Lineage Healing: Breaking the Cycle of Inherited Hurt
January 21, 2025
Healing Beyond Yourself
Recovery from CPTSD is not just about addressing your own pain—it’s about breaking generational cycles. My mentor has always emphasized that to move from “good” to “great” in CPTSD recovery, a combination of Internal Family Systems (IFS) parts work and lineage healing is essential.
Generational trauma—an inheritance of hurt—may not have started with you, but it can stop with you. This is the profound legacy of generational healing: transforming the pain of the past into a gift for future generations.
Softening the Separation
One of the most unexpected lessons in my CPTSD recovery journey has been the softening of hard feelings toward family members who repeatedly caused hurt & harm. Feeling disconnected from the people who are supposed to be your greatest source of connection is complicated.
In families marked by cycles of trauma, judgment, blame, shame, and comparison is not a place where love and harmony is fostered. I coped the way many survivors do: fawning, freezing, fleeing, flooding, or, when I hit my limit, fighting.
But healing opened a door I didn’t expect—compassion. This softening doesn’t erase the harm, but it gives me the space to rewrite the story and approach my relationships with more understanding.
This Work Is Bigger Than You Think
I’ve always been curious about ancestry, family stories, and history. So when my mentor introduced me to lineage journeys, I was open to the process. Over the past two years, I’ve immersed myself in guided lineage work, and the results have been profound.
Like IFS parts work, lineage journeys invite you to step out of your head and into your heart. It’s not a practice you “think” your way through—it’s a practice of connection and trust. Each journey reveals a meaningful insight or “download” that opens a new space for healing.
For example, much like breathwork, I’ve received connections—words, symbols, even animals—that felt deeply personal and transformative. It’s like piecing together a puzzle, one profound moment at a time.
Recovery Crosses Time and Space
Seeing a thread of connection within a line or between lines, often traumatic, can help ease the resentment & bitterness that comes with relational trauma. You can finally see that the hurt & harm you experienced was much bigger than you or your immediate family.
One of the most powerful aspects of lineage healing is seeing the threads of trauma and resilience woven across generations. This work helps dissolve feelings of resentment or bitterness tied to relational trauma.
It also offers a new perspective: the pain you’ve experienced isn’t just about your immediate family. It’s rooted in generational wounds—a loss of connection to love, Spirit, and the Divine. These wounds, passed down through DNA and survival patterns, shape your inheritance of hurt.
But there’s hope. Lineage healing helps you release the burdens of the past while embracing the gifts of your ancestors. It’s empowering to recognize that breaking the cycle in the present transforms the legacy for the future.
My Personal Journey
Lineage journey facilitation is lovely to receive especially as a wounded healer whose job it is to give energy & hold space. Thankfully, my training in psychedelic assisted therapy prepared me for a guided experience that is NOT “cerebral.” You can’t think your way through this & in fact staying in your head can block an unfolding.
Each journey shows you something – to receive, contemplate, or deepen. I’ve consistently found a word, meaning, symbol, or animal that is presented in the journey. For me, receiving these tokens has been akin to putting the pieces of a puzzle together.
Recently, I revisited a guided journey & at the final prompt at the end of the guided journey, a turtle appeared (in my mind’s eye). For me, the turtle stood for a return to innocence, openness &wonder and conveyed permission for my life to unfold & move at a slower pace than others.
An Invitation to Heal
What could parts work and lineage journeys do for your recovery?
If this resonates, I encourage you to start with parts work. Begin by creating space to connect with yourself—then, when you’re ready, explore connecting with your ancestors. Look through family photos, practice cultural traditions, or simply get curious about your lineage.
When the time feels right, I invite you to schedule a RESET session with me to explore lineage healing. Together, we’ll take the next steps toward clarity, healing, and empowerment.
Further Resources
For a deeper dive into generational trauma and healing, I recommend:
- Book: It Didn’t Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are & How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn
- Website: Mark Wolynn’s Resources