By Sue Coyle, MSW — 2014
Multiple generations of families can transmit the damage of trauma throughout the years. Social workers must be aware of and detect the subtle and not-so-subtle effects on a family, a community, and a people.
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CLEAR ALL
In the midst of trauma, everything means something. Signs and symbols appear. You’ve noticed them before, you’re a writer, but now you see them everywhere.
Like most people of color in the United States, psychotherapist and researcher Monnica Williams has experienced myriad forms of racism. Early in her career, understanding its effects on her mind and body motivated her to help clients address their own racial trauma in therapy.
A recent study found that even a single positive psychedelic experience may ease mental health symptoms associated with racial trauma experienced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
In addition to the tragic losses of life and health and jobs, we are grieving the losses of weddings, sports and the ability to buy eggs or get a haircut.
Intergenerational trauma—sometimes referred to as transgenerational trauma—is a term that is used to describe the impact of a traumatic experience, not only on one generation, but on subsequent generations after the event.
Have you ever heard of the term inter-generational trauma? What about “generational curse?”
Most genetic studies completely ignore the science of epigenetics, which is how the environment actually turns certain genes on or off.
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By age 16, more than two-thirds of children report experiencing at least one traumatic event, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
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At the individual level, the psychological effects of trauma can be acute or long term, depending on a person’s experience and access to care. But at the community level, a complex and collective experience of trauma can lead to irreparable harm that lasts for generations.
After losing her son to random gun violence, one mother felt suicidal enough to commit herself to a local hospital. However, she quickly determined that, “a psych ward is not a place for grief.”