DISCLAIMER
This framework is still in the making. Some sections are unfinished or may evolve as we continue refining the language, tools, and structure.
⌗ Comparative Framework Chart
Framework 7 – “Rebuilding Generational Bridges” × Core Theories of Inter-Generational Trauma, Family Systems & Cross-Cultural Development
Paretas Bridge-Step | Core Healing Move | Family-Systems / Attachment Anchor | Inter-Generational-Trauma Evidence | Cross-Cultural / Relational-Ethics Lens | Key Thinkers / Models |
7.1 What We Inherited / Needed | Name the emotional legacy; separate need from role. | Bowen’s multigenerational transmission & “differentiation of self.” | Verbal & physical aggression operate as carriers of maternal trauma to child emotional problems. | Danieli’s cultural-memory lens; ACE-framework shows universal & culture-specific patterns. | Bowen • Runyan (LONGSCAN) • Danieli |
7.2 Understanding ≠ Excusing | Hold compassion without erasing impact. | Boszormenyi-Nagy’s Contextual Therapy: balance of “relational ledger” & destructive entitlement. | “Harsh parenting” mediates trauma → child internalising / externalising symptoms. | Sharma’s Cultural Framework of Generational Trauma (CFGT): empathy + accountability across cultures. | Nagy • Sharma • Fitzgerald |
7.3 Shame Around Aging & Innocence | Re-value youth & elders; fight worth = productivity myth. | Structural Family Therapy: hierarchy flexibility; Minuchin’s “disengaged/rigid” generations. | Scoping review notes stigma magnifies trauma in both children & elders across societies. | Indigenous “Elder-in-Council” models: wisdom as communal resource (e.g., Māori kaumātua). | Minuchin • Chou & Buchanan |
7.4 Elders Are Not the Enemy | Differentiate toxic vs. true elderhood; invite generative roles. | Erikson’s “Generativity vs Stagnation” → healthy elders mentor, not dominate. | Contextual Therapy: fair care restores “relational ethics” across generations. | BRIDGE-Project (EU): structured mutual knowledge transfer juniors↔seniors. | Erikson • Knudson-Martin |
7.5 Respect ≠ Submission | Redefine respect as bilateral safety & truth. | Attachment re-negotiation: move from fearful-avoidant to secure-earned contracts in adulthood. | Trauma studies show relational fairness buffers chronic stress responses. | Ubuntu (Sub-Saharan): “I am because we are” – dignity is mutual, not hierarchical. | Bowlby • Porges |
7.6 Kids Don’t Owe Contact | Assert consent & nervous-system safety before filial duty. | Boundary-setting = differentiation; Bowen’s “emotional cutoff.” | Research on estrangement shows safety needs override genetic ties in trauma families. | Western vs. collectivist tension: CFGT stresses cultural nuance in deciding contact. | Bowen • Brown & Shifren |
7.7 Chosen Family | Build voluntary, values-based bonds. | Satir’s family-reconstruction: create functional “parts-party” outside origin clan. | Resilience literature: non-kin “protective adults” disrupt trauma transmission. | LGBTQ+ “families of choice” as cross-cultural template for post-trauma belonging. | Satir • Riaz & Curley |
7.8 Legacy = Story We Leave | Craft new narrative of care, not pain. | Narrative Therapy: externalise inherited scripts, author preferred future. | Longitudinal trauma work shows meaning-making interrupts epigenetic stress markers. | Cross-generational storytelling (e.g., Día de Muertos in Coco) heals communal memory. | White & Epston • Siegel |
Why These Theories Validate the Framework
- Family-systems research confirms that unprocessed caregiver trauma shapes “roles we didn’t choose,” exactly the inheritance Paretas names.
- Contextual Therapy adds the ethical ledger—understanding without excusing—which the framework places at the bridge’s center.
- Cross-cultural reviews show that the same harm→transmission→repair cycle appears in Holocaust, Indigenous, and domestic-violence contexts, supporting the framework’s global applicability.
5
- Developmental-stage theory (Erikson) and attachment science explain why redefining elderhood, respect, and contact is pivotal for adult children seeking secure autonomy.
Pushing the Bridge Further
- Measure progress with the Inter-Generational Family Relations Scale + Adult Attachment Interview pre/post. • Pair “chosen-family” sessions with BRIDGE-style inter-age mentorship circles to practice new elder/younger roles. • Use Polyvagal mapping: dorsal/shut-down (legacy shame) → sympathetic (boundary setting) → ventral (co-created legacy).
These integrations ground Paretas’ narrative-rich framework in decades of empirical family and trauma science—turning poetic common sense into evidence-aligned practice.
This is a place for people who care—about dignity, about repair, about building something better.
We believe emotions are real knowledge.
That clarity and safety should be universal.
That healing shouldn’t require perfection.
Here, we grow. Together.
The Emotional Gradient Blueprint (TEG-Blue™) © 2025 by Anna Paretas
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This is a living document. Please cite responsibly.
🌐 emotionalblueprint.org ┃ 📩 annaparetas@emotionalblueprint.org