generational trauma vs intergenerational trauma

Generational trauma vs intergenerational trauma how to#

Trauma responses can be helpful in the short-term and keep a person safe. Traumatic experiences can occur on a micro-level and macro-level. Intergenerational trauma refers to how the trauma experienced by one generation impacts the well-being of later generations.

Even if a person does not have memories of familial and ancestral traumatic events, a trauma-informed approach can help with managing physiological responses to intergenerational trauma.

Trauma-informed interventions can help provide people with coping strategies and tools to change unhelpful patterns of behavior or thought processes. Trauma-informed interventions and techniques (e.g., treatment with an emphasis on collaboration and empowerment use of grounding techniques) can help people as they start to understand the impact of intergenerational trauma in their own lives. Intergenerational trauma can persist across multiple generations, even if there is no additional trauma that occurs. Overall, intergenerational trauma can occur due to environmental and biological processes. Over time, the child begins to mirror the same pattern of behaviors. A parent/caregiver who has experienced a traumatic event may unconsciously transmit messages that the world is unsafe and/or that people are not to be trusted.

Generational trauma vs intergenerational trauma how to#

As children observe their parents, they learn how to cope and adjust to their environment. For example, in mice experiments, mice who were exposed to fear conditioning prior to conception demonstrated an increased fear response in later generations.įrom an environmental perspective, research indicates that children learn how the world works during the developmental period. Research on epigenetics indicates that exposure to trauma and chronic stress can impact gene expression in subsequent generations. However, both biological and environmental theories have been hypothesized. Intergenerational trauma can manifest in many different ways, including:Ĭurrently, there are no precise theories to explain why intergenerational trauma occurs. People who experience intergenerational trauma may experience symptoms similar to that of post-traumatic stress disorder. What Does Intergenerational Trauma Look Like? In this article, we aim to highlight what intergenerational trauma can look like, theories that explain intergenerational trauma, and ways to heal from intergenerational trauma. Consequently, research indicates that intergenerational trauma is associated with poorer psychological outcomes and greater psychological distress. However, remaining in “survival mode” for long periods of time can actually inhibit a person’s ability to thrive. In the short-term, these initial trauma responses can be helpful for survival.

Trauma responses are ways that the brain and body learn to adapt in order to keep a person safe (e.g., physiological arousal, flattened affect). Trauma is experienced by each person in an individualized way and people respond to trauma in different ways. Traumatic experiences can be systemic (e.g., war, genocide, poverty, natural disasters, etc.) and can also occur on a micro-scale (e.g., discrimination, relational trauma/abuse, divorce, etc.). Intergenerational trauma is also referred to as transgenerational trauma or multigenerational trauma. Intergenerational trauma is broadly defined as the trauma that gets passed down from a trauma survivor and affects the well-being of subsequent generations.