Even though humans grasp the double-helix-shaped chain of our DNA strands, very little is understood about the information that is passed down from generation to generation. Physical attributes can be decisively attributed to the traits of our ancestors but what about the memories, and traumas that make up our emotional inheritance? To discover the ways emotional inheritance can nurture us, and cause grief, secrets, and confusion, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two female authors about their findings about the legacy of trauma. Galit Atlas is a psychoanalyst whose book, Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma, explores how multigenerational trauma is held in our minds and body. Author of the bestselling, Survivor Cafe: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory, Elizabeth Rosner reveals the importance of unearthing the path, and atrocities of our ancestors so we may move into the healing phase.  

About Lisa’s guests:

Dr. Galit Atlas is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor in private practice in Manhattan. She is a clinical assistant professor on the faculty of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis and faculty at the National Training Program (NTP) and the Four-Year Adult training program at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NIP) in New York City.

Elizabeth Rosner is a bestselling novelist, poet, and essayist. Her most recent book of nonfiction, Survivor Cafe: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory, was featured on NPR and in The New York Times; it was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award and named one of the best books of 2017 by the San Francisco Chronicle. She’s received literary prizes for her novels in the US and Europe; she is based in Berkeley CA and leads writing workshops internationally.