WHERE DOES IT END?

INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA...

WHERE DOES IT END?

Written by: Kendra Hathaway, LMFT

Intergenerational Trauma or “generational challenges” within families is referred to trauma that gets passed down from those who directly experience an incident that continues to subsequent generations. When this happens, there is a collective pain, healing and work that likely needs to be done. It’s important to remember that although many of us have experienced these types of generational processes, we should also make room for the understanding that with awareness, and being intentional, resilience can exist as well. That means, just like pain and turmoil can be passed down, so can strength, resilience, and channels of healing.

Many times, when we go through things, we forget that there is likely someone else who has experienced the same pain, the same challenges, and the same barriers. Yes, someone understands what we might be going through and can possibly help us to have a better understanding of it as well. They might hold the key to success for your family resolution with this problem. Isn’t that something to think about? Picture yourself having an issue and not knowing at all what to do about it, and then someone who loves you comes to tell you-hey, this is what happened to me, and this is what I did. It worked, or I am still working on it. What if the person was able to help us learn, make better decisions, work through situations, and fix our problems? When thinking about this, it seems only reasonable that this is the reason God created families. So that people who look like you, talk like you, have the same lineage as you, and possibly the same challenges you have can help you to navigate a smoother transition through life.

In order for this to happen, several things will need to take place: Family members must be willing to work through their trauma in order to help break the cycles. The person who overcame must be willing to communicate openly and honestly in order to help foster channels of healing amidst family adversity.

The person needing to overcome must be willing to listen, learn and ask questions relating to the new application.

Ultimately, in order for healing to happen. Change will be needed. The healed and the one who needs healing will need to connect on levels that might seem uncomfortable at first, but in actuality these connections will help foster trust, understanding, commonality, fortitude, and purpose. If these types of family connections are able to take place, families can undoubtedly dominate over intergenerational trauma, resulting in perseverance, intolerable will, and unyielding strength.