Impact of Trauma From Generation to Generation

Posted on October 28, 2020

JFS will offer “Impact of Trauma from Generation to Generation,” a two-part virtual free event on Thursday and Friday, December 3 and 4. This event was originally scheduled for the spring but had to be cancelled due to COVID.

The event will begin on Thursday, December 3 from 6:30 to 7:45PM with a presentation by Irit Felsen, Ph.D. Dr. Felsen, herself a child of Survivors, studied in Israel and Germany and did her post-doctoral training at the Yale Psychiatric Institute at Yale University. She is a member of the Yale Trauma Study Group, Genocide Studies Program, and an adjunct professor of psychology at Columbia University and Yeshiva University in New York City. She is the co-convener of the Trauma Working Group of the NGO Committee on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship to the UN. Dr. Felsen has published book chapters and articles in professional journals about survivors and inter-generational transmission in the second generation.

Her Thursday evening presentation from 8:00 to 9:00PM, “Through the Lens of the Holocaust: Trauma and Intergenerational Trauma” will examine the long-reaching reverberations of mass trauma influencing the individual survivor, spouses and children born years after trauma ends. The impact of trauma suffered at earlier phases in life can be experienced immediately but might also surface at much later times influencing objective and subjective physical and psychological well-being, as well as the quality of relationships in the family.

Also, on Thursday evening, Dr. Felsen will present “2G and 3G: Sharing a Unique Legacy” from 8:00 to 9:00PM. This will be an interactive session focused on the struggles and unique resiliencies related to being a child or grandchild of Holocaust survivors. It will be limited to 20 participants. REGISTRATION FOR THIS SESSION HAS REACHED CAPACITY AND IS NOW CLOSED.

On Friday, December 4, “Historical and Intergenerational Trauma” will begin with a presentation from 9:00 to 10:30AM followed by a panel discussion from 10:45 to 11:45AM. Participants will explore the processes involved in transmission of historical trauma among African-American, Indigenous, refugee and immigrant populations. Panelists will discuss their own experiences with the impact of historical trauma on second, third and in some cases many generations-long transmissions of trauma. Professionals can take advantage of 2.5 free CEUs.

“Family Dynamics and Difficult Issues in Treating Holocaust Families” will be offered on Friday from noon until 1:00PM. This presentation will include a discussion of specific issues that complicate relationships among family members as well as with healthcare providers working with Holocaust families. One free CEU will be available for professionals.

Impact of Trauma from Generation to Generation event partners include Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis (JFCS), Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC), Hamm Clinic, St. Paul Jewish Community Center (JCC), Sholom and a grant from the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).