Method

IOSA and constellation work

Constellation work makes a concern visible in the room: people, feelings, goals, or options for a decision are represented by representatives, symbols, or floor anchors. IOSA, integral-operational structural constellation work, combines clearly described formats with integral building blocks such as the four quadrants. The work relies not on interpretations, but on differences: What changes when something in the image changes?

Systems

Introduction

Seeing your concern from the outside

Sometimes you go around in circles. You’ve thought everything through, talked to everyone, and still something stays stuck. Words don’t help anymore at that point.

In a constellation, you place your concern in the room. Suddenly you see it from the outside: a goal stands behind an obstacle. Two people stand side by side and look in the same direction, so they don’t see each other. A resource stands far away, behind your back. This image alone often clarifies more than many words.

In depth

What is IOSA?

IOSA stands for integral-operational structural constellation work (in German, integral-operationale Strukturaufstellungsarbeit). Most of its formats come from the Systemic Structural Constellations of Matthias Varga von Kibéd and Insa Sparrer. They took up older orders from family constellations and embedded them in a solution-focused attitude: there isn’t one single truth about a system, but images that open up new possibilities.

Integral means: IOSA connects constellation work with maps from integral theory. This becomes clearest in the quadrant constellation, in which the four perspectives I, It, We, and Its come into the room. This makes visible which sides are currently shaping a concern and which are missing.

Operational means: the work follows forms that can be described, each with a clear purpose, fixed elements, and an image that change can orient itself by. The form is explained to you so that nothing “magical” arises. And every step is checked: better, worse, the same?

An image in the room

A constellation seen from above: each figure stands for an element of the concern. The yellow one is the focus; it stands for you. Distance and direction of gaze tell how the elements relate to one another.

You choose representatives for the elements of your concern and place them where it feels right. Then you watch from a good spot. In a group, people take these places; on your own, it works with symbols or floor anchors that you stand on yourself. A few terms help in understanding the form:

Representative A person who stands for an element: a person, a feeling, a goal, an obstacle, a possibility.
Focus The representative who stands for you and is oriented toward your situation.
Representative perception In their place, representatives perceive something: warmth, coldness, tightness, strength, the wish for closeness or distance. That is the material of the work.
Focus on differences After every change, only one question counts: better, worse, or the same?
Covert work Elements can remain anonymous, for example “the issue.” You don’t have to tell everything.
Free elements They move on their own, for example “wisdom” or “freedom,” and bring inspiration into the image.
Places Fixed parts of the system, for example an option for a decision or a place of origin.
De-roling At the end, the representatives say their own names and step out of the role.

How the representatives’ perception comes about has not been scientifically explained, and you don’t have to adopt any theory about it. For the work, what counts are the differences.

Reading the image

A constellation image is read, not interpreted. How large is the distance? Where is an element looking? Who sees whom, perhaps only out of the corner of their eye? Two elements in relation to each other have typical meanings:

Side by side

Facing the same direction: they often don’t see each other.

Turned slightly toward each other

They perceive each other, often a good team.

Directly facing each other

Confrontation, or being in love.

One behind the other

Protection from behind, or a block from the front.

Such readings are hypotheses for rearranging, not verdicts about you. If a hypothesis doesn’t fit, it is dropped right away. Or, as Patrick’s notes put it: if I cling to a hypothesis, it was a thesis.

What systems experience as fitting

According to Varga von Kibéd and Sparrer, systems experience certain orders as fitting. When something in an image feels worse, it is often worth looking at them:

Acknowledging what is. Only what is acknowledged can change.
Equal belonging. Everyone who belongs has a place. Whoever is left out is noticeably missing from the image.
Order in time. Within a system, earlier comes before later; between systems, the new takes precedence over the old.
Greater commitment takes precedence. Whoever carries more responsibility needs acknowledgment for it.
Greater competence takes precedence. Special abilities deserve their place.

In short: belonging, order, balance. These are working agreements of the constellation schools, not laws of nature.

Short sentences that move something

Alongside rearrangements, constellations work with short, positive sentences that representatives say to one another. A sentence works when it is true for both. Where it feels wrong, it shows what still needs clarifying. The sentences follow an arc:

Contact “I see you.”
Appreciation “You are important to me.”
Separation “I am I, and you are you.”
Order “You came before me; I come after you.”
Honoring “I will honor you by going my own way.”

Sometimes an entanglement shows up: out of unconscious love, someone carries a feeling or theme that belongs to another, usually older, person. The resolution leads through clear sentences to a new form of connection: I stay connected to you, but I no longer carry what is yours. Or a projection shows up: another person is still hidden in the person across from you, for example your own mother in your boss.

Forms for different concerns

There is a suitable form for every concern. A few examples:

Snapshot Only two elements, you and another person or thing. A quick look into a relationship.
Problem constellation Focus, goal, obstacles, resources, the hidden gain, and the task afterward. For blocks and goals.
Tetralemma For decisions: alongside the two options, also “both,” “neither,” and a fifth position that leads beyond the either-or.
Inner parts The critic, the driver, the protector get a place, including the uncomfortable ones.
Quadrants I, It, We, and Its in the room: Which perspective shapes your concern, and which is missing?

There are also dedicated formats for teams and organizations.

The attitude behind it

The facilitator is a good host and at the same time takes the lead: clear, friendly, with a safe frame. They offer hypotheses, not truths, and don’t pronounce interpretations. What the image means for you is for you to decide. What we look for is an image that fits better, not the cause of all evil. Obstacles and difficult feelings have a function too, often a protective one. And when things don’t move forward, that gets said out loud.

Common misunderstandings

“The constellation shows the truth about my family.” It shows an image that opens up new possibilities. The interpretation stays with you.
“Constellation means family constellation.” Family is only one field. It can just as well be about decisions, goals, inner parts, or beliefs.
“I have to tell everything.” With covert work, I don’t need to know the content.
“You always need a group.” With symbols and floor anchors, it works on your own, too.
“Afterward, everything is resolved.” A constellation is one step, often an important one. Its end is always a beginning.

Constellation work is not clairvoyance and not a method for proving something about other people. Because constellations quickly touch on family and painful themes, they need a careful frame. Acute crises or illnesses belong in the hands of doctors or psychologists.

Key points

A concern has a structure, and this structure can be mapped out in the room.
The work is with differences, not interpretations: better, worse, or the same? What the image means is for you to decide.
The form is explained so that nothing seems magical. The end of a constellation is always a beginning.

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