Family and ancestral constellation is a therapeutic approach that allows the invisible influences from the present and past to be made visible, acknowledged and made whole. Unresolved, unacknowledged and traumatic events from the past can be unconsciously carried down from generation to generation.
Family constellation allows an individual or collective to uncover the hidden historical narrative that they are unconsciously holding in order to bear witness and give place to the trauma before fully and freely move forward with their own life.
In this episode, I ask Nikki specifically about the African continent and Uganda in particular. Uganda has been afflicted by conflict and I ponder whether this plays a role in the country's ability to progress.
About Nikki
Nikki Mackay lives in a small village, near Loch Lomond, in Scotland. She has been been working as a Family & Ancestral Constellation therapist and teacher for the last 18 years. Her initial training was with Bert Hellinger, the founder of family constellation therapy, in Austria.
Prior to that Nikki worked as a Clinical Physicist within the NHS where she specialised in Neurophysiological measurement.
Nikki's master’s thesis was on the efficacy of energy healing on the autonomic nervous system. She left Clinical Physics in 2003 to set up a Holistic Centre in Scotland called Tir na nOg. Between 2007-2011 she was the editor of the Scottish holistic magazine The WitchHiker’s Guide. Throughout that time she was also learning and working with Constellation.
Today she has a very busy therapy practice and teaching school. Nikki's therapy practice is predominantly based in Western Europe and the USA. She also regularly teaches groups globally.
Nikki's client base is mainly split between the USA and Western Europe and sessions are mostly via video link outside of her group workshop schedule.
Until 2016 Nikki's constellation work was largely focused on individual and group healing.
Since then she has been exploring the possibilities and boundaries of constellation at a macro level working with the International Relations Department of a University in Scotland looking at using constellation as a tool for peace and reconciliation in global conflict. The focus of the international relations project is to explore the efficacy of creating a space for dialogue and change within seemingly intractable situations of war and conflict.
The research project has coincided with another project that she has been working on in Madison, WI for the last few years exploring the normalisation of hate and the roots of racism with groups there. The root entanglement of migration trauma has showed up repeatedly in the US constellations. This is replicated in both the collective and individual focused constellations. It has tied into Nikki's own observations of the significance of the father, the paternal line and field and its influence on belonging.
Nkiik has published five previous books, three with a focus on constellation. Her most recent book is Your Invisible Inheritance which was published in May 2020.
Link to the article Nikki mentioned in the interview: To ‘see’ is to break an entanglement: Quantum measurement, trauma and security authored by K M Fierke & Nicola Mackay.
Connect with Nikki
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Email: nikki@nikkimackay.co.uk
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