"The Elephant in the Room": What May Become Visible in Online Constellations

"The Elephant in the Room": What May Become Visible in Online Constellations

A case study from systemic one-on-one counseling with positioning cards via coachingspace

What it is about

Unclear decisions, ambivalent feelings, shifted loyalties: in coaching, situations keep appearing in which something "stands in the room" but is hard to grasp. What is often experienced as blocking has, from a systemic view, a function, and only becomes negotiable once it can be symbolized and viewed from the outside.

In an online coaching with an individual client, this "invisible factor" was made visible with the digital positioning card "Map of States of Being" in coachingspace: as the elephant in the room, accompanied by further inner representations such as the conscience and the solution.

This digital constellation, combined with a secure video conference room, enabled not only deep reflection but also the careful development of a changed inner picture.

The digital room as a resonance space

The session took place entirely online, and yet with palpable closeness. The integrated structure of coachingspace made that possible: the constellation was run on an interactive positioning card, the video connection lived directly in the room, without media breaks or distraction.

By placing the elements, an inner picture was externalized. The client chose to set up three central elements:

• "The conscience": an inner authority, often critical, but also direction-giving

• "The solution": a possibility that already existed but did not yet seem within reach

• "The elephant in the room": a symbol for what is not (yet) being talked about

Forming systemic hypotheses in the online constellation

The coach first formulated systemic hypotheses: provisional assumptions that were examined together during the session. For example:

• Maybe the elephant serves as protection against a decision that would destabilize the system?

• Perhaps the conscience is bound to a higher set of values that does not (yet) allow a solution?

• Possibly the solution only becomes visible once the elephant reveals its meaning?

These hypotheses were used not as diagnoses but as offers for exploration, in close attunement with the client's feelings and interpretations.

Change of perspective, in content and in space

coachingspace makes it possible to take the perspective of any figure. This feature was used deliberately, to look at the system not only "from outside" but also from the experienced inner world of the parts:

• From the perspective of the conscience, the elephant appeared oversized, almost like a boundary.

• From the perspective of the solution, it became clear: it was not blocked, it was waiting. Its energy was there, but it needed access.

• And from the first-person view of the elephant, it became recognizable: he was not threatening. Rather, he embodied a so far unresolved loyalty conflict.

These changes of perspective produced no ready-made answer. But they created movement, irritation, resonance. And with that, they opened a process in which the inner picture changed.

From representation to design: the picture of the future

Over the course of the session, a desired picture emerged: the elephant moved to the side but stayed in the room. The conscience came into contact with the solution, not as capitulation but as dialogue.

The client described this new picture as "relieving and strong at the same time". It was saved as a snapshot, not as an endpoint but as an anchor for what is possible.

In the systemic sense, this was not about problem-solving but about constructing meaning: what changes when the system changes?

Systemic work in the digital space: what it takes

The success of this online constellation was not down to the technology, but to the combination of clear structure and systemic attitude:

✅ Room for self-interpretation instead of external labeling ✅ Symbols that invite speaking instead of forcing interpretation ✅ Safety in the setting, openness in the process

The technology of coachingspace supported this: intuitive operation, secure video conferencing, the ability to direct visual perspectives deliberately, and metaphors as mirrors of the inner world.

Conclusion: online counseling that goes deep

This case shows: relationship, depth and change can emerge in online coaching too, when the conditions are right. Working with positioning cards in coachingspace makes inner topics tangible. The integration of constellation and video conferencing creates a coherent room in which co-creation becomes possible.

And sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes for the elephant to stop blocking the room, and become part of a new inner order.

💡 Curious?

If you work with metaphors, inner images and systemic questions in online coaching, coachingspace offers everything you need:

• 📍 Interactive positioning cards

• 🎥 Integrated, secure video counseling

• 🧭 Room for changes of perspective and resonance

• 🧩 A place for structure, and for what lies in between

👉 Discover it now: www.coachingspace.net