Breaking the Chains of Transgenerational Trauma: My Journey from Surviving to Thriving

by Dorothy Husen

An amazing story, along with self-help exercises, about transgenerational trauma.  Dorothy Husen, a licensed therapist and captivating storyteller, shares how her family's trauma passed down from parent to child and how she through mind/body psychotherapy broke the cycle and healed her family's transgenerational trauma. "How could something that happened so long ago affect me today?" I asked my therapist right after she told me I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). How could an assault at six years old be the defining factor in my adult existence?

And with those questions, my life's trajectory changed. I began to search for answers.

This is the story of that journey. A journey that took me deep into past traumas to face memories I'd tried to bury my whole life. A journey that revealed how my trauma was not mine alone but was connected to my parents' and grandparents' traumas. A journey that showed me how this transgenerational trauma had controlled my thoughts, my choices, and my life. And how it now infected my children's lives as well.

This is a story of how I finally broke the cycle of transgenerational trauma and found healing-not only for me but for my children. And now, I share that healing with you. I invite you to travel along with me, practice the exercises at the end of each chapter, and begin your own healing journey from surviving to thriving.

Genres: Psychology, Biography

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 13, 2021

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, I kinda struggled with… Dorothy Husen opens up about her own experiences, and it is a little reassuring to feel like she actually understands because she’s lived through it, not just studied other people’s pain. However, some of the accounts of her sexual abuse are triggering.

Not only did she talk about it, which can trigger some, but what triggers me is that she gave a first-hand account, explaining her thoughts and feelings at the time as if it was occurring now, rather than presenting the experience as a sequence of events, as facts. Adding the emotional aspect to the account can be extremely triggering. I had to skim a lot of these segments to minimize the emotional reactions.

Another major issue I had is that she makes a lot of excuses for her mother’s lack of care and support. I do understand the point that she’s making, that her mother had her own traumas. The issue is that she never healed herself or the relationship with her daughter. At the end of the day it was a very abusive and neglectful relationship, and it feels like she’s promoting for others to maintain those relationships but to try to understand their abusers, whole putting the responsibility on the child to implement and maintain boundaries.

I like that there are exercises at the end of each chapter. Especially for the typical reader of this type of book, regular “check-in” prompts are a nice and useful touch. I also like the meditation exercises and breathing techniques to help you connect with your body and inner child. The “attune to yourself” exercise is a little lacking though. Disassociation and dysregulation are often deeper than that, and would benefit from deeper meditation and yoga, along with other forms of therapy. Overall the exercises are great, particularly the body scan, where it discusses how we learn to define and reflect on our emotions. I found this particularly relevant.

Despite my reservations where she makes excuses for her mother’s neglectful parenting, I loved how she told the histories of each of her parents as well. As the topic of Trauma is gaining in popularity, we often talk about our childhoods and how it’s shaped us. I love that she invites us to reflect on what could have caused our caretakers to be how they were, so we can understand better, to break the trauma cycle.

Additional notes:
The Heart Breathing exercise in Chapter 6 is disjointed and confusing. Then there are a bunch of random pictures of people we haven’t heard of yet (like her husband and kids) before chapter 7.

Interesting to read her views of the church, shame and women’s value. I also found myself turning away from religion after different traumatic events, and hearing her explain why resonates with me.

I want to send a thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Rachel Heslin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, informative, and useful
Breaking the Chains of Transgenerational Trauma is an excellent book. The author seamlessly weaves together personal stories, fascinating explanations of human psychology, and simple but effective techniques to help readers learn how the break through their own negative patterns so they can develop healthier relationships with themselves and others in their own lives. Highly recommended.

(I received a promotional copy of the book and am providing a voluntary review because it's *really* good.)

[Sharon Naylor Toris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. For any person trying to wade through some jumbled family issues and emotional traumas, plenty is found here to present new perspectives and a wellspring of questions to prompt some excellent journaling. The author has explored the topic from many angles, and we get a nice supply of healing and empowering tools with which to continue a healing journey. Very worth your time and energy. This is a book you'll want to read a few times, letting your insights marinate along the way.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a mental health professional I lap up any books related to mental health issues, and this one was no exception. I love what Dorothy has done here for raising awareness of both PTSD, and transgenerational trauma. A thought-provoking, insightful and honest read, this was fascinating and really helps to explain how traumatic events can have such a long-lasting and far-reaching impact on individuals and their loved ones. Highly recommend this.

[Bek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a psychology graduate, so the idea of this was extremely interesting to me. This book made me view the idea of trauma being passed down as a very real possibility.

It’s a very interesting read, however there were some first person accounts of the authors sexual assault that I wasn’t prepare for. Might have benefitted from some trigger warnings

[bohemianrhapsodyreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction book about a person who overcame post traumatic stress disorder.

I just reviewed Breaking the Chains of Transgenerational Trauma by Dorothy Husen. #BreakingtheChainsofTransgenerationalTrauma #NetGalley

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this book because the accounts of trama were very upsetting to read, but I liked the writing exercises at the end of each chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Fed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for sharing your story. The realizations I gained regarding the “mother-daughter relationship” really great, so thank you again!
The narrator has made it sound like an angry story though.

[Daniel Jaramillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. It's difficult not to engage with the writters life story. I have greatly benefited from the suggested excercises to heal childhood traumas.

[Randi-Lee Bowslaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is easy to say you will change things but not so easy to do. Dorothy shares her story (she knows what she is talking about) and gives exercises to help you be the cycle breaker. I couldn't put the book down!