Breaking the Cycle of Multigenerational Trauma Yael Danieli

Breaking the Cycle of Multigenerational Trauma Yael Danieli, Ph. D

Identity: A complex interplay of multiple systems Biological, intrapsychic Interpersonal – family, social, community Ethnic, cultural, religious, spiritual Environmental, political, national, international

Multigenerational transmission of trauma Trauma rupture and fixity Survival strategies Adaptational Styles Survivors Family History and Family Milieu Society Time Reparative Adaptational Impacts Survivors’ Offspring

Victim Style Stuck in the Loss & Trauma Rupture Emotional Volatility & Control Over. Protectiveness Numb Style Emotional Isolation & Detachment Conspiracy of Silence in the Family Intolerance for Weakness Fighter Style Valuing Mastery & Justice Valuing Identity (Ethnic/Group) Danieli et al. , 2015 a

Adult child’s reparative adaptational impacts (higher and lower order factors) Reparative Adaptational Impacts Reparative Protectiveness Immature Dependency Insecurity re: Competence Defensive Psychosocial Constriction Obsession with Traumatic Event(s) Need for Power and Control Danieli et al. , 2015 b

Percent “any disorder” by severity of reparative adaptational impacts (low, moderate, high) 50% 46% 40% 30% Values are the % of the group meeting criteria for disorder 33% 20% 10% 8% 0% lowest third on RAI moderate middle third on RAI highest third on RAI

Hypothesized, testable model Family History Parents’ Posttrauma Adaptational Styles Family Milieu Offspring’s Reparative Adaptational Impacts

Path model tested (streamlined based on preliminary analyses) Family History Mother’s age cohort Nature of trauma Family Milieu Sociocultural setting Post-Trauma SES Post-Trauma family size Survival of mother’s mother Broken generational linkages Continuity in ethnic traditions Parents’ Victim Styles Offspring’s Reparative Adaptational Impacts Danieli et al. , in press

Conclusions • Together, the earlier model and the findings from the clinical study suggest the presence of a causal chain in which the influence of parents’ styles on offspring’s risk for disorder occurs earlier in the sequence. This is illustrated below. Family History Parents’ Intensities of Victim Style Offspring’s Reparative Adaptational Impacts Current Mood or Anxiety Disorder Family Milieu Danieli et al. , 2016

Hope Necessary conditions for and dimensions of Hope (Examples) : The phenomenological definition of hope is the consciousness of optionality or the awareness of the possible existence of options even when one doesn’t/cannot see them. “Hope is the creation of the other shore of the abyss and the bridge to reach it. ” Structure vs. Disorganization/Disorientation Order vs. Chaos Safety vs. Danger Flow vs. Stasis Freedom vs. Oppression, Slavery, Tyranny Rights vs. Injustice Realistic vs. Magical Active vs. Passive Internal vs. External Object vs. Subject Self vs. Other Open vs. Closed Forward vs. Back Process vs. Outcome orientation Competence vs. Helplessness Mastery/coping vs. Defense