Let’s Chat: Feel it, heal it and let it go

By Linda Tooth on September 25, 2024.

Intergenerational healing may sound ominous to some. It means acknowledging or addressing any unresolved trauma we have inherited from our family.

No family is perfect and everyone has encountered trauma of some kind. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, there are many types of traumas we may have faced growing up. Some examples are bullying, physical abuse, sex trafficking, sexual abuse, traumatic grief, refugee trauma and complex trauma.

There are even traumatic thoughts we have all experienced in our lives. According to the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) “are negative, stressful, traumatizing events that occur before the age of 18 and confer health risk across the lifespan”. I see this daily in conversations with people and in the stories I read. If you think that past trauma does not affect our mental health and our actions today, research tells us that is not the case. Statistics Canada reports that in 2018, 98.l7% of individuals experienced emotional abuse, 21.3% were exposed to intimate partner violence and 6.8% were neglected in childhood at least once before the age of 15. If this cycle is not processed it is possible that we can, without intention, carry this on.

The children of today will be the ones who are leading this country and taking care of us in the next twenty to forty years. Should we not be doing all that is humanly possible to ensure that their lives are free of trauma and that they have all the love and support they need as they navigate through childhood?

So the question that needs to be answered is ‘How can we as adults process the trauma and move towards a healthier life not only for ourselves but also for the children we have or are involved with as caregivers’? The answer is Sanare Centre in Medicine Hat. A group of trained therapists are offering an opportunity to come together as a group and work towards inter-generational healing: a trauma-informed approach to parenting.

This 15-week closed psycho-educational group aims to improve the lives of children by providing trauma-informed resources to parents and caregivers of all genders. This new program began at Sanare in 2023 with two groups running from September to January and again from February to May. This healing activity originated in Grande Prairie and they came to Medicine Hat to train our therapists on this incredible program.

To be eligible for this program a screening interview takes place and there is no cost associated with the program, thanks to the generosity of community sponsors.

If you would benefit from this healing opportunity, please call Sanare at 403-548-2717.

A great quote on Pinterest sums it up “When we heal ourselves, we heal the next generation that follows. Pain is passed through the family line until someone is ready to feel it, heal it, and let it go”.

Have a Meowtastic Day.

Linda Tooth is the positive culture co-ordinator at Sanare Centre

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