Transforming

living Systems

“One person’s transformation changes the system.”

What is a Living System?

Living systems and living systems theory are a way of perceiving how various organisms and organizations function within a particular environment. When applied to human systems, living systems theory provides a perspective on the way people participate and function within organizations, families, communities, and eco-systems. Living systems are process oriented and exist in a constant state of adaptation and growth. The living system is in a perpetual state of becoming. The natural developmental movement toward wholeness and growth occur in response to a desire to survive and thrive systemically.

Living systems typically contain and nest inside other systems. A human is a cell system nested inside an organ system, inside human bodies living within an eco-system. This idea of systems thinking acknowledges and elevates our interconnectedness and interdependence. Our relationships, especially those that are more in balance and mutual, create support within the system of belonging.

Grief and Loss within a system

Mourning within the paradigm of Living Systems allows for grieving the individual loss experiences as well as the loss experienced because of one person’s entrance or exit that has changed the dynamic of the collective. Systems of belonging can be resilient and filled with endless possibilities. And, we typically resist change and what is unfamiliar or new. Subtle or not so subtle shifts in our family, friend, professional, and community systems can cause discomfort challenging our sense of belonging, worthiness, or wholeness. These losses can invoke conditioned patterns and behaviors as we look for comfort and safety amid uncertainty and unfamiliarity. Without support and integration of the loss, sometimes systems begin to fall apart or dissolve. Natural outcomes of change to a system include dissolution, dysfunction, or strengthening.

When our systems undergo change and loss, it impacts us. Working within the system along side some or all of the other members can help individuals and the system itself transform or transcend the change-events. Approaching loss and grief from a systems perspective invites second and third orders of change which positively impact the functionality and resiliencey of the system itself. These deep layers of change that are more than surface level, more than an external or visual difference, build the system’s ability to respond to other changes that occur. Members and the system are able to adapt, anticipate, and support the natural changes that occur within living structures.

While one person’s transformation can change a system, when the members of a system come together to grieve and examine the loss, patterns, and possibilities together there is an exponentially beneficial impact.

If your family, work, or community system has experienced a major loss or significant change, and you are interested in working within a group setting to address this intense grief, please call Jennifer Sabatier at 512-992-8725.

For current clients, please follow this link to your GROUP PAGE.