Overcoming Generational Trauma
You know you got your thick hair from your Dad’s side of the family and your eye color from your mom. You know thyroid issues run in your family, as does heart disease and cancer.
But do you know that many families also pass down trauma to their loved ones? It’s not just our physical makeup and risk of disease that we inherit from our family, it is also the emotional wounds as well.
What is Transgenerational Trauma?
Before you were born you were in your mother’s womb and very susceptible to her emotions. As your mother felt joy, her body released hormones that made you feel joy.
When she felt sad, scared, or angry, her body released hormones that made you experience these same emotions.
Eventually, you were born and raised in a house that may not have always been happy or harmonious. Your parents may have been emotionally distant, immature, manipulative, or even abusive because they may have been brought up by parents who had their own reasons for being emotionally unwell.
Many families have unresolved trauma that works its way through one generation to the next. Those families who have dealt with divorce, addiction, depression, anxiety, and the like, often continue to pass on negative emotions, toxic behaviors, low self-esteem, and maladaptive coping strategies. These not only lead to a painful and hard life, but they can also lead to chronic health conditions.
It Can Stop With You!
If you have a history of family conflict, divorce, abuse, or trauma, you can be the individual who puts an end to the cycle.
You can also end toxic behaviors and maladaptive coping strategies that have been passed down throughout generations. These could include family gossip, guilt tripping, codependency, projection, substance use, phobias, poor communication, and placing high value on being the “perfect family.”
You can be the one who begins a new cycle, one of passing down loving communication and positive self-images. One who is authentic, has a growth mindset, sets healthy boundaries, and shows compassion for others.
Of course, it will take work on your part to overcome the pain of your family history. That’s why it’s a good idea to work with a mental health professional who can offer you the right tools and coping strategies that you can then pass down to your own children.
If you’re interested in exploring therapy, please get in touch with me! I’d love to help you end the cycle of trauma in your family. It can be done!
SOURCES:
