Intergenerational Trauma and Resilience

Hope for Parents

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One of the most heartening things about developmental research is that sometimes things are remarkably hopeful. When the research is hopeful, I love sharing it. In digging into intergenerational trauma in an episode with Dr. Mariel Buqué, author of the upcoming book, Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma, we see how there is universal capacity for better understanding ourselves, our histories, and for creating new narratives in our relationships with our children. 

Our children are going to default to regulating their nervous system the way it's been modeled by you. If you start practicing new ways to integrate their nervous system now, then they'll be able to help themselves avoid a trauma response when life gets immensely stressful, and instead metabolize the stress and move on from it. This is a beautiful moment of intergenerational healing that can happen even before they need it. - Dr. Mariel Buqué

Never heard of intergenerational trauma? It’s a specific type of trauma that is passed down among families and communities through generations. It impacts both our biology and psychology - meaning it is inherited through epigenetic transmission at the time of conception AND through stress experienced in utero. This means that some of us are born with a vulnerability to stress. This term was first coined with the families of Holocaust survivors, and is now applied to descendents of slavery, genocide, and war.

Beyond those atrocities, intergenerational trauma is related to those of us who experienced significant adverse childhood experiences (ACES) such as physical abuse, neglect, divorce, a parent with substance abuse, or a tragic death as children. These experiences have been shown to flood a child’s system with an overwhelming amount of stress during a sensitive time in development while their nervous system and brain are still under construction, therefore giving them a predisposition to stress and trauma symptoms. Beyond this, ACES are correlated with an increased risk of physical disease such as metabolic disorders, autoimmune conditions and other stress-related illnesses. Children with a high ACES score, who do not get treatment for their own emotional vulnerability, may be more likely to repeat the cycle with their descendents - thus continuing the impact of intergenerational trauma.

To get a sense of your own experience with intergenerational trauma, try this quiz from Dr. Buqué. 

The realization that you may have retained these maladaptive stress responses from generations ahead of you does NOT mean that you (or your children) are doomed. Intergenerational healing means breaking the cycle for your own benefit, and the benefit of generations to come. As we discuss in the episode, many of us have also inherited the resilience of generations of family members who worked to face unimaginable challenges. Dr. Buqué calls this “epigenetic preparedness” and it should bring us all hope for the strength, resilience and courage we can model for our children in facing our past. 

For more on ways to start to be present for the work of unpacking our trauma history, check out the episode here, and more from Dr. Buqué.

Warmly,