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Writer's pictureManushya Foundation
Nov 8

#DecolonisingWellbeing ❤️‍🩹 Leaving generational trauma wounds unhealed perpetuates cycles of oppression!


Does history really ‘repeat itself?’ What if we were able to change its course by breaking the status quo through radical healing? When we honour and let go of our past, and take responsibility for our present, we realise our power to shape a better future.

Generational trauma, as the name suggests, develops over time with every generation. If trauma wounds remain unhealed by the previous generation, it gets passed down. It might go as follows…

  • …individuals/communities inherit and develop new trauma (e.g. from inheriting unhealed generational trauma, and potentially compounded by experiencing war, displacement, enslavement, genocide and other forms of systemic oppression / violence)...

  • …older generations then pass their trauma on to descendant children (e.g. through shame, neglect, violent communication, anxiety, high-risk behaviour, parental abuse)...

  • …since inequity makes it difficult for many youths and adults alike to develop tools for healing generational trauma, it is significantly more difficult for people who experience it to break free of generational curses (e.g. Western psychological institutions and practices were not fundamentally built to include people of historically under-recognised peoples. This is aggravated by the day-to-day life difficulties of historically under-recognised peoples.).

  • As a result, children learn and perform trauma-response behaviours learned from older generations, not knowing better (e.g. lying, stealing, bullying others, severe anxiety and fear, depression), and even when they grow older…

  • …if they continue to leave wounds unhealed, trauma-response behaviours from childhood persist (and sometimes get worse) in adulthood. One’s trauma-response behaviours can negatively affect everyone around them, including younger generations, and oneself (e.g. exhibited in how abuse survivors sometimes knowingly/uncontrollably perpetuate the same abuse done to them, onto others). This leads to the perpetuation of the generational cycle of trauma, pain, and on a larger scale, perpetuation of oppression and injustice.

Healing is painful and difficult, but it must be done in order to break generational cycles. How can we fearlessly face and heal generational wounds to break cycles of trauma and oppression? We can participate in…

  • Storytelling and being in community with our elders - and our descendants…

  • Inheriting and passing on wisdom…

  • Preserving and honouring our roots and heritages, and…

  • Radically accepting our elders and descendants for who they are because of their experiences.

The ‘passing down’ of generational trauma might look different to every individual and community. Let’s all take time this week, and whenever we can, to consider:

  • What generational wounds do we find in ourselves and our communities?

  • How can we practise radical acceptance and empathy?

  • What work needs to be done? What is one small thing we can do today to ‘rewire’ our brains and break generational curses, slowly but surely?

  • What affirmations can we give ourselves, and our grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, elders, teachers, colleagues, and children today to demonstrate our recognition of generational wounds and healing?

  • What kind of world do we dream of? How can we use this to motivate our healing journeys?


Together, we can end generational curses! ❤️‍🩹


#WeAreManushyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings 



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