Generational Trauma: How We Can Heal Our Selves Through our Ancestors [HuffingtonPost.com]

The idea that emotional trauma can be passed from generation to generation has intrigued me for years. Undoubtedly, being the daughter of two Holocaust survivors played a huge role in my lifetime work of helping adults heal from childhood trauma. My parents’ generation was a stoic one; They were neither driven nor inclined to explore (let alone discuss) the painful experiences of their own early lives. A colleague of mine once suggested that a good portion of my professional journey has been to help others get the insights and respite I was never able to help my parents achieve from their own grim memories.

I worked in the Hispanic community of Southern California as a therapist for years. As part of my dissertation research, I compiled statistics of traumatic experiences that were uncovered during hypnotic age regression sessions. Statistically, the highest percentage of trauma involved sexual abuse (of both male and female). This research also revealed a rather high instance of the affected female subjects reporting that their mothers had also been abused. This further advanced my thought processes around these lines.

Scientific Support

The concept that emotional trauma can be handed down from our parents in a similar way one inherits their eye color, is not without scientific support. In a study by the University of Zurich, researchers discovered not only can extreme and traumatic events change a person, but they can also impact their children, a generation or two later, through RNA strands.

In this study, mice were exposed to traumatic experiences that sparked depressive-like symptoms and behaviors. These behaviors were transferred to the next generation, through the RNA in sperm; While the offspring had never been exposed to the trauma, these mice still exhibited depressed states, even into the third generation!

Generational trauma patterns can be depicted as a heavy chain of links, dragged (unconsciously) from one family line down to the next. And one of the greatest benefits that can be achieved by doing the inner work needed to recognize and heal is – you releaseyour children from lugging these links into the future, thereby liberating them from the generational chain.