Historical/ Intergenerational Trauma

At InnerWoven Therapy, we prioritize your story. You are a product of all that has come before you. We honor that, while supporting you to figure out what is going to be healthiest and most durable for your own life. We are passionate about helping people break unhealthy patterns while preserving the traditions and values that matter most.

The way we were brought up, including the way we were parented, the messages we were told, and/or the values imposed on us, has impacted on the people we are today (intentionally or not). This includes the relationship we have with ourselves, as well as the peer and romantic relationships we have as adults.

Intergenerational trauma can be a difficult subject to talk about, because it involves naming how our family and community members have reenacted their traumas. There doesn’t need to be blame associated with naming the presence of intergenerational trauma. It will continue to be present in every generation until someone is ready to interrupt the cycle. This can involve healing together and/or naming boundaries. In some cases it means going no contact with our family or community members.

I believe trauma is the root of most things that are wrong in this world. I use evidence based practices to address trauma, intergenerational trauma, and attachment trauma. I blend attachment based therapies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, along with mindfulness skills based in neuroscience.

Most of my clients are doing the emotional and psychological work of their parents, grandparents and beyond. In other words, our healing what the healing our lineage has needed. Families pass down the good and the bad. I compare this to physical belongings, like heirlooms or unopened boxes. When the "boxes" contain habits, patterns or traits that have caused harm to or are no longer serving my clients, I support them to sort that stuff out in exchange for what heals, helps and brings happiness

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.

27 years experience treating intergenerational trauma, specifically physical and sexual abuse. I spent 18 years working with children and families in residential treatment facilities who presented with intergenerational trauma. I utilize a similar curriculum in my practice.

Trauma can affect people in different ways. I work with clients struggling with acute, chronic, or complex trauma.

Breaking the cycle of recurring generational patterns of abuse, violence, and dysfunction within family systems.

I'm trained in Cognitive Processing Therapy and EMDR and over the years have worked with multiple clients that dealt with generational trauma. I continue to engage in trainings and consult with supervisors and colleagues for further guidance.

Instances of trauma, loss, and tragedy that occurred in the lives of family members who came before us can influence the passing down of unresolved tensions and conflict to children. This can lead to the perpetuation of trauma, depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. I help clients process these dynamics, mourn the loss of what they did not have as children, and move toward a life wherein the past is acknowledged but not a determinant of the future.

I have experienced working with intergenerational trauma, helping clients break free from unhealthy patterns that they learned or inherit from their parents. I have experienced first hand this type of trauma and this has helped me to understand it and learn the tools needed to heal. The most difficult part of this trauma is that it is very silent. Clients often don't recognize its impact, leading them to believe they are overreacting or that something is wrong with them.

Addressing historical and intergenerational trauma is crucial for enabling clients to heal and thrive. These traumas often manifest in various ways, affecting mental health, relationships, and overall well-being. By fostering awareness and understanding, providing therapeutic support, and encouraging resilience, I help clients break free from the cycles of pain and develop healthier narratives that promote a higher quality of life.

Trauma follows us and it is a lot of the times passed down. Let's get to the root cause of it, explore how it affected your life growing up, and also how to break the cycle.

Life experiences impact all aspects of our being, including our psychology, physiology and how we interact with others and ourselves. Because life experiences can affect us in such layered ways, the impacts of such life experiences can also be passed down in an intergenerational manner through interpersonal learning and biology. At times this may be obvious - like seeing a particular challenge, like violence, running through a family. Other times it’s more subtle, like realizing the different attachment styles that shape the way we react to the world. Sometimes we may even find ourselves afraid of something yet we don’t know why. Or we keep resulting to a coping strategy that does not serve us, yet we feel unable to do otherwise. Through a multi-modal approach that infuses relational, experiential and body-oriented approaches I help clients overcome intergenerational trauma, create healthy boundaries, increase resilience, reclaim their sense of self and create the lives they wish to lead.

I work from a relational, psychodynamic lens that examines how life experiences and familial trauma impact your life today. My intention is to create a safe space so that you can process your trauma and hold room for parts of you that haven't been able to feel safe enough to be acknowledged yet.

Symptoms of historical trauma include denial, depersonalization, isolation, memory loss, nightmares, psychic numbing, hypervigilance, substance abuse, identification with death, and unresolved grief.