Combatting intergenerational effects of psychotrauma with multifamily therapy

Abstract

There is growing evidence that parental trauma is associated with psychosocial disorders, externalizing and internalizing problems, and higher sensitivity to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children. Recent research findings suggest multidimensional relational, psychological, and neurobiological interrelated pathways of intergenerational influence. Moreover, the intergenerational effects of parental trauma need to be understood within a broader systemic context, as a part of family adaptation. This article explores research findings and clinical practice to enhance our understanding of intergenerational processes and presents directions for therapeutic interventions. A trauma-focused multi-family therapy, aiming to restrict the relational consequences of parental trauma and strengthen family resilience, is described. The proposition is that to facilitate and improve the quality of parent–child interaction in response to psychotrauma, fostering emotion regulation capacities and mentalization is crucial. These efforts offered through family group interventions may benefit various families coping with adversity in culturally diverse societies.

Three-level containment model of hospitalized adolescents with borderline pathology: a holistic therapeutic perspective

“…Additionally, a highly projective group dynamic can render this work unfeasible. Other specific therapeutic interventions have been developed to support parents or the family, focusing on particular areas such as psychoeducation based on Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, mentalization processing, or trauma-focused approaches ( 39 , 41 – 46 ). Family interviews conducted during hospitalization can already address various dimensions, including reducing educational inconsistencies, reviewing parental and adolescent expectations, identifying and interrupting role-reversal dynamics, reestablishing protective roles, decreasing levels of control and criticism, promoting emotional validation of the adolescent by their parents, identifying issues related to relational distance (separation or intrusion), recognizing paradoxical communications, addressing conflicts, and highlighting transgenerational repetitions.…”