A valentine for psychodrama & constellation book from Francesca Mason Boring

So pleased to have this Valentine! It's a review from Francesca Mason Boring, author of Notes from the Indigenous Field: Family Constellation, Ceremony and Ritual and an internationally known facilitator and teacher of Systems Constellation.

She says:

Integrating Psychodrama and Systemic Constellation Work: New Directions for Action Methods, Mind-body Therapies and Energy Healing by Karen Carnabucci and Ronald Anderson is an engaging book and a valuable new contribution to the ever-expanding field of Family Constellation.

This book is not a duplication of the wonderful growing number of references available to the practitioners of constellation work. The authors write: "It is not our intention to repeat what has been written separately about psychodrama and constellation work…Rather we intend to fill the gaps of knowledge that exist with practitioners of each method, correct bits of misinformation about psychodrama and especially show how each method compliments and advances the other."

This book is efficient in meeting that goal, having perhaps one of the most extensive bibliographies in constellation literature available in the English language. However, it goes beyond a comparative work. Carnabucci and Anderson crafted a highly interesting intimate journey into the development and evolution of family constellation and psychodrama.

There were comparative overviews of criteria for client readiness coming from each discipline, which differed, and yet could certainly serve each other. For facilitators of both methods, the comparison provides suggestions for constructive growth in approach.

The fascinating gifts and limitations of the primary developers of these separate, and yet perhaps complimentary works are fascinating:

This book invites those interested in knowing more about Family Constellation to a good introduction to the fundamentals and provides an impressive overview of the development of Family Constellation. The book is alive with case studies and applications of the method in the full spectrum of human relationships. One of the chapters gives a hint as to the style of the work: Assessment, an adventure into the being of the person gives.

This book has a multitude of practical applications, it is informative and it is a unique discussion. What it also provides is an adventure for the reader. It leaves one with a sense that these innovations require -- to some degree -- a sense of adventure, a willingness to stand on new ground, a guide who is fearless albeit sometimes defined as eccentric, and for those who are willing to venture out, oftentimes such a journey produces a humbling and healing result.

Congratulations to Karen Carnabucci and Ronald Anderson for undertaking such a journey, and sincere thanks for sharing it with the many who will be eager to be so definitively enriched.