6 Books On Generational Trauma To Help Us On Our Journey To Heal Our Inner Child
From dealing with emotionally immature parents to genetically inheriting trauma, these books will definitely be helpful when it comes to healing.
By Alia Kamelia — 04 Oct 2022, 02:35 PM
If you've ever found yourself wondering where it all went wrong, then it's definitely time to step back and ponder on where we came from
Often times, the way we interact with the world stems from our upbringing, and whether it's direct or indirect, it ends up impacting us greatly in our daily lives.
We may have found ourselves in situations where we're unnecessarily mean to others and end up guilt-tripping and gaslighting them, among many other red flags, when we're faced with conflict. Sometimes, we're the perpetrators, and other times, the victims.
It doesn't matter if you're a parent, a child, or a friend looking for ways to grow into becoming better human beings for the people in our lives. There is no time better to start embarking on the journey to healing than now.
These six books explore the theme of generational trauma and the impact it has on relationships and mental health:
1. The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir by E.J. Koh
This novel is a compilation of letters from a mother to her daughter. Eun Ji Koh's mother leaves her and her brother in America to work in South Korea. She also leaves them with a box of letters, narrating the tragic stories of her grandmothers, as well as the experiences she went through.
Impacted by her mother's letters asking for forgiveness and love, Eun Ji struggles with her inherited legacy, intergenerational trauma, and reconciliation. The readers follow Eun Ji as she comes to terms with all the things that made her who she is.
2. What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence by Michele Filgate
"Our mothers are our first homes, and that's why we're always trying to return to them," wrote Michele Filgate. 15 writers come together to tell the stories of their uniquely complex relationships with their mothers, how their mothers failed them, and how they failed their mothers.
From stories about discovering who her mother was before becoming a mum to having a mum who tells her everything, this novel compiles all the things we don't talk to our mothers about, and how it impacts us as a person.
The book provides an insight into how acknowledging all the things unsaid can help us in fixing our relationships, as well as healing ourselves in the process.
3. What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
Acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo records her journey to investigating the impacts of generational trauma on the community, and soon discovers family secrets in her birth country, Malaysia.
The book documents the author's struggles with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) and her revelation that we don't recover from trauma, but learn how to live with it.
4. Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-involved Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson
Clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson explores the detrimental nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable to their children.
The book explores the four types of parents; the emotional parent who ingrains anxiety and paranoia, the driven parent who is constantly busy attempting to make sure everything and everyone's perfect, the passive parent who avoids dealing with conflict, and the rejecting parent who is withdrawn, dismissive, and demeaning.
Through this book, readers will be able to better navigate their relationship with their parents and create positive, new relationships for a better wellbeing.
5. Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand
The main protagonist, Finley Hart navigates the fine line between fantasy and reality as she explores Everwood, which she thought never existed beyond her notebook.
The readers follow as Finley deals with things she doesn't want to talk about, like her parents who pretend like they're not having problems, to being sent to her grandparents whom she has never met before.
The mysteries of Everwood grow along with the sadness in her, as she soon realises that to save Everwood, she must first save herself.
6. The Things We Left Unsaid by Emma Kennedy
Finding herself back at home on the day she was supposed to start a new life, Rachel returns home to her mother who has a secret she kept close her whole life.
Rachel discovers more things she didn't know about her family and the many things left unsaid.
