One of the most devastating effects of trauma is that people’s biology changes into a biology of threat; this is expressed on multiple levels, in stress hormones, immunology and what the brain selects to pay attention to. The intrinsic reward system changes, as do “attractors”—what turns you on or leaves you cold. As a consequence, traumatized... See more

We’ve all heard the saying “Children are meant to be seen, not heard.” It was a slogan of sorts that summed up our older generations’ mindset around raising children. This mindset was born out of an understanding that the only needs children had were basic, such as food and shelter. Resource scarcity was a reality for many members of these

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What those who espouse such beliefs fail to recognize is that past trauma is not simply left behind. Whether trauma is passed along to subsequent generations through the child-rearing practices of those who directly experienced it, or whether trauma actually causes changes in DNA, as some studies suggest, trauma is transgenerational and cannot

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