“I want to become a constellator, but it’s kind of scary…”
What if growth and security require magical, messy, supported learning?
Practice, Mentoring & Deep Inquiry:
An Online Constellation Training with Leslie Nipps
Online Training + Optional In-Person Module
September, 2025 – February, 2026
Save $300 thru August 13th!
The invitation: Join me in overturning some myths…
So, you’re thinking about learning how to constellate – yippee! The world needs a lot more people who understand the importance of our ancestors, the way in which invisible systems run so much of human experience, and how to help people come into proper relationship with themselves and the world.
But it can seem scary, because…
♦ You may have watched master facilitators and wonder if you can ever do it as well as they do…
♦ You may have seen some very intense constellations (they can be like that!) and wonder if you are up for managing that much…
♦ You may have heard one of the many myths that surround constellations: that they are very dangerous (they’re not, usually), or hard (ditto), or that you have to be 100% healed to do them (what?), or that you have to watch hundreds of them before ever trying to facilitate…
♦ Or, you may have heard that it’s really hard to make a living offering constellation work, and wonder if it’s worth the investment if you can’t earn sufficient income.
(And, if you kind of know all about these myths already, have some training under belt, and you’re really looking for a “next level” training to help your confidence and move toward mastery, check out my Advanced Constellation Training.)
Constellations are friendly, but there is a hitch…
When I was first trained, I learned all of those myths. I had the impression that it was all very dangerous and hard and unrelentingly serious.
But after facilitating thousands of constellations for over ten years, and watching many masters do this work in many different ways (see a list, below), I learned that although it’s important to hold constellation work with a steady reverence, it is actually one of the friendliest healing modalities I’ve experienced.
Constellation work may be vulnerable, but it is not dangerous: It’s true, it is possible for people to get hurt if certain elements aren’t present, but it isn’t uniquely dangerous. The Knowing Field with which we work is friendly; your ancestors want to support you; and making mistakes on the way to mastery is part of the process. The Field responds to us and our assumptions (that is, if you think it’s dangerous, it probably will be!). Therefore, we want a constellator stance that creates a safe, assured, welcoming atmosphere for the work that helps us facilitate.
So, what’s the hitch? The combination of it being group work, and the need to be spontaneously responsive in the moment (rather than leading from a pre-set plan) means that most people feel understandably vulnerable when they first start constellating. It’s a type of performance anxiety, and it’s normal. It can, however, be a barrier to doing the necessary practicing that will build skill and confidence, which means…
Vulnerability invites supported, embodied practice
Because constellation work isn’t dangerous, but it is vulnerable to do, it is essential to practice it from the beginning. Constellation facilitation is an embodied practice (like skiing or playing music). It’s not enough to have an understanding of the importance of the ancestors: we need to be able to feel them, as part of who we are, in the world – all of the time, as part of our daily reality. Therefore, facilitating has to be enacted to be learned.
Many training programs hold students back from practice until they 1) learn all the theory, 2) watch lots of constellations by their trainer, and 3) get to a certain level of personal healing. However well-intentioned, this does active harm to the learning process. It teaches the student that practice is scary and only for high level masters, and that quite likely they will prove unworthy.
Also, it hinders embodied learning to separate it from the other processes – learning theory, watching high level work, personal healing. We learn best when we move back and forth between theory, reflection and practice. When it is integrated from the beginning, with no worry about doing it perfectly, the embodied work is integrated more easily, and leads to naturally more elegant practice in the long run.
While we practice, we also learn the basics of the work, so that from the beginning, we are mind and body, integrated, drawing from our natural, holistic intelligence.
Discovering your greatest strengths…
As we learn to hold and guide the sacred circle for the group, we stay in touch with our humanity, the practicalities of day-to-day life, and our ordinary, human limitations and growth curves. We can relax into the learning, while focusing on the goals we share in common: to become masterful constellation facilitators. It’s this balance which deepens and quickens the learning, because we aren’t in any conflict with ourselves about our growth. We accept our learning, and respond with curiosity to the difficulties that arise. We aren’t avoiding the challenges of the work – even the parts that seem scary to us. We can address them with optimism, and look forward to the support of the Field as we learn.
We do this by leaning on our greatest strengths – our unique self, gifts & wounds. Masterful facilitating relies on the authentic practice of the constellator bringing their unique skills and personality to the work, in a celebration of who they really are. It is about what you bring to facilitating, and how you allow it to blossom in support of masterful work. It isn’t about copying any particular approach or style.
