How to Heal from Generational Trauma: Practical Steps to Break the Cycle
You may already know that trauma can be passed down through families — shaping beliefs, behaviors, and emotional patterns across generations. If you’re new to this topic, start with our previous blog post: Understanding and Healing Generational Trauma: Breaking the Cycle.
This article focuses on the next step: practical ways to break the cycle and begin healing. Whether you’re just recognizing inherited patterns or ready to dive deeper into change, these tools can help you reclaim your story.
1. Recognize the Inherited Patterns
Awareness is powerful. Healing starts when you can see how family dynamics, unspoken rules, or survival strategies are influencing you today. Examples might include:
The belief that you must always be strong or self-sufficient
Patterns of silence around emotions
Cycles of perfectionism, addiction, or people-pleasing
Naming these patterns gives you the freedom to decide whether they still serve you.
2. Reconnect with Your Body
Generational trauma doesn’t only live in your mind — it’s carried in your nervous system. When stress responses are inherited, your body may stay stuck in patterns of hypervigilance or shutdown without you realizing it. Body-based approaches help you release what words can’t reach.
You might try:
Grounding through the senses — noticing colors in the room, naming sounds you hear, or pressing your feet into the floor to remind your body you’re safe in the present.
Gentle movement or shaking — trauma energy often gets “frozen” in the body. Light stretching, yoga, or even shaking out your arms can help release tension.
Regulated breathing — slowing your exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system, signaling to your body that it’s safe to relax.
Somatic therapy integrates these tools in a guided and supportive way so you don’t have to figure it out alone.
➡ Learn more about our somatic therapy approach.
3. Challenge Limiting Beliefs
Many people carry inherited scripts like:
“We don’t talk about problems.”
“Rest is lazy.”
“I’ll never be enough.”
Therapy can help you question these beliefs and replace them with truths that support healing, worthiness, and connection.
➡ Learn more about our EMDR therapy approach.
4. Practice New Relationship Patterns
Healing generational trauma means relating differently — both to yourself and others. This may include:
Setting boundaries where there were none
Choosing connection over avoidance
Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and seen
Even small changes in how you relate can begin to rewrite the family script.
5. Create Rituals of Release and Renewal
Rituals give structure to healing. They signal to the brain and body that something has shifted, helping you embody closure and renewal. This matters because trauma often leaves the nervous system in a state of unfinished business — rituals create a felt sense of completion.
Ideas include:
Journaling letters you’ll never send
Creating art that symbolizes release
Lighting a candle to honor past struggles while choosing a new path
Planting a tree or flower as a living symbol of new beginnings
Practicing a “letting go” meditation where you visualize releasing family burdens into flowing water
These small acts can transform abstract healing into something you feel and carry forward.
6. Seek Trauma-Informed Therapy
Generational trauma can feel heavy to navigate alone. EMDR, somatic therapy, and polyvagal-informed care give you tools to heal at the nervous-system level and reclaim agency in your life.
➡ Explore more about trauma therapy in Salt Lake City.
Frequently Asked Questions About Generational Trauma
Can generational trauma really be inherited?
Yes. Research in the field of epigenetics shows that trauma can impact how genes are expressed, influencing stress responses and emotional regulation in future generations. Even beyond biology, family patterns, beliefs, and behaviors often carry unprocessed trauma forward.
What’s the difference between generational trauma and inherited trauma?
The terms are often used interchangeably. “Generational trauma” usually refers to trauma passed down through family dynamics and culture, while “inherited trauma” sometimes emphasizes biological or epigenetic changes. Both describe the ways unhealed wounds can affect children and grandchildren.
How long does it take to heal generational trauma?
Healing looks different for everyone. Some people begin to notice shifts after a few months of therapy, while for others it’s a longer journey. What matters most is taking consistent steps — whether that’s through therapy, somatic practices, or building new relational patterns.
Do I have to confront my family to heal?
Not necessarily. Healing generational trauma doesn’t always mean revisiting the past with relatives. It’s about shifting how those patterns live in you today. Therapy provides tools to do this work even if family members aren’t directly involved.
Final Thoughts
Healing generational trauma isn’t about erasing the past — it’s about choosing a different future. By recognizing patterns, connecting with your body, and practicing new ways of relating, you become the turning point in your family’s story. The work you do today doesn’t just free you — it creates new possibilities for those who come after you. That’s the power of breaking cycles: healing ripples forward.
If you’d like a deeper understanding of how generational trauma begins, read our overview here: Understanding and Healing Generational Trauma: Breaking the Cycle.
And if you’re ready to take the next step, Salty Counseling offers trauma therapy in Salt Lake City, including EMDR and somatic therapy, to help you heal at the root. Ready to break the cycle of generational trauma? Schedule your free consultation today and take the first step toward healing.
