1. The Importance of aTransgenerational Perspective in American Psychotherapy

2. Lily Tomlin 3. Immigration as Trauma The Importance of a TransgenerationalPerspective in American Psychotherapy The Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma The Unthought Known The Goals of Transgenerational Treatment 4. Identify traumatic events in apatients family history Understand the impact of theseevents on family relationships Transform persistent traumaticpatterns that shape currentrelationships 5. 1 minuteo Do you conduct individual, group or couplespsychotherapy?oo Are you an immigrant? If not, are you first,second or third generation in this country?o Do you know your familys immigration story?o Are you aware of any traumatic events besidesimmigration that occurred in the lives of yourparents or grandparents? 6. And my interest grew 7. In Lithuania 8. REFUGEES 9. War, Famine,Religious andEthnic Persecution 10. The VERY Beginning 11. European life was dominated byreligiously and politically inspiredviolence The Voyage, aboard crowded andprimitive vessels, took many weeks The New World was a hideous anddesolate wildernessfull of wild beastsand wild men. Only about one in seven survived. 12. oA million, dead in Ireland from famine or diseaseo Tens of thousands more died on coffin ships on the way to the U.S.o Poverty, ethnic and religious discrimination and violence in the U.S 13. o 17 million, mostly teenagers, kidnappedo7 million died en route or in seasoning campso Strippedof culture and languageo Tortured,raped, enslaved 14. o 20 30 million massacred duringthe Tai-Ping Rebelliono Legislation and taxation in U.S.aimed at excluding them from themineso Ultimately, an ethnic cleansing 15. Thousandskilled in the Mexican-American War Size of Mexico reduced by half Economicdiscrimination and racial prejudice confined the Mexicans to barrios Mobviolence and lynching 16. o Persecuted in Russia from ancient timeso Massacredo Sold into captivityo Confined to the Pale of Settlement where mostlived in povertyo Pogroms (1881-1921)o Anti-Semitism in the U.S.o Privation and exclusiono U.S. turned away thousands of Jews fleeing theHolocaust 17. What is it? How does itoccur? 18. Vamik Volkan(The Third Reich in theUnconscious) 19. o Depressiono Anxietyo Low Self-Esteemo Hypervigilanceo Suicidal ideationo DissociationAnd.. 20. o Behavioral repetitionso Traumatic perspectiveso Traumatic affects 21. Believes the evidence forTTT is so strong that thereshould be a new DSMcategory that designates itas a mental disorder. 22. o Immigrants are preoccupied with survivalo They are disinclined to examine or disclosetheir trauma storieso Those around them resist knowing thestories as well 23. A conspiracy of silencedevelops around most experiences of collective disaster 24. o Social Modelingo Insecure, disorganized patterns ofattachmento Projective Identificationo Depositing persecutory or victimizedcontents into childreno Creating a persecutory-victim dynamicwith them 25. The Shadow ofthe Object:Psychoanalysisof theUnthoughtKnown 26. That body of "knowledge" that isincapable of conscious recapitulationyet which forms the ground of ourevery action (Wolfreys) 27. All the thoughts younever seeFrom their song: The Unthought Known 28. From Not Knowing to Action Knowledge 29. With implications for character and psychopathology 30. ActionTrauma as KnowledgeMetaphorWitnessedNarrativesNotKnowingAuerhan and Laub 31. ActionTrauma as KnowledgeMetaphorWitnessedNarrativesNotKnowing Auerhan and Laub 32. It is adapted from the classicfamily genogram But highlights traumatic familyexperiences and dynamics 33. At Least for Now 34. Beginwith your family of originand move up. You are the IPindex person, notidentified patient! If you are a man, draw a square. Ifyou are a woman, draw a circle.indicated by a circle 35. Draw an X through a figure to indicate that the person is no longer living. (See Figure 1) Maritalseparation is indicated by a single slash along the connecting line. A divorce is indicated by two slashes. 36. For our purposes, choose only your mother orfathers side of the family to diagram. Grandparents are connected and diagrammedabove the parents (vertically ). Connecting linesextend from the grandparents line to the parent.(See Sample Traumagram in Figure 5.) 37. Because I didntbring any cookies! 38. Exposureto war or other forms of violence Psychiatricdisorders Extreme poverty Immigration Emotional abuse Premature deaths Other massive losses 39. Add Some Notes toYour Traumagram