Intergenerational Trauma Therapy in Vancouver
You didn't choose what was handed down to you. If you're carrying pain that was never yours to begin with, support is here
Compassionate, evidence-based therapy in Vancouver with a Registered Clinical Counsellor
Intergentional Trauma
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Therapy
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Healing
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Through
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Connection
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Intergentional Trauma 〰️ Therapy 〰️ Healing 〰️ Through 〰️ Connection 〰️
UNDERSTANDING
What is Intergenerational Trauma?
Intergenerational trauma; also called generational or transgenerational trauma, is the way pain, fear, and survival patterns are passed down from one generation to the next. The original events may have happened to your parents, grandparents, or further back: through war, displacement, migration, colonization, poverty, abuse, or loss. Yet their effects can still live in how your family loves, copes, and protects itself today.
You may not have lived through what they survived, and still carry it, in the pressure you feel, the emotions that were never spoken, the roles you took on, or a body that learned to stay on guard. Healing is not about blaming the people who came before you. It is about understanding what you inherited, and choosing what you carry forward.
Note From Rachel
As someone who has navigated my own lived experience alongside my clinical training, I hold a deep appreciation for how complex and human these patterns are, and how much courage it takes to begin understanding them.
THE WORK TOGETHER
How Therapy Can Help with Intergenerational Trauma
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Understanding what happened to you
Together we trace the patterns, beliefs, and survival responses passed down to you, "we don't talk about feelings," "rest has to be earned," staying ready for the worst, and where they began, whether in family, culture, migration, or earlier generations.
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Approaches tailored to you
I use trauma-informed, evidence-based therapy, including parts work, somatic approaches, mindfulness approaches, and attachment-based work, to help you meet inherited pain at its root, calm your nervous system, and reconnect with who you are beneath the patterns.
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Building daily skills
Alongside the deeper work, sessions build practical tools you can use right away: noticing inherited reactions, regulating your nervous system, setting boundaries without guilt, and allowing yourself the safety and rest that may not have felt possible before.
MY APPROACH
Therapy shaped around you, not a formula
Therapy is not a one-size-fits-all process. Together, we shape the work around your relationship with perfectionism, your pace, and what matters most to you right now. Meet Rachel, Founder and RCC
Compassionate & Evidence-Based Approach
At Pham Therapy, therapy is approached with care, curiosity, and deep respect for the complexity of your experience.
Perfectionism therapy may draw on multiple evidence-based approaches and tailor them to your needs and goals
Prioritizing Safety, Trust, and Connection
Therapy begins with creating a space where you feel safe, understood, and genuinely supported.
At Pham Therapy, our work is guided by your unique experiences, needs, and pace. Together, we focus on helping you feel more grounded, connected, and empowered as you move through your healing journey.
Honouring Your Lived Experience
At Pham Therapy, we take a culturally responsive and trauma-informed approach that holds the broader context of your life.
Including family expectations, cultural identity, intergenerational experiences, and the social pressures that may be shaping how you move through this change.
Book A Free Consultation
Starting therapy can feel like a big step, especially if you are used to carrying things on your own. A free consultation gives you a chance to ask questions, share a little about what you are looking for, and get a sense of whether working together feels like a good fit.
At Pham Therapy, we offer trauma-informed counselling in Vancouver and online across British Columbia. Our approach is warm, collaborative, and paced with care, supporting you in rebuilding safety, self-trust, emotional regulation, and connection with yourself.
Book a free consultation today to explore whether therapy may be right for you.
Why These Patterns Can Feel Hard to Break
Many of the patterns we struggle with in adulthood did not start with us. They were learned in environments where staying alert, staying small, working harder, or holding things together was necessary.
These responses often begin as protection. They help us adapt, belong, or stay emotionally safe in situations that felt unpredictable or overwhelming.
The challenge is that these patterns can become deeply embedded over time. Even when life changes, the nervous system may continue responding as if those old conditions are still present.
This is why you might notice anxiety, guilt, perfectionism, emotional shutdown, burnout, or difficulty resting, even when you intellectually know you are safe now.
How Intergenerational Trauma Is Passed Down
Learned Patterns & Roles
Children learn about relationships, emotions, and coping by observing the adults around them. Over time, these lessons can become deeply ingrained patterns. We may inherit beliefs about responsibility, boundaries, and self-worth, as well as family roles such as the caretaker, peacemaker, or high achiever. In some families, there may also be pressure to carry others' expectations or to make past sacrifices feel worthwhile, shaping how we see ourselves and our place in the world.
Nervous System & Body
When a caregiver has lived through chronic stress or trauma, some of that impact can be passed on in the way their body responds to the world. Research in epigenetics suggests that severe stress may influence how certain genes are expressed across generations. Trauma does not change your DNA itself, but it can affect how your body and nervous system react to stress, shaping patterns that may be carried forward.
Silence & The Unspoken
Not all trauma is passed down through stories. Sometimes it is carried through what was never spoken about at all. Unprocessed grief, family secrets, painful losses, and experiences that were too overwhelming to name can shape family dynamics for generations. Children often sense these unspoken realities, even when they do not know the details, and may carry the emotional weight of experiences they never directly lived through.
Signs of Intergenerational Trauma
Intergenerational trauma can show up in many different ways. You may recognize some of the following:
Feeling anxious or on edge, as if something might go wrong at any moment
Guilt, pressure, or obligation within family relationships, especially when putting your own needs first
A strong drive to achieve or succeed, or a sense of needing to “make sacrifices worth it”
Difficulty trusting others, feeling safe, or allowing yourself to fully rest
Emotions that feel overwhelming at times, or sometimes distant or numb
Noticing patterns in your life that you thought you had outgrown or would never repeat
A strong inner critic, perfectionism, or a tendency to people please
Carrying grief, fear, or shame that feels familiar but not entirely your own
How Intergenerational Trauma Shows Up & Who We Support
Intergenerational trauma therapy in Vancouver and online across BC can support adults experiencing:
Immigrant & Second-Generation Experiences
Living between cultures, carrying your family’s sacrifices, and feeling pressure to make their journey “worth it.” Therapy can help you honour where you come from while building a life that is also your own. See our culturally responsive therapy →
Refugee & War-Related Family Trauma
When parents or grandparents survived war, displacement, or persecution, the fear and grief can echo forward. Therapy can help you understand what you inherited and find more ease and safety in your own body.
Family Cycles You Want to Break
You may be determined to parent, partner, or live differently than the generation before you. Therapy can help you understand the old patterns and build new ones with intention.
The “Strong One” / Parentified Child
You may have grown up holding the family together , translating, mediating, or caretaking before you were ready. Therapy can help you set down what was never yours to carry.
High-Functioning Anxiety & Perfectionism
Inherited pressure can show up as relentless achievement and a fear of falling short. Therapy can help you separate your worth from your output. Anxiety · Perfectionism
People-Pleasing & Boundaries
When keeping the peace once kept you safe, boundaries can feel dangerous. Therapy can help you reconnect with your own needs and say no without guilt.
Guilt, Obligation & Family Loyalty
Loving your family and needing space from their patterns can feel like a betrayal. Therapy makes room for both, without asking you to choose.
Grief, Loss & the Unspoken
Some families carry losses that were never fully mourned. Therapy can help you name and grieve what was held in silence.
Childhood & Complex Trauma (C-PTSD)
Long-standing or repeated early experiences can shape how safe the world feels. Therapy offers a paced, trauma-informed space to heal. See our trauma therapy →
Burnout from Carrying It All
When you’ve been over-functioning for years, inherited pressure can collapse into exhaustion. Therapy can address both together. See our burnout therapy →
Body, Nervous System & Somatic Symptoms
Inherited stress often lives in the body such as tension, restlessness, trouble sleeping, or feeling braced. Therapy can help your nervous system learn that it’s safe to settle.
Frequently Asked Questions About Intergenerational Trauma Therapy
What is intergenerational trauma therapy?
Yes. Intergenerational trauma is widely recognized in trauma and attachment research. Trauma can be passed down through family roles, learned coping strategies, and nervous system responses. Epigenetic research also suggests that severe or chronic stress may influence how genes are expressed across generations. Trauma does not change your DNA, but it can shape stress responses, emotional regulation, and relationship patterns
Is intergenerational trauma real, or scientifically supported?
Yes. It's well recognized in trauma research. Trauma is transmitted through learned behaviours, family roles, attachment patterns, and the nervous system, and studies in epigenetics suggest that severe stress can influence how genes are expressed across generations. Trauma doesn't change your DNA, but it can shape how your body and relationships respond.
What does intergenerational trauma look like in adults?
In adulthood, intergenerational trauma may show up as chronic anxiety, emotional shutdown, difficulty trusting others, fear of conflict, people pleasing, or feeling responsible for others’ emotions. Many people also describe feeling “stuck” in patterns they cannot fully explain, even when their current life feels stable.
Can therapy help if my trauma is intergenerational?
Yes. Therapy can help you work with both emotional and nervous system patterns that developed over time. You do not need to identify a specific childhood event for this work to be effective. Treatment often focuses on present day experiences while gently making sense of how earlier family dynamics shaped them.
What approaches are used for intergenerational trauma therapy?
Intergenerational trauma therapy is trauma informed and individualized. It may include somatic therapy, attachment based therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS),, and other evidence based approaches. The focus is on nervous system regulation, emotional processing, and building safer internal and relational patterns over time.
Do I need to talk about my family or confront them?
No. Therapy does not require confrontation or direct involvement of family members. Many clients choose to focus on their own experiences and patterns rather than family discussions. The work is about understanding, not blame.
How does culture or immigration affect intergenerational trauma?
Cultural identity, immigration, and diaspora experiences can deeply shape how trauma is carried through families. Expectations around responsibility, sacrifice, and emotional expression often vary across cultures. Therapy can hold these experiences with respect and care, without asking you to disconnect from your culture or identity.
Is online intergenerational trauma therapy available in British Columbia?
Yes. Online therapy is available across British Columbia, including Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Victoria, and surrounding areas. Sessions are secure and confidential, and can be done from a space that feels comfortable and private.
How do I know if intergenerational trauma therapy is right for me?
Therapy may be helpful if you notice long standing emotional or relational patterns that feel hard to change on your own. If you are unsure, a consultation can help you explore your concerns and see whether this approach feels like a good fit.