To do that, students pursue healing as a part of the training, but more importantly, they grow in self-knowledge, which serves their practice and their whole lives.
The world needs more constellating…
Our world seems to be filled with divides of all kinds. Racism, misogyny, blue vs. red, etc. This extends to the personal level, where we are divided inside ourselves and against “them,” whoever they are. We’ve seen how little effect continuing to arguing the points seems to take us.
But if you’ve seen even one constellation, you’ve seen the impact of naming the invisible systemics, including what was not included, naming the loss, and withholding judgment long enough to allow a truth finally to be named, mourned, and integrated.
Therefore, the market for constellations is not saturated. There are a wide variety of contexts where constellation work is needed or can be creatively introduced. Unfortunately, scarcity consciousness is a part of certain aspects of the professional constellation world, and it can be seductive (for instance, trainers and facilitators feeling like there aren’t enough students or clients for everyone). Masterful and successful constellators don’t carry a sense of scarcity about their field, or pointless competition with other constellators, which makes a lot more room for creative, innovative achievements.
Who is this training for?
This training is meant for a few types of people:
Future Constellation Facilitators: You’re pretty sure this is what you want to do for your vocation, whether pro bono, part-time or full-time. You want to offer constellations to future clients, and maybe base a business on this work.
Constellation “Nerds”: You’ve been attending constellations – many or just a few – and you feel hooked. You want to know more, and you want to dive deeply.
Healers, Therapists & Coaches: You’re a practitioner already, and you want another powerful tool in your toolkit to help your clients.
Seekers: You may know little or a lot about constellations, but in either case, you’re the kind of person who is always seeking insights, spiritual knowledge, and healing medicine for yourself and the world.
Is it required that you want to become a professional constellator? No. This will be a professional-level training, and we will all be practicing and learning how to facilitate together (while also receiving constellations from your fellow students), but students are welcome regardless of their professional goals.
Finally, a critical prerequisite is “being able to play well with others.” Participants are certainly not required to have “everything healed” (what would that look like, anyway?). But this is an adult group learning process, and it is important that everyone feel safe enough to engage in vulnerable learning. This means that all students need to be able to take emotional care of themselves, agree to basic group norms, and contribute to that safe container. If you are working out enough personal trauma that that’s still hard for you, please consider whether this is the right fit at this time. This class will be deeply healing, but it is not a therapy group. You are warmly invited to contact me about my healing work if you think that might apply to you. For that reason, before participation in the training can be confirmed, we’ll plan to have a conversation so we can make sure it is a good fit.
A constellations refresher (just in case)…
Constellations are a powerful healing modality that has some unique insights and tools for change:
The Ancestors: They remind us that the ancestors are real and we can connect with them.
The Unconscious of Systems: They make it possible for us to perceive and work with the unconscious of systems: organizational, internal, and natural, but especially family systems, or what founder Bert Hellinger calls “the family soul.”
The Power & Consequences of Belonging: They show that we live our lives within these systems – especially our family systems – and that we are inevitably affected by what is unresolved or out of balance in them, often giving insight into “symptoms” that have baffled and plagued us for years.
Honoring What Is: They have a poignant ability to reveal what has been most outcast, forgotten, or resisted in a family or other system, giving us the ability to finally honor and include what had been lost, restoring systems to balance.
Healing & Our Proper Birthright: Because of all this, they can bring peace and a renewed aliveness for individuals who live in and belong to these systems – that’s you, and me, and our clients.
As a result, Constellations Work often provides what we’ve been needing in our search for healing, because it has the larger systemic perspective we’ve been missing. If you are new to constellations and want to know more, go to Family Constellations and to My Constellation Programs.
The goals of this training:
Confidence: To have growing confidence as a facilitator, so that when you start a constellation, you can trust yourself to find your way through the twists and turns of your client’s system.
Knowledge: To have a deep and expansive understanding of constellations, theoretically and practically.
Creativity: To be instinctively innovative, so that you can bring constellation work to many different situations and perhaps even develop creative solutions to new problems.
Resourcefulness: To have a well of tools and approaches that can address personal issues, organizational needs, social problems, and other contexts for constellation work.
Security: For those who want it, to start growing a business with clients, looking forward to a solid foundation for your practice.
When I first started constellations…
In 2007, I participated in my first constellation. Because of my scientific background, I started out skeptical. But within a short period of time I was one of those constellation nerds I mentioned above. I took part in dozens – perhaps even hundreds – of constellations before taking my first constellation training in 2009. Soon after, I began facilitating constellations for others.
