What Is Intergenerational Trauma and How To Stop It Impacting Your Health

The Inheritance We Don’t Talk About

When we think of inheritance, we often imagine heirlooms, property, or money. But many of us carry something far less visible yet far more impactful: the emotional pain, survival patterns, and unresolved trauma passed down through our families.

This hidden inheritance — known as intergenerational trauma — can quietly shape how we feel, think, and even how our bodies function. It influences relationships, stress levels, and health, often without us realising that some of what we carry may not even be ours.

What Is Intergenerational Trauma?

Intergenerational trauma occurs when the unhealed experiences of previous generations — such as loss, war, abuse, or displacement — are transmitted to descendants. It isn’t just about family stories. Trauma can be carried in the nervous system, shaping how our body responds to stress, and research into epigenetics suggests it can even alter the way our genes are expressed.

That means a grandparent’s grief or fear can echo in our own emotional world, long after the original events have passed.

How Trauma Gets Passed Down in Families

The first seven years of life are often called the imprinting phase. During this time, children’s brains are in slower, highly receptive brainwave states — almost like living in a constant daydream. In this state, we soak up not only the words spoken to us, but also the atmosphere of the home: the unspoken emotions, the tension in the air, and the survival strategies our caregivers rely on.

In my clinic, I’ve seen how this plays out in real life:

• A child raised in a family that struggled financially may grow up with a deep, persistent fear of scarcity — worrying about money even when she has more than enough.

• Someone who grew up in a household filled with conflict might learn to silence themselves to keep the peace, later finding it almost impossible to speak up in adult relationships.

• A family marked by unspoken grief — perhaps the loss of a baby or a relative generations ago — may pass that heaviness down unconsciously. A granddaughter might carry sadness she cannot explain, as though it belongs to her but doesn’t.
  

Sometimes, this goes even deeper than the family home. Think of Rupert Sheldrake’s idea of morphic resonance — the theory that memories and patterns can be transmitted across generations, not just through DNA but through a kind of energetic field that families share. It’s as if we’re tuned into an invisible frequency, replaying stories that began long before us.

What we often call “personality traits” — being anxious, overly accommodating, fearful of abandonment, or prone to burnout — are frequently not who we truly are, but protective programmes learned or inherited. They were necessary at one point in the family line, but they can keep us trapped in patterns that no longer serve us.

The Impact on Mental and Physical Health

Trauma that isn’t processed doesn’t simply fade away. The body carries it. The nervous system, which governs everything from our heartbeat to digestion, often remains locked in survival mode. This can have wide-reaching effects:

• Anxiety and depression: Emotional imprints from past trauma can create feelings of dread, panic, or heaviness that don’t match present circumstances.

• Chronic stress: A nervous system that cannot downshift from fight-or-flight becomes exhausted, leading to burnout and adrenal fatigue.

• Digestive issues: Stress suppresses digestion, leaving many people with bloating, IBS symptoms, or nutrient absorption problems.

• Immune and inflammatory conditions: Long-term dysregulation can contribute to autoimmune issues or chronic inflammation.

• Relationship struggles: Unconscious patterns may influence how we connect, creating cycles of conflict, avoidance, or over-giving.
  

In short, unprocessed emotions affect not only our mental state but our physical health. Healing the body requires addressing what lies beneath the surface.

Supporting Nervous System Regulation

The nervous system is the body’s control centre. When it feels safe, we can rest, digest, and repair. When it’s stuck in survival states, our bodies and minds can’t heal fully.

Everyday practices can begin to restore balance:

• Kundalini Yoga: This practice combines breathwork, movement, and sound to shift energy, release stress, and strengthen the nervous system. Even simple exercises, like “breath of fire” or gentle spinal movements, can bring a sense of clarity and calm.

• Yoga Nidra: Sometimes called “yogic sleep,” this deeply restorative practice guides the body into a state between wakefulness and sleep. It helps calm an overactive nervous system, improves sleep quality, and allows the body to access its natural healing state.

• Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®): These gentle exercises activate the body’s natural tremor reflex, helping to discharge stored tension and trauma from the muscles. It’s a safe, body-led way of letting go of what’s been held for too long.
  

These practices teach the nervous system how to shift from a state of stress back into calm. Over time, that flexibility — often called regulation — becomes the foundation for both emotional resilience and physical healing.

Healing the Roots With Family Constellations and Rapid Core Healing

While daily practices can calm the nervous system, many patterns of trauma run deeper. They are stored in the subconscious and often tied to family history. This is where deeper therapeutic approaches can be transformative.

• Family Constellations
  This systemic therapy shines a light on hidden family dynamics and inherited trauma. It helps us see where we may be unconsciously carrying the pain of our parents, grandparents, or ancestors. By bringing these patterns into awareness, Family Constellations allows for release, understanding, and a renewed sense of belonging.
  
  

• Rapid Core Healing (RCH)
  RCH works directly with the subconscious, combining hypnotherapy, NLP, Gestalt Therapy, cognitive behavioural methods, and systemic constellations work . It allows unresolved trauma to be reprocessed at the root, shifting survival patterns that keep the nervous system in fight-or-flight. The result is often a deep sense of safety, freedom, and calm that ripples through both mind and body.
  

Together, these approaches address both the visible symptoms and the hidden causes of emotional and physical imbalance, offering a holistic pathway to lasting healing.

Healing for Ourselves and Future Generations

Intergenerational trauma reminds us that we are deeply connected — to our families, our ancestors, and those who will come after us. The fears, grief, or stress you carry may not have started with you, but you have the power to heal them.

When we regulate the nervous system, process unresolved trauma, and bring hidden patterns into the light, we create a ripple effect of healing. It not only transforms our own wellbeing but also frees future generations from carrying the same burdens.

Through Family Constellations, Rapid Core Healing, and nervous system and energetic body practices like Kundalini Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and TRE®, it is possible to move from survival into true healing — restoring balance, peace, and a deeper connection to life itself.

About Camilla Brinkworth

Camilla Brinkworth is a naturopath, clinical nutritionist, and trauma-informed practitioner specialising in PMDD, women’s health, and plant-based nutrition. She combines evidence-based dietary strategies with herbal medicine and emotional healing to help women achieve hormonal balance and lasting relief from PMDD.

Learn more about Camilla’s PMDD Transformation Programme and personalised consultations at www.camillaclare.com and www.PMDDnaturopath.com