Some pain didn’t start with you.

Generational (or intergenerational) trauma is the impact of harm that one generation lived through, carried into the next. In South Africa, that can mean the legacy of apartheid, forced removals, land dispossession, migrant labour that split families, poverty, community violence, and the silence many families used to survive.

It often shows up without a clear cause: anxiety that runs in the family, difficulty expressing love, harsh discipline repeated without choosing it, alcohol used to cope, or a feeling of never being safe even when things are fine. Families of every background carry their own versions — war, migration, addiction, abuse.

We don’t ask you to leave your history, culture or politics at the door. Understanding where the pain came from is not about blame — it’s about finally being able to choose what you keep, and what stops with you.