Find a therapist for transgenerational trauma

Transgenerational patterns can be difficult to identify precisely because they feel like a baseline rather than something acquired.

Common signs

• Anxiety, grief, or fear that does not have a clear origin in your own personal history
• Relational patterns that repeat across generations in your family
• Family silences around specific events, periods, or losses that were never discussed but feel present
• A felt sense of carrying something that was not originally yours, without being able to name what it is
• Emotional responses to particular themes, places, or stories that feel disproportionate to your personal connection to them
• Difficulty with specific aspects of closeness, safety, or trust that mirrors patterns in a parent or grandparent

Other common experiences

• Complex PTSD or PTSD symptoms without a clear traumatic event in your own history
• A sense of loyalty or obligation toward earlier generations that shapes your choices or sense of freedom
• Intrusive thoughts or images connected to family history

Only a qualified therapist experienced in transgenerational work can assess whether a transgenerational frame is clinically relevant for your specific situation. If you are experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please contact a crisis line or your nearest emergency service.

Transgenerational trauma is addressed through approaches that can work with inherited patterns, family systems, and the deeper layers of relational and somatic experience.

• Systemic therapy Systemic therapy works with the family as a system across generations, exploring how patterns, roles, and unspoken narratives are transmitted and maintained, and supporting their transformation.
• Trauma informed care Trauma-informed care provides the foundational framework for working with inherited trauma, prioritising safety, pacing, and the individual's sense of control throughout.
• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) EMDR can be adapted to work with material that is experienced as inherited rather than directly lived, helping to process and reduce the emotional charge of transgenerational experiences.
• Psychodynamic therapy Psychodynamic approaches explore the unconscious transmission of family patterns and unresolved experience across generations, working toward greater differentiation and self-understanding.
• IFS (Internal Family Systems) IFS works with the internal parts that carry transgenerational material, including parts that have taken on the burdens of earlier generations, supporting their release and integration.

Choosing an approach isn't something you have to do alone. IC's matching can pair you with a therapist whose approach suits your situation. Get matched.

It's Complicated is a therapist-founded mental health platform connecting clients with verified practitioners across Europe and globally, in over 60 languages. We work with over 2,500 vetted therapists, with in-person availability in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Vienna, and other major cities, alongside online sessions worldwide. It's Complicated is free to use, and you pay your chosen therapist directly at rates they set. Finding a therapist who understands transgenerational transmission and can work with both individual and systemic dimensions of the experience requires a specific kind of search. Our matching service is built to remove that friction. You complete a short survey, our psychologists combine data-driven insights with human judgement to identify the right therapists for your situation, and you choose from a shortlist of strong candidates. You can also browse our directory directly if you'd prefer to choose yourself. Get matched with a therapist who specialises in transgenerational trauma, or browse the directory.