“My mother’s voice saying, ‘You’re worthless, you’re unlovable, you’re stupid,’ ” she said. Intergenerational trauma is a term that is often not talked about, resulting in a lasting impact on later generations. Past research on Vietnamese in the United Sates have generated numerous studies on the concerns of war-related trauma and its impact on psychological outcomes, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (Birman and Tran 2008 Han et al. Reframing: Foo said it was important to reframe the damaging stories she’d been fed as a child. Angela Wu, a Taiwanese American LMFT, weighs in on how intergenerational trauma can appear within AAPI communities.Not having the privilege of emotional and psychological well-being puts individuals out of touch with their emotions, says Wu. Intergenerational traumasometimes called transgenerational traumais 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.This article explores research findings and clinical practice to enhance our understanding of intergenerational processes and presents directions for therapeutic interventions. Increasingly, expressive arts therapies employing movement, music or visual arts, are being used to help patients find more adaptive ways to cope, said Cécile Rêve, co-founder of ARTrelief, a center that provides these arts-based therapies. Moreover, the intergenerational effects of parental trauma need to be understood within a broader systemic context, as a part of family adaptation. Mind-body therapy: Somatic, or body-based therapies such as yoga, have been found to be effective for trauma.Cambodia experienced 4 years of genocide, causing about 2 million deaths. A patient may have internalized the belief they’re not good enough, “but upon unpacking it, they can see how their parents’, and maybe even their parents’ parents’, constant criticisms and lack of warmth or praise is the source of this belief.” Purpose: Intergenerational transmission of psychological trauma is an ongoing global public health concern.

Awareness: Jason Wu, a Bay Area psychologist and child of refugee parents, said the first step is building awareness.

Intergenerational trauma refugee