Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma

Dr. Galit Atlas, an internationally known psychoanalyst, draws on the emotional power of her patients' stories and her own life experiences to shed light on the extraordinary ways in which inherited family trauma affects our lives; illuminating (Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone) The people we love and those who raised us live inside us; we experience their emotional pain, we dream their memories, and these things shape our lives in ways we don't always recognize. Emotional Inheritance is about family secrets that keep us from living to our full potential, create gaps between what we want for ourselves and what we are able to have, and haunt us like ghosts. In this transformative book, Galit Atlas entwines the stories of her patients, her own stories, and decades of research to help us identify the links between our life struggles and the emotional inheritance we all carry. For it is only by following the traces those ghosts leave that we can truly change our destiny.

About the Author :
Galit Atlas, PhD, is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor in private practice in New York City. She is on the faculty of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis. She is a faculty member of the National Training Programs (NTP) and the Four Year Adult training program of the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NIP). Dr. Atlas has published three books for clinicians and numerous articles and book chapters that focus primarily on gender and sexuality. Her New York Times publication A Tale of Two Twins was the winner of a 2016 Gradiva Award. A leader in the field of relational psychoanalysis, Dr. Atlas is a recipient of the Andre Francois Research Award and the NADT Research Award. She teaches and lectures throughout the United States and internationally. Galit Atlas, PhD, is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor in private practice in New York City. She is on the faculty of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis. She is a faculty member of the National Training Programs (NTP) and the Four Year Adult training program of the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NIP). Dr. Atlas has published three books for clinicians and numerous articles and book chapters that focus primarily on gender and sexuality. Her New York Times publication A Tale of Two Twins was the winner of a 2016 Gradiva Award. A leader in the field of relational psychoanalysis, Dr. Atlas is a recipient of the Andre Francois Research Award and the NADT Research Award. She teaches and lectures throughout the United States and internationally.

Review :
A powerful, lucid, deeply empathic exploration of the legacy of generational trauma, Emotional Inheritance makes clear that Galit Atlas is not only a gifted psychoanalyst, but a gifted writer as well. I loved this book and was stirred by it. -- "Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance " An intimate, textured, and compassionate exploration of intergenerational trauma, how it is carried and transmitted within families, and how it can be skillfully invited in, recognized, attenuated, and perhaps resolved through the therapeutic relationship, metabolizing what has hitherto not been named or nameable. -- "Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of The Healing Power of Mindfulness " Beautiful, artistic, elegant. -- "Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, coauthor of What Happened to You?" Dr. Atlas writes with profound living compassion for those who have carried, in their bodies, minds, hearts, spirits, and souls, the most often unspoken and secret traumas of their own hurt elders. She writes in full knowing detail about what I call in my work 'the generational wound.' -- "Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés Reyés, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves" Dr. Atlas's book reads like a propulsive page-turner, while also offering deep psychological insights about inherited trauma and family secrets. This book will undoubtedly change lives and help readers unlock their unfulfilled potential. -- "Christie Tate, author of Group " Illuminating. The stories Dr. Atlas shares reveal the potency of our inherited wounds, showing how the experiences of our ancestors shape our lives in quiet but far-reaching ways, and how we all have the potential to heal. -- " Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone " With warmth and compassion, Galit Atlas shares patient stories, giving us a glimpse behind our own curtains and helping us understand that if we are open to the possibility of hope, now might be the right time to break the silence our ancestors have held for so long. -- " Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness "