Creative Writing as a Therapeutic Space for Processing Transgenerational Trauma

In this article, I will discuss the meaning of creative writing as a symbolic therapeutic space for descendants of people who underwent severe traumatic experiences with the aim of continuing processes of healing and integration between the parts of the psyche and between past and present. I have chosen to use my personal experience as a source for deep psychological discussion. I shall begin by presenting an imaginary letter I wrote to my grandmother, whom I never met and who perished in the Holocaust, as an example of coping with severe acute trauma that occurred in previous generations. Next, I will address the art domain as a space for processing trauma by those of the first generation who experienced it directly and show how trauma to which parents were subjected is transmitted at times to their descendants in future generations as well. Then, I will examine how mental development can be facilitated through creative writing by the second generation to the trauma, reinforcing their sense of hope and perception of reality by psychological processes that accompany this type of writing. These include processes of mirroring and containment, the ability to create the object, to rehabilitate the transitional space, to play, while integrating the traumatic family history into one's psyche and being and processing grief. I shall examine these concepts by analysing portions of the letter. In this way, I shall show how a creative process can serve as a symbolic therapeutic space for processing intergenerational trauma.