Counseling intergenerational trauma how to#

However, with curiosity and a willingness to face the burdens passed from generation to generation, you can plant seeds of lasting freedom. These steps should not be substituted for the quality care of a therapist. What do you want the next generation to believe about the world? How would your life, and those of your children’s children look with lived-out resilience and healing from trauma? When you are ready, write out the story of what happened. Write, Rewrite – By giving the trauma a voice and name, you may find your own power and voice returning. Your processing of trauma may look similar or different from those closest to you. Have you responded in a maladaptive way, learning from the past? Are you distrusting or fearful of someone or something? Where do your emotions, beliefs, or actions personally fit within the family narrative? Seek out support: therapy, your own research, extended family, friends, or a spiritual community. See, Respond – Investigate the story of your family’s trauma, and observe how it is shared.

Counseling intergenerational trauma how to#

Make it a point to model regulating yourself so your children and the next generation learn how to handle challenging emotions. Practice intentional self-care, breathing and exercise routines, and your own coping strategies, to keep yourself grounded. How has this shaped your view of the world?Ĭope, Cultivate – As more historical details emerge, you may find yourself reliving certain events – possibly some before you were born. Then, see if you can compare your own feelings to those of your relatives who are currently living or from generations past. Get curious how that fact sits in your mind and body. Acknowledge that a trauma (large or small, single incident or chronic) happened in your family. Recognize, Relate – Awareness is one of the earliest doorways to freedom from pain.

If this resonates close to home for you, what follows are steps toward recovery. Do you remember watching the tragedy of Septemunfold? Can you recall how your parents or grandparents spoke about World War II? Is there someone in your lineage that was abusive or captured by substance use? Intergenerational trauma can be defined as a trauma response (violence, low self-esteem, fear, mistrust, or difficulty regulating emotions) that is passed down from those who directly experienced a trauma to later generations (Franco, 2021).