work, and inclusion of marginalised voices in her systemic work. Tanja provides a creative and experiential learning space that brings a sense of soul and spirit in a psychologically grounded way. Her interest in self-growth, personal and collective ritual, and embodiment, supports her to hold a broad and deep container for clients’ personal and professional process.
Tanja’s contribution to this blog is an excerpt from her recently published book, “Reclaiming Ancestors”. This timely book explores what exactly Westernised people have lost over centuries of industrialisation, colonisation, and the rise of the future of individualism, and how to reclaim what has been lost. In this book Tanja shares her stories, teaching, and rituals from Southern Africa. She will show you that profound healing can come from personal work with the ones who ‘came before’. It will challenge you to relook at facts, including people and stories that have been repressed and excluded. Tanja works with reconnecting to the land and the village, honouring elders, restoring dignity, and developing relationships with the wider systems we find ourselves in, including our biological ancestors. She also shares her experience of being a modern woman followi