The Musician and his Fears - From Bert Hellinger’s Family and Systemic Constellations Viewpoint

I would like to share my experience from workshops which I have been coordinating at the Astor Piazolla Conservatory (Buenos Aires, Argentina), an institution that trains musicians and teachers of music.

Who is it addressed to?

The practical workshop “The Musician and his/ her fears” is addressed to people who wish to deal with, through this shared experience, fears and/ or anxieties which limit and make their professional practice much more difficult. The workshop takes place in a careful framework, where the possible origins of certain blockages, inhibitions and symptoms before a performance, class, exam or concerts are tried to be found. In this process, some steps to overcome the fears are taken to help the musicians.

Foundations

Throughout our lives, we have challenges that awake anxieties and fears of different kinds. The exposure that an exam, class or concert implies activate sometimes these fears, hindering the realization of a successful vocational career. There are different theoretical frameworks of reference (psychological, philosophical, pedagogical) that allow us to reflect and tackle these difficulties.

What are family constellations?

Bert Hellinger (1925, german philosopher and psychologist) created this approach. He discovered the implications in the family systems (up to 7 previous generations) and how they alter the course of peoples’ own lives and true purposes. The family and systemic constellations try to unveil the way in which we are linked with our ancestors, which are the hidden dynamics that cause our obstacles and sympthoms, enabling an internal movement to a better place.

The workshop

The musician can attend the workshop for his or her own constellation or as a participant. In the latter case there are two scenarios: he/she can be just an observer or a representative. The person who wants to constellate puts forward his/her subjet. The facilitator invites the one who consults to choose a representative for the person of his/her system, or for an emotion (fear of an exam), symptoms (difficults to play a concert), who will create a configuration when they are place in the área. This internal image, now visible, will allow the person to detect and work on the disorders and systemic implications.

In a constellation workshop, an energetic resonance field is created. That’s why all the participants usually receive new understandings. When the invisible underlying hindrance or fear is made visible, the view of the subject is broadened and the actions that tend to solve the problem are performed.