Reflections on Intergenerational Trauma: Healing as a Critical Intervention

Abstract

The high numbers of Aboriginal children placed in provincial and territorial care demonstrates the need for effective interventions that directly address the legacy of trauma from colonialization. This paper argues that healing is a critical component of any intervention seeking to help Aboriginal Peoples and their children. Research on healing and recent government initiatives and legislation directed at preserving traditional Aboriginal healing practices are discussed. This article concludes with recommendations for various community members involved in the healing of Aboriginal Peoples.

Model of Engaging Communities Collaboratively

“…In an effort to reconcile and respect Indigenous knowledges and effective methodologies expressed by the Lowjita Institute, the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health (CRCAH), the Australian National Framework, Bainbridge (2015), Benzies (2014) and Quinn (2007), this study aimed to develop an effective holistic model of engaging collaboratively with communities. A Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach was utilised, which emphasises collaborative partnerships between community members, community organisations, service providers and researchers to generate knowledge and solve local problems (Mendenhall & Doherty, 2005;Minkler & Wallerstein, 2003).…”

Sexual Violence in the Field of Vision

“…We are beginning to understand the ways that trauma involves an unconscious structure which is actualized and transmitted inter-generationally. We know, in a certain manner of speaking, that the historical violence of the Indian Residential School system lives on in the generations that follow (Quinn, 2007;Bombay, A., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H., 2013;Stewart, W., A. Huntley, & F. Blaney 2001). But the inherited memory traces of these abuses are not just carried by the survivors.…”

The Old Wounded: Destructive Plasticity and Intergenerational Trauma

“…Briefly, it is a subject that suffers from inherited consequences of trauma exposure that include, but are not limited to, increased vulnerabilities to things like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse disorder. In part, the label is being deployed in order to emphasize that the subject of intergenerational trauma represents a special case in traumatology that demands an adequate theoretical understanding; ultimately, in order to develop appropriate therapeutic responses (see, for example: Quinn (2007); Menzies (2010); Roy (2014)).…”