What Does Generational Trauma Look Like?

Oleh Admin 13 Apr, 2023 Posting Komentar

According to many therapists and mental health professionals, sometimes trauma is not the result of a single extreme life event, such as a tragic tornado, school shooting, or car accident. Many people report that they also experience generational trauma, which means that they experience the long-term effects of short-term or chronic stress facing their family or community.

“I define generational trauma as events that happen in our bodies and in our emotional psyche that we don't necessarily experience and that we pass down through family experiences,” says Gwendolyn Vinsant, the nonprofit's executive director and board member. . . From the Trauma Research Foundation.

What are the symptoms of birth trauma?

For VanSant, people are often unaware of the signs of intergenerational trauma, which she says can include depression, anxiety, or mistrust of certain groups or institutions.

Vansant Bridge Inc. It is a non-profit organization. I've worked with vaccine skeptics during the COVID-19 pandemic and witnessed firsthand some of the effects of trauma across generations. VanSant, who identifies as African American, described how hesitancy about vaccines among some of the African American communities she has worked with stems from "mistrust" stemming from the traumatic experiences of the medical community of current and previous generations.

“If an African American, for example, has been lucky enough to learn about the history of medicine and how we have been privileged and objectified… or has not told the whole truth about medical processes and their effects,” VanSant explains.

"The trauma that exists is from the real violence, the real repression," he added.

How does generational trauma happen?

Gertrude Lyons, MD, is a life coach who works specifically with moms and families with a focus on women's empowerment. In her practice, Lyons has seen how the trauma experienced by a mother, even in childhood, can have a direct impact on her children later in life.

One of Leon's clients grew up in foster care and was mentally and physically abused as a child. "She felt unworthy of being cared for; she didn't get the proper care." As an adult, Lyons says her client often felt that "her self-care, her emotional needs, her physical needs weren't really important." This client mentality led her to an abusive adult relationship. Emotionally, she had a lasting effect on her children.

The client's teenage daughter currently suffers from an eating disorder. “Just seeing her mom not take care of herself in this relationship,” Lyons explains.

How can we fix generational trauma?

For Maria Rooney, a traumatologist and professor of social work, traditional individual therapy isn't always the right way to help those experiencing family trauma.

Ronnie works extensively with foster and adoptive children who have experienced rejection or separation from their parents. According to Ronnie, some gay children were rejected by parents who never got rid of the homophobia they had been indoctrinated with. Other children have been adopted by families of a different race and feel disconnected from their communities.

These kids not only need talk therapy, Rooney says, but they also need safe groups where they can heal from the rejection or loss they've experienced. “Trauma separates us from ourselves: from our bodies, from others, from society, from our sense of belonging,” he explains. "To truly recover, we need to feel safe and connected to others."

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VanSant agrees that society often plays a critical role in resolving generational trauma. “Many generational traumas arise from social spaces,” he says, adding that people can find therapy in a variety of intentional combinations that work through these traumas. VanSant has built community health centers such as the "Casa de la Solidaridad" which contains places for women to style their natural hair and a community kitchen.

VanSant says of the community wellness centers created by BRIDGE Inc. Organizer. “It is one of the best ways to overcome and break generational traumas.”