HEALING FROM WITHIN

Generational trauma, also called intergenerational trauma, is when the effects of a traumatic experience are passed down from parents to their children. (4) It shows how trauma can continue to affect families emotionally, mentally, and socially, even long after the original event happened. 

Healing circles or peacemaking circles - all Indigenous practices - have been used throughout history as a restorative practice to address trauma or conflicts. The purpose of these circles is to move away from reactive communication and instead promote direct, responsive dialogue that fosters connection, teaching, listening, learning, and unlearning. (5)

Today, people continue to use circles as a way to address generational trauma by acknowledging and naming the pain, violence, and impact of racism. When used in this context, according to the College of Social Sciences at San Fransico State University, circles have the ability to:

• Bear witness to and name the trauma, violence and pain of racism - present and past 

• Validate the complexity and intersectionality of people’s experiences with race and racism 

• Affirm the restorative power of connecting to those with shared experiences 

• Honor the safety and trust that is needed for people to be their authentic racial selves 

• Sustain our commitment to advancing the social justice and educational mission of the college 

• Foster our spiritual, emotional, interpersonal, and intellectual well-being as we engage in the practice of racial justice 

• Create safe spaces that allow us to dream and reinvent a racially-just institution (6) 

Using restorative justice processes to address generational trauma offers a powerful path toward healing, empowerment, and forgiveness, while directly confronting the harm that has been done.