It takes three generations to heal.

It Takes At Least Three Generations to Heal from Mass Family Separation

When Will We Stop Planting the Seeds of Intergenerational Trauma?

We have long believed that family is the best place for a child to grow. "Common sense" derived from lived experiences formed cultural and religious attitudes about the importance of family, and they guided society a long time before we had empirical proof. But now we do.

As expected, research agrees with "common sense" in that the trauma of a child being separated from family is the single most detrimental experience of childhood. The impaired resilience in the child separated from family impacts physical and mental health, intellectual development, executive function, and ability to form healthy relationships. Recent research also shows that the trauma of the experience of separation, when it is not healed in the formative years of that first generation, is often experienced by their children, and if the suffering from the trauma is severe, it can be epigenetically transmitted to future generations. Likewise, recent research has concluded that when a mass separation of children and family has occurred, effecting a significant portion of the population, the impact is not just long, it is wide. The trauma is felt not just within the next generations of that family, but within generations of the evolution of the entire community, impairing societal resilience and well-being.

Why does it take a community so long to heal from Family Separation?"

There is a great deal of research on the trauma suffered by children in being separated from family, going back a century, and evaluating harms on multiple populations by child and family separation. Scientific studies did not occur before the science of psychology found credibility in society - and that really only happened in the last century. Recognizing the validity of the evidence of individual harm caused by pulling children away from their parents and close family began with examining the impacts of intentionally harmful and willful acts of government, and then grew to include well-meaning acts of intentional separation, and inadvertent exacerbation of accidental separations. Over time, research identified the nature of the trauma, the impact of the trauma on the person experiencing it, the transmission of the trauma to others who did not directly experience it, and the requirements for healing the trauma. Familial separation is akin to a poison ingested by the human psyche. Like any other poison, without intentional healing interventions, the trauma spreads and the impact of the injury lingers. Unsurprisingly to those of us working here at HCW, it appears that Family Reunification and Empowerment is the antidote.

Anna Freud & WWII Evacuations: The Seed of Intergenerational Trauma

During WWII, Anna Freud (daughter of Sigmund) studied children evacuated from London. She examined the relative mental stability of children experiencing the horrors of war with their families, versus those who were experiencing less war, but more separation, and reported:

“London children … were on the whole much less upset by bombing than by evacuation to the country.”

In her Observational Nursery studies, Freud found that separation from parents inflicted deeper psychological wounds than bombings. Later studies (by subsequent researchers) of similar evacuees conducted on adults in their old age revealed lifelong impacts—identity disruption, anxiety, and emotional distress—traced to those early separations. These effects were often passed on, not just to children but even grandchildren.

Holocaust Survivors: Trauma Echoing into Grandchildren

Research by Dr. Rachel Yehuda shows Holocaust trauma is passed intergenerationally through both behavior and biology. Children of survivors often exhibit PTSD symptoms and altered stress hormone profiles—despite never experiencing the camps themselves. Some findings suggest these effects persist into the third generation.

Children of Enslaved Peoples: Enduring Colonial Wounds

Dr. Joy DeGruy’s work on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome reveals persistent psychological injuries among African Americans rooted in slavery and systemic racism. These traumas manifest in family dynamics, community structures, and even physical health. The broader Intergenerational Colonial Trauma Syndrome (ICTS) framework connects these patterns to similar legacies in Gaza, Indigenous communities, and more.

Indigenous Child Separations: The Stolen Generations & Beyond

In Australia, North America, and beyond, the forced removal of Indigenous children has devastated generations. Long-term effects include cultural loss, distrust of institutions, disrupted identity, and higher risks for mental illness and incarceration—still visible among descendants today.

Global Refugee & Forced Separation Trauma

Studies of refugee families—whether in Gaza, Ukraine, Xinjiang, or the U.S.–Mexico border—show that trauma from family separation lingers across generations. Even when reunified, families report anxiety, depression, and loss of identity among children and grandchildren who were never directly separated.

Why Healing Takes Three Generations

• First generation (G1): endures direct trauma
• Second generation (G2): inherits behavioral and biological imprints
• Third generation (G3): lives with legacy trauma embedded in systems and narratives

Like ripples from a stone cast in water, trauma expands outward across generations.

What Comprehensive Healing Looks Like

• □ Community-led truth and reconciliation
• □ Trauma-informed, culturally grounded mental health support
• □ Legal and policy reforms
• □ Attachment-focused early childhood programs
• □ Long-term investment in healing infrastructure

A crucial requirement of healing is the intentional empowerment of families to regain control over their lives and reclaim their narrative. Healing isn’t just restoration—it’s re-creation. It requires caregivers to model resilience and dignity, pass on affirming language and cultural practices, and—eventually—rewrite inherited trauma responses. In time, empowered families transmit stories not of loss, but of strength, belonging, and hope. Even at the epigenetic level, the story begins to shift.

Conclusion

“Healing from mass family separation and intergenerational trauma takes at least three generations.”

Without structural reform, family empowerment, and generational investment, the cycle continues. With intentional care, communities can replace inherited trauma with inherited resilience.

APA Reference List – Three Generations to Heal

Berthelot, N., Ensink, K., Bernazzani, O., Normandin, L., & Fonagy, P. (2015). Intergenerational transmission of attachment in abused and neglected mothers: The role of trauma‐specific reflective functioning. Infant Mental Health Journal, 36(2), 200–212. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21499

Blue Knot Foundation. (2020). Intergenerational trauma: An overview. Blue Knot. https://blueknot.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Intergenerational-TraumaV2.pdf

DeGruy, J. (2017). Post traumatic slave syndrome: America’s legacy of enduring injury and healing (Updated ed.). Joy DeGruy Publications. PDF

Duffy, M., Valentine, K., & Muir, K. (2022). Healing from intergenerational trauma: Narratives of connection. Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing, 7(1). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2201473X.2023.2260547

Halfon, R., & Yehuda, R. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: Putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. World Psychiatry, 17(3), 243–257. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20568

Husain, F., Anderson, M., Lopes Cardozo, B., Becknell, K., Blanton, C., Araki, D., ... & Vong, S. (2011). Prevalence of war-related mental health conditions and association with displacement status in postwar Liberia. JAMA, 306(5), 544–552. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.1095

Kellermann, N. P. F. (2001). Transmission of Holocaust trauma—An integrative view. Psychiatry, 64(3), 256–267. https://doi.org/10.1521/psyc.64.3.256.18464

Kirmayer, L. J., Gone, J. P., & Moses, J. (2014). Rethinking historical trauma. Transcultural Psychiatry, 51(3), 299–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461514536358

Masten, A. S., & Narayan, A. J. (2012). Child development in the context of disaster, war, and terrorism: Pathways of risk and resilience. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 227–257. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100356

Robertson, J., & Robertson, J. (1989). Separation and the very young: Studies in deprivation and maternal care. Free Association Books.

Sherwood, J., & Edwards, T. (2006). Decolonisation: A critical step for improving Aboriginal health. Contemporary Nurse, 22(2), 178–190. https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.2006.22.2.178

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2017). The impact of family separation on refugee children. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/brochures/5fa1df264/impact-family-separation-refugee-children.html

Yehuda, R., Daskalakis, N. P., Desarnaud, F., Makotkine, I., Lehrner, A., Koch, E., ... & Meaney, M. J. (2015). Holocaust exposure induced intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation. Biological Psychiatry, 80(5), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.08.005

Zubizarreta, D. (2025). Intergenerational Colonial Trauma Syndrome (ICTS): A critical framework for understanding the continuum of genocidal trauma. ResearchGate. ResearchGate

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