A Framework for Understanding Intergenerational Trauma in the Black and Brown Diaspora

Can politics really be left outside the therapy room when exploring intergenerational trauma and anti-oppressive practice?

Within the current social and political climate, questions of history, power, identity, and structural inequality shape how trauma is experienced, understood, and transmitted across generations. For many Black and Brown diasporic communities, the impact of trauma cannot be separated from the broader social, cultural, and political environments in which individuals and families live.

In A Framework for Understanding Intergenerational Trauma in the Black and Brown Diaspora, Novena-Chanel Davies introduces the Integrative Epigenetic Relational Approach (IERA-Therapy®), a model that explores how trauma is transmitted, embodied, and transformed across generations.

Drawing on insights from epigenetics, relational psychotherapy, neuroscience, attachment theory, and socio-political analysis, this book presents a framework that considers the biological, relational, and societal forces shaping emotional and psychological development.

Positioned at the intersection of trauma, identity, and social context, this work invites practitioners, educators, researchers, and students to reconsider how therapy engages with history, power, and lived experience when supporting individuals and communities affected by migration, structural inequality, and intergenerational trauma.

This book explores:

• Intergenerational trauma and its relational transmission
• Epigenetics and the biological imprint of lived experience
• The nervous system, threat detection, and neuroception
• The social and political dimensions of psychological development
• The impact of racialised systems within healthcare, policing, education, and social care
• The implications of colonial systems on identity and relational structures
• Classifications of trauma, parental wounding, survival archetypes, and the development of the Strong Black Woman and Strong Black Man survival adaptations
• Anti-oppressive practice in psychotherapy
• The Integrative Epigenetic Relational Approach (IERA-Therapy®)

This text offers a thoughtful and interdisciplinary contribution to contemporary discussions on trauma, healing, and the future of relational psychotherapy.

Novena-Chanel Davies is a Counsellor, Lecturer, and Author dedicated to healing intergenerational trauma. She is the founder of Epigenetic Relational Therapy Academy (ERTA) and the creator of the Integrative Epigenetic Relational Therapy Approach - IERA-Therapy(TM), a framework that integrates trauma-informed, systemic, and biological approaches to therapy.Novena-Chanel is the author of IERA-Therapy(TM) Framework: A Holistic Approach to Healing Intergenerational Trauma - The Biological, Systemic, and Sociopolitical Forces That Shape Us. Her work explores how epigenetics, intergenerational trauma, and neurodivergence influence mental health and well-being.As a certified Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master and Clinical Supervisor, Novena-Chanel advocates for mental health, diversity, and social justice, providing training, supervision, and education for therapists and professionals working with marginalised communities.When she's not writing or teaching, Novena-Chanel enjoys spending time with her children in nature, practicing yoga, exploring plant-based recipes with family and friends, and engaging in creative pursuits like dressmaking and motorbike racing.