I was amazed at how practical it was: A so-called eldest daughter connects with the older brother who’d been secretly adopted out before she was born, and finds peace in her life in her good place as a second-born. A women finds strength by accepting and honoring her complex Mormon ancestors. A client connects not only with her victimized Armenian ancestors, but her perpetrating Turkish ones, and finds wholeness. A man gives “the blame” back to a grandfather who did great wrong, and finally releases a lifetime of persistent shame.
But over the years, I received more experience and mentoring. From each facilitator and trainer, I received a critical insight into our work, and I’ve been intentional about applying and integrating those insights into my daily client work, so that I could grow as a constellator. I also kept receiving constellations, as well, so that I could continue to grow personally, as well as witness different ways of doing the work.
As a wise man once said, you can’t learn skiing by reading a book. And you can’t learn constellations by reading about it or without an opportunity for feedback, coaching and support. My dream for you is to have the kind of training you need to constellate confidently and boldly, in service to your clients, and in service to your goals for your professional life.
What is the course content?
The course curriculum will be comprehensive, including all of the basic information and practice students need to get started as facilitators:
Theory: Learning about Bert Hellinger’s Orders of Love and the Conscience of Belonging, exploring experientially how these principles show up in people’s family systems, and discover how to apply them in the work.
Practice (and lots of it!): Doing the work of facilitating (for those who want it), with gentle and skillful feedback and mentoring, broken down into simpler elements so we can learn at our own pace. There is no way to become a facilitator without diving in and doing the work!
Psychology: Understanding the current knowledge about trauma, attachment theory, and other psychological material that’s important when working with clients with a variety of personal issues.
The Knowing Field: Understanding the metaphorical quality of the Field, learning how to inquire into it, and to trust its support and insights, so that you can discover the hidden systemics of a client’s issue.
Systemic Intelligence: How to think and feel systemically – how the whole is larger than the sum of the parts and has an unconscious with its own logic.
Trauma-Informed Client Care: How to tend to your client throughout the process, and stay in effective rapport as they share both their wounds and their dreams.
Diverse Formats: Learning about the many different formats there are for working with constellations, from group to individual, from live to virtual, from large group to mini-constellations, and more.
Social Issues: Noticing when social issues (racism, classism, sexism, etc.) are at work in a client’s system (in addition to ancestral issues), and how to work with them.
The Larger Constellations Community: Being introduced to the larger world of constellations and the amazing opportunities for learning and contributing, as a way to become a stronger practitioner as well as building your professional profile in the constellations community.
Innovation: Being creative with constellations to meet the needs of different clients and different delivery formats (workshops, consultations, large audiences, etc.).
Your Unique Facilitator Self: Discovering your special way with constellations, and growing that into a personal sense of ownership.
Optional – Practical Business Learning: For participants who decide to add the Business Growth Integration option (see below), learning about business basics so that you can launch into a successful constellation practice quickly, or grow a business that may be struggling.
Two kinds of participation!
One size does not fit all. In this training, you can choose what kind of experience you would like to have:
The Mentorship Track: This will be limited to twelve people who wish to be certified as Constellation Facilitators. They will receive multiple opportunities to be mentored in leading full constellations and constellation exercises, and fully supported in their practical growth as a facilitator. This is the “full participation” option! This group will be kept small so that everyone has plenty of time to practice constellation facilitation in the group, with meaningful feedback.
The Learning Track: These participants will be part of ALL the learning and healing opportunities, but including receiving constellations work and representing in others’ constellations. The only part that they will not lead full constellation work for other students. This is a great fit for people who want to learn the fundamentals of constellation work, but don’t want to practice leading full constellations at this time.
The training will be limited to 20 people overall.
What will you get from this training?
This training includes:
♦ Six online workshops, focusing on mentored constellation practice.
♦ Five 3-hour online classes, focused on instruction, sharing, and trying new techniques.
♦ Two 1-hour 1:1 coaching sessions for personal feedback and healing work. (These are to be used during the length of the training.)
♦ Recordings of all classes and sessions.
♦ Free attendance at online constellation gatherings with my clients, which will serve to enhance the practical learning aspect of the course.
♦ An online study group for students to practice and support each others’ growth.
♦ 15% off of all other programs I offer during the length of the training, including more personal work if you want that.
Optional:
♦ An integrated, concurrent business growth course for participants wanting to learn business skills and heal what stands in the way of a thriving constellation practice (see details below).
Can we learn how to facilitate online?
Since the pandemic started and so much constellation work has shifted to online, the simple answer to this has become “yes.” The Knowing Field, upon which our work depends, transcends time and location. Also, our tech has improved so much, that we have excellent platforms to work with individuals and groups.
