Ancestral Trauma

Ancestral, Intergenerational Trauma refer can refer to a historical collective traumatic experiences or events that are shared by a group of people within a society, by a community. Often the trauma is targeted based on family ethnicity, spiritual, lifestyle or political opinion. These collective traumas are inflicted by a subjugating, dominant ruling force. Examples of historical trauma include various systematic acts of colonialism such as genocide, witch burnings, residential schools, concentration camps, slavery or war.

Ancestral Trauma and Intergenerational can also refer to individual traumas experienced by those in our maternal and paternal lineage, such as a grand mother or grandfather who experienced abuse by their caregivers.

Remember, all things trauma are on the spectrum including ancestral trauma. A “small t” intergenerational trauma could be our parents or grandparents having lived in a culture that deregulated their nervous system.

Other ways intergenerational trauma can be passed intergenerationally is through modelling of learned behaviors that are passed down the generational line.

From a scientific lens, trauma experienced by our ancestors created alterations in their genes and gene function. According to the science of epigenetics, the trauma is literally encoded into the gene or written upon the genome. In this sense our ancestors trauma is our trauma.

All this talk about healing ancestral trauma is about healing the separation programs of trauma that were ”installed” into your family lineage.

Are you interested in working through some intergenerational pieces? I can support you. Book an EXPLORE CALL with me.