Bert Hellinger

Anton "Suitbert" Hellinger (16 December 1925 – 19 September 2019), also known as Bert Hellinger, was a German psychotherapist and inventor of the pseudoscience known as the family constellation.

Born in Leimen, Germany to a Catholic family. At the age of 10, he was a seminarian in a Catholic order. Despite this, at the age of 17 he enlisted in the army and fought alongside the Nazis at the front, being imprisoned in Belgium.  At the age of 20, with the end of the war, he became a priest. He graduated from the theology and philosophy course at the University of Würzburg in 1951.  He was sent as a Catholic missionary to South Africa, where he served as principal of several schools, such as Francis College, Marianhill. In 1954, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Africa, and a year later he graduated with a degree in university education. 

In the late 1960s, he abandoned the clergy and returned to Germany, where he began to study Gestalt therapy. He moved to Vienna to study psychoanalysis. There, he met his first wife, Herta, a psychotherapist. In 1973 he moved to California to study primal therapy with Arthur Janov. There, he became interested in transactional analysis.Hellinger divorced Herta and married Marie Sophie. With this wife, he took courses, workshops and seminars in several countries. 

He died on September 19, 2019 at the age of 93.

Works
 Hellinger, B. (2001).  Love's own truths: Bonding and balancing in close relationships (M. Oberli-Turner & H. Beaumont, Trans.).  Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.
 Hellinger, B. (2002).  Insights: Lectures and stories.  (J. ten Herkel, Trans.). Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
 Hellinger, B. (2002). On life & other paradoxes: Aphorisms and little stories from Bert Hellinger (R. Metzner, Trans.). Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.
 Hellinger, B. (2003). Farewell family constellations with descendants of victims and perpetrators (C. Beaumont, Trans.). Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
 Hellinger, B. (2003). Rachel Weeping for Her Children: Family Constellations in Israel Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-International.
 Hellinger, B. (2003).  Peace begins in the soul: Family constellations in the service of reconciliation (C. Beaumont, Trans.).  Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
 Hellinger, B. (2006). No waves without the ocean: Experiences and thoughts (J. ten Herkel & S. Tombleson, Trans.).  Heidelberg, Germany: Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag.
 Hellinger, B. (2007). With God in mind.  Berchtesgaden, Germany: Hellinger Publications.
 Hellinger, B. (2009). Natural Transcendence. Hellinger publications.
 Hellinger, B. & ten Hövel, G. (1999).  Acknowledging what is: Conversations with Bert Hellinger.  Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.
 Hellinger, B., Weber, G., & Beaumont, H. (1998).  Love's hidden symmetry: What makes love work in relationships.  Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen.

References

Other websites
 hellinger.com  Official page

Category:German theologians
Category:Writers from Baden-Württemberg
Category:1925 births
Category:2019 deaths
Category:German psychologists