We will be including almost everything that a live, in-person training would: learn the theory, practice the work, deepen our own healing, and grow with fellow students who become colleagues, peers and friends.
It does mean that students must have clear time in their calendar, ready access to reliable internet, and up to date computers and webcams. They also need privacy during the classes. There is a tendency to try to multi-task when it comes to work online, which doesn’t work well with this kind of training. We know emergencies will happen, but generally, students should not plan to provide childcare, go driving, or work another job at the same time as the classes. For the training to work, we all need to be available for the learning, and for each other.
However, it’s true: nothing replaces in-person learning – Optional In-Person Module…
In the end, though, if we want to work with live groups, practice in person is critical. For students who want to include this learning, there will be an optional four-day in-person module in Placitas, New Mexico, USA (30 minutes from Albuquerque Airport).
During this optional extra in-person module, we’ll spend four days doing live constellation practice, learning how to work with groups in-person. There are some unique realities when we are together in the room, advantages and disadvantages. Often, the emotions are more intense, but there can also be greater intimacy.
If you plan to work with in-person groups, then you are encouraged to add on this affordable module for four days of constellating and connecting.
The additional cost for the entire four days is only $400 for the Mentoring Track, and $325 for the Learning Track. Participants traveling in from other regions will have to arrange for their own lodging in the area. There are plenty of hotels, motels and Airbnbs in the area. Is it possible to register now for the Online Training, and decide later whether to add the In-Person Module later? Yes!
What is the optional business growth integration?
This option is for participants who need support to grow their business. It’s concurrent and fully integrated so that you can build your practice as you’re participating in the course. Why is that important?
Most people want to start their practice, and earning money, as soon as they finish a training. Unfortunately, many of them discover that they don’t know how to do that. Building a business and attracting clients requires skills just like constellating does.
In my experience, the people who do the best growing their practices have a sense that business and sharing their work is deeply integrated – they aren’t fundamentally separate. They can feel the natural urge to contribute their work to the “sacred marketplace,” and have the skills to make that happen.
This module includes what you need to get started building your business upon the completion of the course:
♦ Basic business knowledge and skills for a new or struggling constellations practice, including marketing, branding, selling, pricing, business systems, and more.
♦ A heart-based understanding of business that makes it a joy to pursue, in full alignment with your constellations work.
♦ Healing personal issues that stand in the way of doing well in business.
♦ A strong sense of your mission as a constellator, so that you can share that with potential clients in clear, compelling and joyful way.
Here is what is included in this optional integrated coursework in addition to what’s included in the Training:
♦ Five additional 3-hour online classes for learning and growing in business together (at $75 each, a $375 value).
♦ Two additional 1-hour 1:1 coaching sessions to help you design your business, focus your brand, and start healing personal business-related issues (at $175 each, a $350 value). (These are to be used during the training.)
♦ Four hours of business training videos that cover the basic material, and which you can keep and return to after the course is over.
You get all of this, plus everything that comes with the Constellation Training, for only $400 more. (A value of $725+.)
Certification and Class Commitment
There is no central certifying body for Family Constellations nationally or globally, so this training does not result in any official licensure. Nonetheless, for students who register for the Mentoring Option, who fulfill the basic requirements of the training, and who demonstrate basic facilitator skills by the end, Convivium Constellations will provide a Certificate of Constellation Facilitation. All other participants will receive a Certificate of Participation.
To qualify for Constellation Facilitation Certification, students must:
♦ Participate in ~75%+ of workshops and classes
♦ Participate in ~50%+ of Peer Study Groups
♦ Use all of their private coaching sessions
♦ Demonstrate a basic understanding of the principles underlying constellations work
♦ Demonstrate a basic ability to lead individual and group constellations
♦ Demonstrate a basic capacity for self-reflection and commitment to personal growth
This is all to say: this is an intense five months! Just like a group constellation needs people to show up for their to be a Sacred Circle of Healing, students will need each other to show up for everyone to learn and progress. Please take the time to really consider if you can make this commitment at this time, so that the learning can unfold well for you and for others.
About your trainer
I received my initial Family Constellations training in 2008. Since then I’ve trained with a wide variety of international Family Constellations trainers and experts in related fields: Stephan Hausner, Dan Cohen, Francesca Mason Boring, Jane Peterson, Heinz Stark, William Mannle, Jan Jacob Stam, Sarah Peyton, Gary Stuart, Vlado Ilic, Barbara Morgan, Carol Erickson, Marianne Franke-Gricksch, Cecilio Rogojo, Guni Baxa, Judith Hemming, Elena Veselago, Ingala Robl, and many others.
