INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILY TRAUMA
What is Intergenerational Trauma?
Intergenerational trauma is essentially what happens when adverse events or experiences are passed down from one generation to the next, often in unspoken and deeply complex ways.
According to the American Psychological Association, intergenerational trauma is expressed when the descendant of someone who experienced a traumatic event presents challenging emotional and behavioral reactions that are similar to their ancestor or relative.
Historical trauma is closely related, as it is intergenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural, racial, or ethnic group of people. In other words, the root of our triggers can be as much — if not more — about the past than the present. (PsychCentral)
Understanding Its Impact
Researchers and clinicians have become increasingly aware that the effects of trauma suffered by one generation – whether individual or collective trauma – are passed on to subsequent generations. Many therapists treat clients’ presenting symptoms such as...
- depression
- anxiety
- marital issues
...without investigating or appreciating that these symptoms may have a background of secondary trauma that needs to be more directly addressed. Today’s clinicians need to understand how to recognize intergenerational transmission of trauma, the mechanisms of transmission, and how to treat it.
It is essential to understand both the facts of the traumatic event(s), how family members coped or didn’t cope with the effects, and what lessons about life and survival were passed on, consciously and unconsciously. (Zur Institute)