Ancestral Blueprints: Revealing Invisible Truths in America's Soul

by Lisa B. Iversen

This book is a psychotherapist's reflections on the relationship between psychotherapy, truth, ancestry, tribe, and democracy. Ancestral Blueprints: Revealing Invisible Truths in America s Soul provides a way to relate to the silence that is passed from one generation to the next by offering: insight into the wisdom of our elders and the influence of their lives on ours; consciousness regarding the consequences of unacknowledged truth in our families and country; a compassionate look at American history through the eyes of a psychotherapist who works with transgenerational loss and trauma; a unique perspective on the place of psychotherapy in American culture; and a framework for observing and interacting with life, inspired by our ancestral blueprints.

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Lisa received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington in 1992. Her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and English, with a minor in Women’s Studies, is from the University of Minnesota (1986). She has been a practicing psychotherapist in the Pacific Northwest since 1993 and facilitating Systemic and Family Constellations since 1999. From 2008-2015 she co-hosted the radio show, “Life Conversations presents Ancestral Blueprints” with Atlanta-based host Adé Anifowose and Ombassa Sophera. While actively connected to her Minnesota roots, Lisa now creates home with her husband and their daughter in the Pacific Northwest where she directs the Center for Ancestral Blueprints.

Reviews

[Charlotte Wrenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa B. Iversen has written a powerful and prophetic book. Although it was written in 2009, it is a book about 2020, and the reasons for the peaceful, massive marches for racial justice in America this summer. Influenced by Bert Hellinger and his Family Constellation work, Lisa writes about the soul of America as well as our wounded family networks. "Our lives are deeply affected by events that took place in earlier generations. Individual struggles with grief, shame, guilt, perfectionism, and dysfunctional families mirror invisible collective experiences frozen in America's soul." Read this book for #George Floyd.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro to family constellation work. I definitely appreciate the level of consciousness she has about how the way the US was settled, influenced the American psyche.