In 2015, I finally realized a dream when I attended a life-changing training with Bert Hellinger in Mexico City, the last live training Bert Hellinger did before his death in 2019. With the founder of Family Constellations work, I realized how much more we all have to learn from our elders. It was an honor to watch him work in such a practiced and elegant way.
Later that year, I organized the 2015 North American Systemic Constellations Conference in San Diego. This has led to expanding my relationships and work on an international level. I support the work of the International Systemic Constellations Association (ISCA), and I presented at its conference in Croatia in 2016, and its online event in 2020 . I have presented at all US conferences since 2011. I was also a presenter at the 2018 Australasian Constellation Intensive in Sydney, Australia. I’ve led workshops in New Zealand and Thailand. Finally, I am the founding organizer for the Western Constellations Intensive, a growing event highlighting the best trainers nationally and internationally.
I have been in private practice since 2009, working with individuals and couples, applying Family Constellations principles and practices in a wide diversity of situations: marital trouble, depression, addiction, fertility issues, food problems, anxiety, employment and money challenges, and much more. I lead a constellations group that has been meeting every 2-3 weeks for eleven years. At the same time, I’ve led many short workshops and longer change work programs and trainings.
I am also an ordained Episcopal minister, and have worked in the tender and personal place where spirituality and day to day life meet for over twenty years.
Leslie is a master in her field – a gifted and highly attuned constellations practitioner. As a facilitator, she is refreshingly down to earth, engaging and adept at distilling and combining knowledge with practice, making it easy for participants to access, integrate and embed the learning. I was really blown away by Leslie’s skill and deep intuition and will definitely embark on further work with her in future. – Suzanne Walshe MBA, Australia
Class dates & payment deadlines:
Important Detail! The first and last workshops are three days each (Friday through Sunday), to provide some extra time for initial group bonding and final reflection work. The four workshops in the middle are only two-day weekends (Saturday and Sunday).
Six Workshops: Each day, 8a – 4p PT (Los Angeles time), 9a – 5p MT (Denver time), 10a – 6p CT (Chicago time), 11a – 7p ET (New York time). Please check the time in your local region:
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, September 26th-28th
Saturday & Sunday, October 18th-19th
Saturday & Sunday, November 15th-16th
Saturday & Sunday, December 6th-7th
Saturday & Sunday, January 10th-11th
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, January 30th – February 1st
Five 3-Hour Online Classes: 2-5p PT (Los Angeles time), 5–8p ET (New York time), Tuesdays. Dates: October 15th, November 5th, December 3rd, January 7th, January 28th
Optional Four-Day In-Person Residential Module: Placitas, New Mexico, USA. 10a-6p daily, Thursday, January 22nd – Sunday, January 25th
Optional Five Online Business Classes: 2-5p PT (Los Angeles time), 5–8p ET (New York time), Tuesdays. Dates: October 1st, October 22nd, November 19th, December 10th, January 14th
End of Super Early Bird: August 13th
End of Early Bird: September 10th
Start of Program: September 26th
So, what does it cost?
Also: Optional 4-Day In-Person Residency – Mentoring Option: $400
Optional 4-Day In-Person Residency – Learning Option: $325
Optional Business Growth Integration Module – $400
Refund Policy: Up until August 15th, full refund minus an administrative fee of $50. From August 16st – September 15th, full refund minus an administrative fee of $100. From September 16th to the start of the training, full refund minus an administrative fee of $150. Once the training begins, the deposit is non-refundable (barring an emergency). If you need to leave the course at any time for any reason, you will not be billed for the remaining payments (assuming you are up to date on payments), but there is no refund of payments to that point in time. If you paid in full and must leave the training, you will be refunded in a prorated fashion as if you were a payment plan participant.
Registration Form:
A note about the video conferencing:
The online portion of the training will be conducted using Zoom, a high quality, very reliable and, most important, easy-to-use platform. No technical knowledge is required. It allows for full interactivity, as well as “meeting room” breakouts which make small group exercises possible. For more information, go to Zoom.us. There is no extra cost for participants to use Zoom. It does require reliable internet access and a webcam.
Got questions?
I understand. It’s a big investment, and you want to make sure it’s right for you. Stay in touch with the latest news about my trainings by subscribing here.
Or, please contact me as soon as possible with your questions to see if this is the constellations training you have been looking for. Contact me at leslie@conviviumconstellations.com.