Throughout the month of May, we’re releasing new episodes of the Wake the F*ck Up podcast that are all about mother-child relationships, mothering, the mother wound, and how the experiences you have as a child with your mother or parents can have a huge impact on your attachment style and the relationships you have as an adult.
This week, our hosts Alix and David sit down to discuss a wide range of relationship topics including:
- Avoidance, especially conflict avoidance
- Suppressed emotions
- Unresolved issues with family, generational trauma
- Difficulty trusting others
- Chronic stress and physical health issues
- Overgeneralized beliefs and survival messages
- Strategies for relationship success
Alix kicks things off by addressing some of the most asked questions from our Wake listeners, including “How do I know if I have a generational trauma? What is a generational trauma and how can I heal from that?” Through a traumatic experience (whether inside or outside the home) a person develops fears and survival skills to protect themselves. As each generation follows, these very same survival skills and fears are passed on from parent to children. It’s a complex emotional story that can be hard to untangle, because by the time it comes to you, it can be three to four (or more!) generations deep, following these same thought processes and survival patterns. Generally, people feel very strongly about the thought patterns established generationally, so they can be very defining characteristics.
Survival skills and fears that are passed down through generations may show up in a variety of different ways, like trust issues, codependency, perfectionism, conflict avoidance or suppressed emotions. Alix and David delve into a discussion about how generational trauma can have a profound effect on family dynamics, particularly focusing on parent-child relationships. The conversation highlights the challenges faced in breaking free from inherited patterns passed down through generations.
