Generational trauma is the psychological and emotional effects of traumatic events passed down through generations, impacting people who did not directly experience the original event. The term was first used in the 1960's when researchers observed the high rates of psychological distress experienced not just by Holocaust survivors, but also by the children of Holocaust survivors, who weren't even conceived until after the end of World War II.
My daughter refused to accept what she was being told and sat by my side, tapping and singing softly. She sang my Hebrew kindergarten songs, one after another, continuously without pause. These were the songs I sang to her when she was small. She sang instinctively, as if her body knew something before her mind did. As if she understood, without explanation, how to bring her mother back to life.
Somewhere in the process of parenting, you begin to see your younger self in your child-and you are forced to face the parts of yourself you have either buried or never fully understood. I started noticing this mirror effect when my daughter became a teenager. Suddenly, her behavior-makeup, boyfriend, confidence -was triggering emotions I did not expect.