Intergenerational trauma

Intergenerational trauma refers to the idea that the effects of trauma experienced by one generation, such as war, displacement, persecution or poverty, can shape the lives of later generations. Proposed routes include parenting styles, family silence and social conditions, and, more tentatively, biological mechanisms. It is a way of understanding family patterns, not a diagnosis.

What it means

The idea is that trauma does not always stay with the person who lived through it. A parent who survived violence may become very protective, very controlling or emotionally distant. A family may develop rules such as "we don't talk about that" or "never trust outsiders". Children grow up inside those patterns, often without knowing the story behind them.

You may also see the terms transgenerational or multigenerational trauma. They are used in broadly similar ways.

Where the idea comes from

Much of the early research came from clinicians working with children of Holocaust survivors from the 1960s onwards. Yael Danieli's International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma (1998) brought together work on many groups, including descendants of war, genocide, colonisation and forced migration.

More recently, Rachel Yehuda and Amy Lehrner reviewed possible biological routes in World Psychiatry in 2018. They concluded that epigenetic explanations are plausible but still uncertain, and that social and family factors remain important. The word is widely used online, sometimes more loosely than the research supports.

What it can look like in everyday life

Imagine your grandparents lived through partition, civil conflict or forced migration and rarely spoke about it. Your parents grew up with a sense that the world was unsafe and that showing emotion was risky. You, in turn, might notice a strong urge to stay in control, or a family rule that "we don't talk about the past".

Or imagine you are the first in your family to move to Europe by choice rather than necessity. Your mother panics when you don't answer the phone for a few hours. To your Dutch partner it seems out of proportion. To you, it makes a kind of sense: in her childhood, someone not coming home could mean something terrible.

None of this is anyone's fault. Naming a pattern can make it easier to understand, and to decide what you want to keep.

In person-centred counselling

The term should not be used to diagnose a family or to suggest that someone is permanently damaged. Many families who lived through great hardship also passed on strength, humour, faith and loyalty.

Severe trauma and PTSD need specialist treatment, which I don't offer as a trainee counsellor. What person-centred counselling can offer is space to explore family stories, silences and their impact on you, at your own pace, with respect for the people involved. You do not have to blame your parents to take your own feelings seriously.

If family history and identity are on your mind, the identity and belonging topic and my page on counselling for South Asian women and families may be useful.

Related ideas

Intergenerational trauma is different from PTSD. PTSD is a diagnosis for a person who has experienced or witnessed trauma and has specific symptoms such as flashbacks. Intergenerational trauma describes effects in people who may not have experienced the original events at all.

It also differs from enmeshment, although the two can overlap. Enmeshment describes very blurred family boundaries. A family shaped by past trauma might become enmeshed out of fear, or might do the opposite and keep everyone at a distance.

When to get more help

If you have flashbacks, nightmares, or feel constantly on edge, speak to a GP or doctor about specialist trauma support. The trauma resources page lists further reading and services.