Constellation
How to set up the field, how your client joins, and how to save a scene so you can pick the work back up next session.
Before you start
Constellation is a marketplace tool. You need Plus and to adopt it from Marketplace → Constellation → Adopt. Once adopted it appears in the sidebar and in the tool bar on every patient's file.
Session types
| Type | How it works |
|---|---|
| Individual | Launched from the patient's file. Only you and they join |
| Couple | From a couple session. Both members join through the same link and type their name |
| Open / group | With no known patient: any number of participants join through a shared link and type their name on arrival |
In open sessions you can remove a participant; they lose access on their next update.
Your board
When the session opens, Alchely's sidebar folds away on its own: the board takes the screen. Top left you get the connection state — Live, Connecting… or Offline —, when your patient's last change arrived ("updated 12s ago") and whether your work is saved.
View mode and participate mode
The button on the right switches between the two, and always shows the mode you are about to switch to.
| Mode | What it's for |
|---|---|
| View mode | You observe. No action bar over the board, and the side panel open: patient link, snapshots, who is connected and End session |
| Participate mode | You step in. The action bar appears over the board, along with undo/redo |
The action bar
In participate mode, over the board:
- Add figure — opens the gallery, with the figures that ship with the tool and the ones you saved.
- Add note — a loose note you move around the field.
- Add area — a marked-out zone of the floor, with a shape and a name (say "Past" or "Present"). Only you can create these.
- Fit board to view — frames the camera on everything currently placed.
- Save scene — stores the state of the field without closing the session.
- Board style — floor shape (circle or square), colour, and panorama: base, day, night or rainy day.
- Fullscreen — system fullscreen, and leaving the immersive view.
Your default shape and colour apply themselves to every new board, so you are not setting them again each session.
The controls top right
- Notes — a side drawer to write in during the session, without leaving the board.
- Take snapshot — saves the arrangement exactly as it stands. The snapshot captures the figures and their text, not the interface: buttons and status chips stay out.
- Show owners — turns the owner's name above each figure on or off.
- Fit board to view and immersive view.
- Undo / redo — in participate mode, also on Cmd/Ctrl + Z and Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z.
Who is connected
In couple and open sessions, the side panel lists the participants with their initial and a green dot. Each one expands into the figures they placed: click one and the camera travels to it. From there you also remove a participant.
About other people's figures. Every figure has an owner, but you can move, rotate and edit any of them, and reassign ownership. Your patient cannot: only their own.
What your patient sees
Your patient opens the link and lands on the board. No account, no download, no Alchely chrome around it: just the field, fullscreen from the first moment.
Joining
- In couple and open sessions they type their name first (Join the constellation). That name is the one you will see above their figures.
- In individual sessions they go straight in, without that step.
- On an empty board they get a prompt: "Add a figure to start your constellation".
- At the top they have the "Your therapist is viewing" chip, the save state and the language selector. They know at every moment that they are not alone.
What they can do
- Add figures — from the gallery, including the ones you have saved.
- Move, rotate and rename them, and give them an action, an emotion and a short note.
- Add loose notes to the field.
- Undo and redo their own changes.
- Their figures — a floating panel they can drag anywhere, listing the figures they placed.
What they cannot do
- Touch anyone else's figures: if they try, they see "You can only move your own figures".
- Create or move floor areas, or change the board's shape, colour or panorama.
- Save, open or restore scenes, take snapshots, or see the list of connected participants.
On mobile the board takes the whole screen and the controls live in a bottom sheet that slides up on Add figure.
When the session ends
When you end the session the link stops working and your patient gets a sign-off: "Your therapist has ended this constellation session". If you revoke the link earlier, or remove a participant, the next time their screen refreshes they see the matching notice and lose access.
Figures
- You start with the figures that ship with the tool.
- You create whatever is missing — face, build and clothing — so the patient's system looks like their system.
- Every figure has an owner: only its owner moves, rotates, edits or deletes it. You can act on any figure and reassign ownership.
- The owner's name is shown above the figure, with a global toggle to hide it.
Saved scenes
A scene is a named copy of the board state, yours, optionally linked to a patient or a couple.
- Save a scene while the board is open, or as you close it. You type the name.
- Restore scene seeds a new board from the saved state.
- Restored figures default to yours; you can reassign them to the current participants.
- A scene flagged as a template carries no patient association and can seed any session.
- Scenes are yours alone: they are never readable or writable through the public link.
Pick up where you left off. The next session starts with the field exactly as it was, instead of rebuilding it from memory on an empty table.
Client access and record
The client joins with a link, no account. From the session you can copy it or revoke it whenever you like.
During the work you can take snapshots of the field: they stay on the session, and the session stays in the patient's file alongside the rest of their history. When you are done, End session closes the field.