Therapy for Children of Immigrants
You’ve never really fit in; not cultural enough for your family’s culture, not American enough for the U.S.
As a child of immigrants, you’re caught between two worlds: the culture you were born in, and the culture you’re expected to continue within the family.
You juggle meeting family expectations with your own desire to heal your inherited family trauma. You ask yourself, how do you keep the parts of your culture you love while understanding how to distance yourself and heal from the toxic parts? You notice your childhood trauma resurfacing in adulthood and want to figure out how to work on it with a therapist that integrates cultural considerations in therapy.
In cultural therapy, you don’t have to feel crazy for feeling stuck between wanting independence and being affected by your family’s guilt trips.
Intergenerational trauma healing is possible. With a mix of complex trauma treatment, mind body healing, identity exploration, and processing inherited family trauma, we work together on your journey to break family cycles and create a cultural identity unique and authentic to you. Working with a BIPOC therapist gives you the space to feel validated in your emotions and experiences, know, you’re not alone, and truly hold hope for a better future.
As a BIPOC therapist, Iranian therapist, and a child of immigrants, I get it.
In therapy for children of immigrants, we’ll focus on:
Building awareness of your inherited family trauma and your childhood trauma responses surfacing in adulthood
Intergenerational trauma healing and complex PTSD healing through trauma therapy interventions, mind body bridging, and mindfulness habits
Empowering you to make decisions, improve assertiveness, and increase self-esteem
Creating a cultural identity for yourself that respects your bi-cultural values and desires for your future self
FAQs
-
Intergenerational trauma is inherited family trauma cycles that show up in our emotions and behavior. These are things that feel like our identity and we may not realize have been consistent in our ancestors for generations down the line, leaving us highly susceptible to follow their path.
Intergenerational trauma examples include being in abusive relationships, anxiety, harsh parenting styles leading to complex trauma in childhood, people pleasing, and more.
-
Research shows that trauma-related changes, such as heightened cortisol responses and increased anxiety sensitivity, can be passed down through generations genetically, impacting emotional regulation, stress responses, and mental health risks. This phenomenon, often seen in survivors of war, displacement, and childhood adversity, explains how intergenerational trauma shapes brain function.
While genetics play a role, complex PTSD healing through mindfulness interventions, and nervous system regulation can help break these cycles.
-
Signs of inherited family trauma include but are not limited to:
Seeing the same types of behavioral tendencies across family members such as anxiety, depression or anger management struggles
Patterns of relationship struggles or repeating toxic dynamics
Feeling responsible for others' emotions or family burdens
Physical symptoms like chronic pain, digestive issues, or fatigue
-
Culturally sensitive therapy is therapy with a culturally competent therapist that recognizes and respects a client’s cultural background, values, and lived experiences.
It involves understanding systemic and generational influences on stress, trauma, and coping. Therapy is adapted to align with your beliefs and worldview rather than a solely westernized, individualistic approach.
-
BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. While many children of immigrants are BIPOC, not all are. Immigration experiences span across racial and ethnic groups, including white and non-BIPOC communities.