A little about me…

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I’m the little one in the picture on the left, and my beautiful mama is wearing the black and white checks. Her mother is on the right, and her mother’s mother is the one holding me. And that’s my lovely dad riding his horse when he was 16.

My experience

I was a Focusing counsellor (a body-based emotional work developed by Eugene Gendlin) for 15 years and then trained in constellation work in 2017. I trained with Francesca Mason-Boring, Stephan Hausner, and Jonathan Hooton, who is a less well-known but very skilled trauma worker. I’ve also studied or worked with many other constellation practitioners (listed below). I’m currently training in Ray Castellino’s pre- and perinatal work, because it’s the one other discipline I’ve found that has as much power to transform.

My approach

If you already know this kind of work, maybe it would interest you to know that I take seriously what Stephan Hausner says about the real constellation happening in the body of the client—this is something I take very seriously. It matters to me very much to respect and listen to the person I’m working with.

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“I have done my part. The rest will be done by many others. It (this work) deepens and broadens as it goes, just as a stone when it falls in the water throws out ever-widening rings.”

—Bert Hellinger, who created constellation work

Training in constellation work

  • Francesca Mason-Boring: 20 days training 2017

  • Jonathan Hooton: more than 30 days of workshops and tens of individual sessions

  • Stephan Hausner: 26 days of training between 2018 and 2020

  • Johannes Schmidt: 3 days 2018 and committed to 20 days of training from 2020 to 2022

  • Observed more than 20 facilitators including:

 

Internationally

Stephan Hausner, Germany

Bertold Ulsamer, Germany 

Francesca Mason-Boring, US

Jane Peterson, US

Mark Wolynn, US 

Anngwyn St. Just, US 

Peter de Vries, US

In Canada

Marina Toledo

Annette Aubrey

Shannon Zaychuk

Jonathan Hooton

Jan Hull

Helga Beer

Peer training and community service

  • I participated in or set up many peer training groups for new facilitators, totalling 200 hours between 2017 and 2019

  • I have done many constellations with people who couldn’t afford the fees (350 hours between 2017 and 2019). This includes lots of work with young people and youth at risk.

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“Learning, growing, and healing are all the same movement.”
-
Stephan Hausner

What people say about working with me:

  • “I like how honest this work is.“

  • “This work calls for a high degree of listening—Chari holds its integrity in a very nuanced way. The space she creates is the safest and most held of any we’ve experienced.”

  • “They shouldn’t call this constellation work; they should call it the only thing that works.” (from a young person in an at-risk program)

  • “I did a constellation on a serious conflict with my father, something I’ve been pouring thought and energy into for months, or even years. Then I had the thought week or so ago, “How did I even get sucked into all that mess?” and I realized the conflict didn’t have a hold on me anymore. The constellation had moved me into a new space without my even noticing.”

  • “Chari works in a very kind, genuine way. She has the ability to support you to get closer to your true self.”

  • “I came to realize that each constellation we do is a puzzle, put together of pieces of ancestors and experiences to give us a picture of clarity. However, yesterday all these constellations came up in the work again with even greater clarity and insight about each piece (some from 15 years ago) the pieces formed a big (for now) final picture. It’s just beautiful and feels so good and complete. After 15 years of constellations, I now realize what great inner freedom and peace the work can provide if you just keep chiseling away at the layers and combine the puzzle pieces one by one.”