We recently connected with Jack Blackwell and have shared our conversation below.
Jack , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
Fun But No Heart
I loved being a flight attendant. Never taking work home with me, working 15 days per month a good paycheck and so much vacation!
What’s not to like
And yet my heart was empty
I needed something deeper, with more meaning and connection
And I searched, but I couldn’t find “it”
Then I had the ah-ha
Faith
I realized I was clinging to my corporate flight attendant job and it’s safety and security. It was so easy to get that bi-weekly paycheck
I was being asked to have courage and quit. That my dream would show up when I exercised faith
I felt like the Fool card on the tarot deck, walking off the cliff and trusting that something would catch me
And that is exactly what happened
Jack , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Back in 2002 I was learning a healing modality – Rebirthing. I was in the woods of Virginia, tent sleeping, grounding in nature.
We had been there for 2 weeks, learning, processing, breathing, eating clean raw and vegan foods. One afternoon the trainer’s assistant asked if we would like to experience Family Constellation work. A few of us said “yes”
That afternoon changed everything
That evening I was sitting around the fire – Astounded. My thought was – “Wow, what did I just experience,” My 2nd thought was “my belief systems are about to change.”
For I had experienced a mystical healing process I didn’t know was possible
Ancestral Healing & Thriving
The unresolved trauma’s in our family lineage impact us. We are either strengthened if our family was resilient and survived, or we are weakened in life if the family wounds were swept under the rug, the emotions not felt or grieved.
We either inherit the family strength or are burdened by the wounds
Family Constellation is a tool that allows us to clean up the lineage and generational wounds. It is an energetic process that shifts the energies we feel in our bodies.
It’s like we’re living in a dirty fishtank and we don’t even know it. Then the water is cleaned and we’re aware of so much more. Our health is better, our resiliency strengthened. Were more able tackle life’s challenges.
My current profession is training facilitators and leading workshops in healing lineage based wounds.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Inner Child Work
One of the most interesting things to me about entrepreneurship is what I call “inner game” & “outer game.” That as entrepreneurs we need BOTH the skills of building a business (outer game) and inner personal health (inner game)
I had been leading Family Constellation Ancestral Healing events for about 5 years when I hit a wall. I was done and an inner part of me refused to move forward and create more events.
When using my intuition, the only thing I wanted to do was go hiking in the mountains – fortunately I lived in Boulder, Colorado. And for 8 months this is all I did. I continued to check my inner guidance and finally after these long months and a dwindling bank account, I was ready to create events again.
During my trail time I realized that I had neglected my inner little boy. That this younger part of me was scared and didn’t want to lead events. This shut down towards work was a buildup of fear based on my childhood.
When I returned to work – I had to put little me’s needs first. I had to re-learn what felt safe for this inner part and truly honor this – No move overriding.
This learning process was about a year long, but when I returned, having done this inner-child work, I was stronger than ever.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Intuition & Heart
Family Constellation work is a love based modality. We are holding the deepest Soul wounds of our clients. Connecting with heart and creating a field of safety for clients to go to the deepest places is part of a facilitators responsibility.
I feel that clients either trust us or don’t. That a clients vulnerability depends on a space of heart that I create. This is a life-long process.
I would also add intuition. Constellations are a Spiritual healing tool that involve intuitive knowing. We cannot figure everything out in our minds and having a developed inner knowing is super relevant to supporting clients in healing and growth
Contact Info:
- Website: healingfamilytrauma.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jack.blackwell.161
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZEJYCVetc4hRwc8AXk_N3Q
Image Credits
Jack Blackwell