From Generation to Generation
From Generation to Generation is one of the projects of Resilience and Recovery Studies, which aims to increase psychological resilience by helping individuals of all ages discover the strengths, values, and coping strategies of previous generations and use them as a resource in their own lives.
When individuals are aware of the emotional, intellectual, and cultural heritage they inherit from their families and previous generations—in other words, their family history—they have the opportunity to carry on or change that legacy. Such awareness plays a crucial role in how individuals make sense of themselves and their lives, and how they shape them.
Trauma is known to have significant impacts not only on individuals who have experienced challenging life events but also on their loved ones and the professionals who support them. Trauma can also be transmitted from one generation to the next. This transmission process occurs through the interaction of epigenetic, psychological, physiological, and sociocultural mechanisms. However, studies on the intergenerational transmission of trauma reveal that not only negative effects but also resilience and coping capacity can be transmitted between generations. Individuals who have experienced trauma can pass on the psychological resilience and adaptive coping strategies they have developed in the face of adversity to their children and grandchildren. This necessitates a more holistic approach to addressing the effects of trauma across generations and developing resilience-focused interventions.
A genogram is one of the most effective ways to understand intergenerational transmission in psychotherapy. A genogram is a graphical tool that helps us interpret an individual's extended family, family roles, relationship patterns between family members, and recurring intergenerational themes. This allows us to contextualize the problems an individual presents.
The Generation to Generation Project is a community mental health project that aims to contribute to this awareness by helping individuals of all ages discover the strengths, values, and coping strategies of previous generations and use them as resources in their own lives. It focuses on raising individuals' awareness of psychological resilience through the Genogram intervention technique and conducting research on this concept. These studies are conducted through individual interviews, group interviews, and workshops with different age groups and populations within various foundations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), nursing homes, and universities.
In this context, the From Generation to Generation Project;
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To support individuals in integrating "what they bring from their families and cultural backgrounds" with "the values and strengths that belong to themselves and their generation",
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To hold interviews and workshops with individuals and groups with different needs and demographics to re-interpret the challenges they experience by focusing on their resilience, to discover the strengths and coping mechanisms they bring from their families and cultures, and to create a social group where they can share this perspective,
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As experts serving in the field of mental health, we follow the traces of the concept of psychological resilience in our country with a psychological resilience-focused and systemic perspective, with a perspective that is sensitive and curious about our own culture,
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It aims to contribute to laying the foundations of a more understanding and peaceful society composed of individuals who are aware of their own values and strengths and who have been able to create a holistic identity by internalizing the past, present and future.