in the early 1960s laid the groundwork for his leaving the Catholic priesthood. From his point of view, the trainers worked from a phenomenological orientation -- they were concerned with recognizing what is essential out of all the diversity present, without intention, without fear, without preconceptions, relying purely on what appears. He was deeply impressed by the way their methods showed it was possible for opposites to become reconciled through mutual respect. The beginning of his interest in phenomenology coincided with the unfolding dissolution of his vows to the priesthood. Hellinger told how one of the trainers asked the group, "What is more important to you, your ideals or people? Which would you sacrifice for the other?" This was not merely a philosophical riddle to him. He was acutely sensitive to how the Nazi regime sacrificed human beings in service of ideals. He said, "In a sense, the question changed my life. A fundamental orientation toward people has shaped all my work since." After leaving the priesthood, he met his first wife, Herta, and was married, shortly after returning to Germany. He spent several years in the early 1970s in Vienna training in a classical course in psychoanalysis at the Wiener Arbeitskreis für Tiefenpsychologie (Viennese Association for Depth Psychology). He completed his training at the Münchner Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Psychoanalyse (Munich Psychoanalytic Training Institute) and was accepted as a practicing member of their professional association. In 1973, he left Germany for a second time and traveled to the United States to be trained for 9 months by Arthur Janov. There were many important influences that shaped his approach. One of the most significant was Eric Berne and Transactional Analysis. Nearing age 70, he had neither documented his insights and approach nor trained students to carry on his methods. He agreed for German psychiatrist Gunthard Weber to record and edit a series of workshop transcripts. Weber published the book himself in 1993 under the title Zweierlei Glück [Capricious Good Fortune; aka Second Chance]. In 2017 this book had its 18th edition. Hellinger had published more than 90 books, 70 of them listed in the catalog of the German National Library (Deutsche National-Bibliothek, Leipzig). About half his publishing's are documentaries on his family constellation work, again as workshop transcripts. The other half presents his philosophy. Hellinger traveled widely, delivering lectures, workshops, and training courses throughout Europe, the United States, Central, and South America,