Introducing Family Constellations for Recovery
Family & Systemic Constellations (also known as Ancestral Healing) are powerful forms of therapeutic group healing that help reveal hidden patterns and dynamics passed down through family systems and Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Rather than focusing solely on symptoms of suffering — anxiety, addiction, depression, isolation, rage, self-harm — Constellations allow us to explore why these patterns persist, and how they may be entangled with deeper, often unconscious layers of survival and intergenerational trauma.
By bringing these dynamics into the light, Constellations support release, resolution, and new possibilities.
WHY CONSTELLATIONS?
Supporting the Journey of Recovery
Whether someone is beginning recovery, years into their journey, or currently navigating deep trauma, each Constellations session can:
• Help identify the root causes beneath the symptoms of suffering
• Offer a sense of peace, group belonging, and inner order
• Bring awareness to intergenerational trauma and latent family dynamics
• Support forgiveness and acceptance around personal and familial experiences
• Create a space for empathy and emotional release
Addiction
At the root of many addictions lives an absence — often, a disconnection from the father or a yearning for a stable connection with something greater than oneself. Constellations create space to encounter these longings with truth and dignity, allowing the pattern of outsourcing to soften — and new ground to form beneath it.
Relational Trauma
The impact of ACEs and relational traumas — emotional, psychological, physical, sexual — echo across generations. In Constellations, we don’t retell the story; we allow what has been held in silence to be seen, acknowledged, and functionally addressed. This can often restore what was broken: a sense of self, dignity, safety, right relationship.
Mental Health
Anxiety, depression and fragmentation often have ancestral roots. Constellations offer a way to meet these not as problems to fix, but as expressions of something deeper — something unresolved. When the source is acknowledged, what once felt heavy can begin to healthily shift.
How Constellations Work
“Every dysfunctional pattern, belief, and behavior is rooted in a positive intention.”
In a group setting, each person is invited to explore a personal question or issue. One at a time, willing participants receive direct support from the group practice. Other participants are invited to “represent” family members or energies connected to a recipient’s topic, in a form of dynamic conversational role-play.
From there, the group begins to reveal what’s often invisible: loyalty to generational trauma, inherited patterns, unmet needs, or forgotten truths. Through subtle movement, exploratory dialogue, and deep presence, resolution often emerges naturally.
This is not a performance or typical role play — it’s an intuitive and deeply moving process that speaks to the intelligence of the body and soul.
For Your Recovery Community
If you support those in recovery and would like to explore this work with your group or organization, I’d love to connect. My goal is to share this work where it’s needed most, especially with those who may not otherwise have access.
I offer introductory workshops (1–2 hours) for recovery groups — online or in person. These are offered free of charge or at low cost to qualifying nonprofits and community circles.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Michael “Zeff” Zeffield
You can call me Zeff. I am a certified facilitator of Family & Systemic Constellations rooted in trauma-informed Neuro-linguistic psychotherapeutic principles. With thousands of hours of professional facilitation experience, I help support those who are healing from generational wounds, relational trauma, and addiction.
As an adult child of alcoholics, Family Constellations work has profoundly transformed my own journey. I’m honored to offer it in spaces where it’s needed most with tenderness, empathy, and deep lived experience.
Zeff is a core member of Ancestral Healing Institute. See more of our work here.
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
Inquiry Submission
Send an email below to coordinate Family Constellations for your Recovery group.
Thank you for what you do!
COPYRIGHT © 2025 MICHAEL ZEFFIELD
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED