Recognizing Intergenerational and Racial Trauma and Finding Healing for NAMI.org

Researchers and clinicians have long recognized the effects of intergenerational trauma – trauma that gets passed down from those who directly experience an incident to subsequent generations. Intergenerational trauma may begin with a traumatic event affecting an individual, traumatic events affecting multiple family members, or collective trauma affecting a larger community. Intergenerational trauma can easily intersect with racial trauma – itself a type of collective trauma. However, both intergenerational and racial trauma remain underacknowledged, both in clinical settings and in public conversations about mental health. Denial and distancing are common ways of interacting with traumas both individually and collectively.

With this event we hope to acknowledge, rather than deny, the ways these forms of trauma affect us as individuals, families, and communities struggling with mental health issues. Join us to learn more about intergenerational trauma and racial trauma: how they intersect and how they remain distinct; what they look like; how they can impact individuals, families, and relationships; and how family and community members can help each other regenerate.