By: Adriana Corrales, LPC-Intern
Clinically Supervised by Courtney Walraven, LCSW-S

While progress has been made to end the stigma towards mental health, witnessing the change is remarkable. Today, it’s not uncommon to hear someone discuss setting boundaries, validating their feelings, and the big one “transgenerational trauma.”
Transgenerational trauma is when individuals experience emotional and psychological effects from trauma experienced from previous generations (Marschall, 2024). Identifying these patterns and healing is the best way to prevent further transgenerational trauma (Marschall, 2024).
Recently, I acquired a new client who was very motivated. As I’m learning about my client during our first session they revealed something that stuck out to me. Although they were aware of changes they wanted to make, witnessing the positive effects therapy had on one of their parents was what moved the needle for them.
Wow!
It is a privilege to witness the positive effects of therapy on transgenerational trauma. Not only does this break the pattern of trauma, it also changes the attitude towards mental health. Testimonies such as this are reassuring that culturally we are moving towards prioritizing mental health and normalizing taking care of it.
Age, ethnicity, and gender of the client are redacted to ensure confidentiality.
Marschall, Amy. (2024). Understanding intergenerational trauma and its effects on mental health: The passage of emotional pain from one generation to the next. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-integenerational-trauma-5211898
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