mental health treatment intergenerational trauma

Additionally, trauma-informed and healing-aware approaches are essential to program success in addressing intergenerational trauma. The review highlights that there is a strong policy framework to address Indigenous Australians’ social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB), but few that explicitly address the interaction between intergenerational trauma and SEWB.

The paper adopts an Indigenous Standpoints approach meaning that Indigenous research and voices are privileged within the report. A comprehensive review of electronic databases was conducted to identify relevant literature. This paper aims to define the link between intergenerational trauma and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ mental health and to identify current best-practice policies and programs to address this issue. This chapter examines common experiences survivors may encounter immediately following or long after a traumatic experience. Providers need to understand how trauma can affect treatment presentation, engagement, and the outcome of behavioral health services. This prolonged and continuing exposure to trauma and risk factors places Indigenous Australians at a heightened risk of mental ill-health. Trauma-informed care (TIC) involves a broad understanding of traumatic stress reactions and common responses to trauma. The colonisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the oppressive practices that followed has resulted in a legacy of unaddressed intergenerational trauma. Where trauma is unacknowledged, it can result in the re-traumatisation of later generations. The link between exposure to trauma and increased risk of poor mental health is well established.

Social & emotional wellbeing Mental health Suicide prevention Family & community Culture, Country & spirituality Service provision Abstract

Mental health treatment intergenerational trauma