Family Trauma and Historical Trauma

While many in such a group will experience no effects of the historical trauma, others may experience poor overall physical and behavioral health, including depression, self-destructive behavior, poor self-esteem, marked propensity for violent or aggressive behavior, addictions, and high rates of cardiovascular disease and suicide. 

Acute problems of domestic violence or alcohol misuse that are not directly linked to historical trauma may be exacerbated by living in a community with unaddressed grief and behavioral health needs. Parents’ experience of trauma may disrupt ordinary parenting skills and contribute to behavior problems in children. Compounding this familial or intergenerational trauma, historical trauma often involves the additional challenge of a tarnished cultural identity.

Clinical social workers first described historical trauma among the offspring of the Holocaust survivors and the children of Japanese Americans interned during World War II. 

The children and grandchildren of survivors tend to experience attachment issues and isolation from their parents. 

Communities of Native Americans who experienced repeated massacres and the forced removal of children to federal and mission boarding and day schools have been attended.

Historical trauma can be described as cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences. African Americans, for instance, experienced ages of segregation, institutionalized racism, and slavery that have contributed to their psychological, spiritual, and physical trauma.

For members of these communities, daily reminders of racial discrimination often exacerbate individual responses to trauma. An understudied group that has experienced historical trauma is the disability community. 

People with disabilities have been subjected to biases and misrepresentations about their capabilities and lived experiences in the recent past.

Attempts to eradicate people with disabilities have included eugenics campaigns, forced psychiatric treatment, institutionalizing people with intellectual disabilities, and compulsory sterilization.

By being mindful of unresolved grief and distrust of majority groups or government programs, therapists can deliver programs to reduce family stress, child neglect, toxic substance use, mental health problems, and domestic violence.

Refresh Recovery Mental Health Treatment San Diego staff can better understand present-day reactions to events in the context of individual trauma narratives.

To build trust, our clinicians will be respectful, aware of different reactions to traumatic events within communities, and focus on community strengths and resilience. Understanding that all communities are unique, with distinct cultural norms and belief systems, our personnel is in an excellent position to support members of the affected community.

Relevant  and Alternative Approaches

Research is still emerging on the effectiveness of treatment methods for patients experiencing historical trauma. Treatment approaches are grounded in traditional healing methods and ceremonial practices of communities. 

Psychoeducational group interventions delivered at geographic locations that are sacred to members of tribal communities that involve ceremonies reinforcing cultural identity have taken place. Although even top researchers in this field acknowledge the literature about historical trauma is controversial, there is an important emphasis on the healing process, and overcoming the barriers to resolving grief.

Key Facts

• Historical trauma is intergenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural group that has a history of being systematically oppressed.
• Current lifespan trauma, superimposed upon a traumatic ancestral past creates additional adversity.
• Historical trauma is cumulative across generations. Descendants who have not directly experienced a traumatic event can exhibit the signs and symptoms of trauma, such as depression, fixation on trauma, low self-esteem, anger, and self-destructive behavior.
• Sometimes, the belief that the systems do not support them makes people experience triggers that are re-traumatizing.
• Clinicians working with members of underserved cultural groups can help by gaining a fuller understanding of clients’ historical and community context. Providers can also seek and build alliances with local, respected individuals such community or religious leaders.