In this episode of The Mental Wellness Practice Podcast, Dr. Shainna is joined by genealogist Mica L. Anders to explore the intersection of ancestry research and mental wellness — specifically how deliberately tracing and understanding your family history can become a pathway to healing the generational patterns that have shaped you.
Most of us carry more from our ancestors than we realize. The patterns that feel most personal — the way we relate to money, to authority, to vulnerability, to our own worth — often have roots that run far deeper than our own experience. Understanding those roots doesn't erase the patterns, but it can fundamentally change our relationship to them.
"Healing generational trauma begins with naming what was unnamed. Genealogy gives us the names, the dates, the circumstances — and in doing so, it returns agency to us that trauma had taken away."
What Generational Trauma Actually Is
Generational trauma — also called intergenerational or ancestral trauma — refers to the transmission of the psychological and physiological effects of traumatic experience across generations. This transmission happens through multiple channels: the parenting behaviors shaped by unhealed pain, the beliefs and narratives passed down consciously or unconsciously, the stress response patterns that become normalized within a family, and, in growing body of research, epigenetic mechanisms that affect how certain genes express themselves under stress.
The critical thing to understand is that generational trauma is not abstract or mystical — it is concrete and specific. It lives in the ways a family talks or doesn't talk about money, about death, about failure, about certain ancestors. It lives in the emotional patterns that appear across generations without anyone understanding why.
How Genealogy Becomes Healing
When you learn what your grandmother actually lived through — the specific history, the losses she survived, the world that shaped her — her behavior begins to make sense in a way it may never have before. A parent's emotional unavailability, seen through the lens of generational research, may reveal itself as a survival adaptation. This doesn't excuse harm. But it removes the most corrosive element of generational pain: the internalization of it. When you understand the context, you stop reading inherited pain as a verdict about your own worth.
Genealogy research doesn't only surface pain — it recovers the resilience that trauma often obscures. Learning how your ancestors persisted, adapted, protected their families, and cultivated meaning in impossible circumstances gives you access to a lineage of strength that you may not have known you carried. This recovered narrative — "my people survived this" — is genuinely protective for mental wellness and identity.
Secrets and silences in family histories carry their own weight. When we don't know the story — when ancestors were lost to adoption records, destroyed histories, deliberate erasure, or family denial — the absence itself becomes something we carry. Finding names, finding records, recovering stories gives form to what was formless. And what has form can, with support, be processed and integrated rather than simply absorbed.
Research consistently shows that children who know more about their family history — including its difficulties — show greater resilience and a stronger sense of identity. This "intergenerational narrative" provides a sense of belonging and continuity that doesn't require everything in the family story to have been good. A complex, fully known story is more sustaining than a sanitized or absent one.
Where to Begin Your Genealogy Research
Before you go to archives or databases, go to people. Older relatives carry knowledge that no database holds. Record these conversations — with permission — because the detail, the tone, the pauses carry meaning too. Ask open-ended questions: "What do you remember about growing up?" "Who in the family do people never talk about?" "What was Grandma's life like before you were born?"
Birth certificates, marriage records, death certificates, immigration papers, photographs, letters, diplomas, military records — these are all primary sources. Don't assume you know what exists. Many families have more than they realize, buried in boxes or passed between relatives over decades.
Platforms like Ancestry, FamilySearch (free), MyHeritage, and Findmypast give access to millions of digitized historical records. For communities whose histories were systematically erased or underrepresented in mainstream archives — particularly Black, Indigenous, and immigrant families — look for community-specific genealogy organizations and resources, which often have access to records and methodologies that general platforms miss.
Genealogy research can surface genuinely difficult material. Family secrets, evidence of trauma, complicated ancestors, histories of violence or oppression — these discoveries don't arrive with instruction manuals. Working through them with a therapist familiar with generational trauma, or with a community of others doing similar healing work, can transform what might otherwise be overwhelming into something meaningful and integrative.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can genealogy help heal generational trauma?
Genealogy research supports generational healing by providing context for inherited behavioral patterns, recovering ancestral strengths and resilience that trauma obscures, naming what was unnamed or silenced in family history, and building a richer sense of identity and belonging. Understanding the specific circumstances your ancestors lived through can shift how you interpret patterns in yourself — transforming internalized pain into something that can be processed and integrated.
What is generational trauma?
Generational trauma refers to the transmission of psychological and physiological effects of traumatic experience across generations. It occurs through parenting behaviors shaped by unhealed pain, beliefs and narratives passed down consciously or unconsciously, stress response patterns normalized within families, and, in growing research, epigenetic mechanisms. Common sources include war, enslavement, genocide, famine, systemic racism, poverty, addiction, and family violence. Recognizing it doesn't excuse harm — it provides context for breaking cycles.
How do I start researching my family history for healing?
Start by talking to older relatives — their memories hold knowledge no database does. Then gather existing documents (birth certificates, immigration papers, photos, letters). Use genealogy platforms like Ancestry, FamilySearch (free), or MyHeritage for digitized records. For communities whose histories were systematically erased or underrepresented, seek out community-specific genealogy resources. If research surfaces difficult material, working with a therapist familiar with generational trauma can deepen the healing process.
Can genealogy research be emotionally difficult? How do I prepare?
Yes. You may encounter family secrets, ancestors who perpetrated harm, histories of violence or oppression, or the discovery of relatives erased from the record. Go at your own pace, have support available (a therapist or community of others doing similar research), and give yourself permission to take breaks. Difficult discoveries often become the most transformative material when processed with adequate support.
What is the difference between genealogy research and DNA ancestry testing?
Traditional genealogy traces family history through documents, oral histories, and records. Ancestry DNA testing uses genetic analysis to identify ethnic origins and connect with biological relatives. The two are complementary: DNA testing can fill gaps where records don't exist (particularly for communities whose records were systematically destroyed), while document-based genealogy provides context, names, and stories that DNA cannot. Used together, they offer the most complete picture.