Many ex-boarders carry unspoken grief, disconnection, and confusion about where certain patterns in their lives originate. Family Constellation work offers a powerful way to explore the hidden dynamics that shape our relationships across generations.
The boarding school experience often creates "privileged abandonment,” which is a complex wound frequently minimised because it occurred within an educational context. For many, the trauma didn't begin with them. Parents and grandparents may also have been sent away, creating invisible patterns that manifest as emotional withdrawal, difficulty with intimacy, shame, or persistent feelings of not belonging.
Family Constellation work allows us to:
- Identify intergenerational patterns and how boarding school traditions moved through your family
- Understand the root of current difficulties such as isolation, relationship struggles, and recurring patterns
- Release pain or burdens that originated with earlier generations
- Reconnect with authentic belonging beyond institutional survival strategies
As an Issue Holder: You bring a current challenge to be explored through a constellation. For ex-boarders, this reveals how boarding school experiences create complex patterns that continue influencing adult relationships. Witnessing your issue unfold often brings profound shifts and clarity.
As a Representative: When chosen to represent elements in others' constellations, you may embody roles that illuminate your own hidden wounds. Ex-boarders often find playing roles like "the abandoned child" or "the family secret" awakens recognition of their own experiences, offering unexpected healing.
This day is co-facilitated by myself and Liz Sleeper who has been practicing as a Family Constellation Practitioner since 2011. Both she and I intimately understand the boarding school experience. You'll be held with deep respect and confidentiality in a space designed for those who share this background.
Family Constellation Day for Ex-Boarders
Westmeston Parish Hall, Lewes Rd, Westmeston, Hassocks BN6 8RL
Sat 6 Sep 2025 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Cost - ÂŁ195 for an Issue Holder, ÂŁ130 for a representative.Â
For further information or to book please follow this link to Liz’s website.
Book Here
About Amelia
Amelia is an experienced Therapist and Tutor who has worked for many charities and organisations over the past 12 years including the NHS and Brighton University. She has specialist psychotherapy training with ex-boarders, which she undertook with Nick Duffel. She provides individual therapy, courses and workshops for ex-boarders and Therapists.
As an ex-boarder herself, she is passionate about enabling others to see beyond the “privilege" and recognise some of the impact that having early attachments broken can have on young children. She supports ex-boarders in developing their own awareness of how their schooling may have shaped them. By telling their stories, expressing their feelings and releasing any shame, they start to learn to trust themselves and others so they can step fully into healthy relationships and ways of being.
Outside of work, you’ll find her at the waters edge in her hometown of Brighton, as she is a passionate sea swimmer. However, she prioritises parenting her three teenage daughters and relishes seeing them grow up in a city they call home.
