Historical/ Intergenerational Trauma

As a psychotherapist, I specialize in addressing Historical/Intergenerational Trauma. My approach involves understanding deep-rooted emotional patterns and their impact across generations. I help clients unpack complex family histories, heal past wounds, and break cycles of trauma. Through empathy and evidence-based practices, I guide individuals towards awareness, healing, and resilience, fostering a path to a more empowered and liberated future.

trauma is not the event—trauma is the stuck response held by our bodies. trauma changes us at a cellular level, changed our blood relatives and ancestors at a cellular level, and so many of us inherit the pain our forebearers could not metabolize. this is where my somatic experience comes into play. through somatic therapies, we practice tapping into the organic "technology" of our bodies, which are inherently designed for resilience & growth.

I completed my clinical internship at the Rape Crisis Center, where many of the clients I saw came from backgrounds of intergenerational abuse and trauma. Though the grips of intergenerational abuse and trauma can be strong, I have seen that it is a cycle that can be broken, and it is one of the great privileges of a therapist to be able to be part of a client's journey to break this.

Systems theory demonstrates that none of us are separate from the family, social or global environments we grow up in. If we want to feel better now, we do well to explore all of the systems that have impacted us. As a psychodynamic social worker, I do not see people as separate from any of their intersecting identities or relationships. It's crucial that you have a place where all of the things and people that have influenced you, for good and ill, can be brought into the light of day.

As a second-generation Asian-American, I understand the relationship between symptoms of depression/anxiety and intergenerational trauma. The patterns and cycles passed down from generation to generation contribute to our mental health - either negatively or positively, and we have the power to stop or continue the cycle. We can begin living an empowered life.

Trauma can derive from obvious, horrific events, as well as from universal ones such as having been raised by a critical parent. In other words, what determines trauma is its impact, not the event(s) itself. Upsetting experiences - even forgotten ones - can get lodged in our nervous systems and stimulated in subsequent, parallel circumstances. Trauma treatment, including EMDR, can help clients adaptively process past experiences to prevent them from getting re-triggered in the present.

I often find that new moms struggle the most in their new role when they themselves have experienced a traumatic childhood. I focus on development and relational trauma that leaves a lasting impact. We work together to learn to heal your inner child and re-parent yourself so that you can thrive in your role as a parent to your new little one.

Intergenerational trauma can be from your own childhood when you didn't get the attention and love you needed from your parents. You are not blamed for a dysfunctional family that you had to live in and when you become a parent you don't want to pass down those traits to your own children. You want to love, be present and enjoy the time together with them instead of avoidance, yelling, and punishment to them.

Trauma can be inherited with families and cultural origins, which produce unhealthy coping mechanisms and unexpected traumatic responses. I create a collaborative and safe container to process these traumas and co-create spaces where clients can heal and break these cycles and patterns.

As a Certified EMDR Therapist, I support individuals who have experienced various types of traumatic events and who are dealing with strong and distressing memories that have an impact on their lives.

Trauma is what happens to us that overwhelms our ability to cope for an extended period of time. Trauma is different and personal to each individual. I believe in the resilience of the human spirit, and that we are not the things that happen to us. I begin where the client is, focusing at first on building the skills needed to begin to thrive. When my clients are ready we focus on processing the trauma identified.

We sometimes "catch" our parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents trauma and/or hurts. Although they are not taught to us, I believe we certainly can inherit them. It is up to us whether or not we want to perpetuate the trauma or unhealthy patterns, or strive to reverse those patterns, and create lasting meaningful change which we can adopt, as well as pass on to future generations.

As an Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I am systemically trained and like to utilize Bowen Family Systems and Genograms to explore intergenerational trauma and family history. Which is all a lot of fancy words to say I like to help people understand how their family's generational history may contribute to things they struggle with in the here and now!

Indigenous practices have been around and utilized for centuries yet, due to cultural stigma, erasure, and genocide, many of these practices have been lost or not deemed acceptable within our Eurocentric mental health profession. The act of reindigenizing mental health is the effort to replace the current systems with culturally specific, culturally sustainable, and culturally appropriate mental health and well-being practices developed and passed on among indigenous people.

I am a trauma-informed EMDR therapist who also incorporates IFS into sessions.

There are things that are yours, and things passed down, but sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference. Epigenetics show that trauma can be passed down as many as 7 generations. From generation to generation, traditions, beliefs, fears, values, traumas, are often so interwoven in the fabric of one's family, it is as if they are transmitted through osmosis. Somatic therapy can help you decide what you want to keep, and what you want to pass back.

For over 20 years I worked as a contractor to LE to help the survivors and families of MMIW. Intergenerational trauma was always evident as a result of historical, religious and political abuses by those in power over Indigenous persons. I have also helped other persons with historical and intergenerational trauma who have been first generation US citizens and illegals. Internal family systems is the approach I have found most effective to help heal intergenerational and historical trauma.