Historical/ Intergenerational Trauma

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 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, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, along with skills based in neuroscience.

Trauma can show up in surprising ways, often lingering in our bodies long after the event. When we recognize how trauma affects us physically and emotionally, we can begin to change how we show up in the world. Together, we’ll explore how trauma plays out in your life—shaped by your unique experiences, culture, and history—so we can start the process of healing and recentering, giving you the space to live with greater awareness and grace.

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.

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.

Intergenerational trauma has a significant influence on the way we process and interact with the world. Identifying generational patterns and processing historical trauma gives you more autonomy in shaping your story.

Intergenerational trauma can run deep. Shame, guilt, and holding onto the past can be consuming. As a Middle Eastern woman, I can guide you in establishing boundaries that are meaningful within your cultural context and help you gain a deeper understanding of your cultural identity.

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.

My training in trauma informed care, my passion for social justice and equity, and my own lived experiences as a biracial woman, have made me acutely aware of the painful legacy of systemic oppression on the epigenetic and socioeconomic experiences of all of my clients. I incorporate somatic, polyvagal and attachment based techniques with EMDR, IFS and brainspotting to help clients process the entirety of the pain they are carrying, in order to give my clients the healing they deserve.

All staff are people of color that participate and have completed training in this area as well.

Healing from intergenerational trauma involves understanding your family’s story while reclaiming your own. We will use Narrative Therapy to redefine your personal narrative. We will explore how the behaviors, beliefs, and coping mechanisms passed down through generations may be impacting your life today and work together to heal those wounds.

Working with clients on understanding the current adverse stressors in their life has so often led to exploring the context of their historical or generational trauma I have made it a significant focus on how I practice.

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.

My primary research expertise is examining the impact of historical and intergenerational trauma. I have examined this phenomenon in individuals who identify as Jewish, Indigenous, and who are descendants of Holocaust survivors. This research specialty has translated into my clinical work and impacts the lens in which I approach treating trauma with my clients.

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.

Transforming the Experience-Based Brain (TEB) is a regulation focused model integrating learnings from somatic, attachment, & neurophysiological models. Through hands-on or intentional presence in healing you are able to access pre-verbal & early childhood developmental trauma stored in the body. As a non-pathologizing method of care, this embodied approach is a different way of healing as it targets the nervous system rather than specific symptoms & supports integration of primitive reflexes.