Research We’re Excited About | Intergenerational Trauma: Insights from Dr. Rachel Yehuda
In our recurring series, Research We’re Excited About, we’ll be sharing research that expands our knowledge and informs our integrative approach to mental health—studies that deepen our understanding of the mind-body connection, lifestyle and nutrition, psychotherapy, and emerging frontiers like psychedelic-assisted therapy. This is research that goes beyond a disorder-based model of care, valuing not just symptom relief but also what supports human flourishing, connection, and wholeness.
Dr. Yehuda is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, and she currently directs the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research at Mount Sinai.
Her research has shown that the effects of trauma can be passed down biologically from one generation to the next through changes in gene expression, particularly via epigenetic mechanisms—changes that influence how genes are turned on or off in response to environmental exposures.
Studying diverse populations—from Holocaust survivors and their children to combat veterans and 9/11 responders—Dr. Yehuda has demonstrated how trauma alters stress response systems like the HPA axis, a key hormonal pathway involved in regulating stress, often increasing inflammation and other biological processes that contribute to chronic health issues.
This concept—intergenerational trauma—has deepened the way we think about resilience, healing, and inherited patterns.
It also offers biological validation for what many people intuitively feel: that we carry aspects of our family history in our bodies and minds, often in ways we don’t fully understand.
Dr. Yehuda’s work also speaks to the hopefulness of healing. By identifying the biological traces of trauma, we can begin to imagine interventions that target not just symptoms, but systems—restoring regulation, shifting patterns, and supporting both individual and collective recovery.
At New York Integrative Psychiatry, this research reinforces why we center trauma-informed, relational, and integrative care.
Where we come from matters —
and so does the support we offer along the way.
"Understanding a person’s generational history helps us see the deeper context of their struggles—what they’ve inherited, what they’ve adapted to, and what they're carrying that may not be theirs alone. It opens the door to more compassionate, care.”
- Emily Hackenburg, FNP
This content has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Ben Medrano, Medical Director.