Nervous: Essays on Heritage and Healing by Jen Soriano brings to light the complexities of intergenerational trauma, unconventional healing modalities, and the crucial role of community and family in healing. Cold Tea Reads interviewed Soriano about what it takes to transform trauma individually and in a greater society.
Intergenerational trauma and personal healing
For Soriano, understanding her intergenerational trauma involved listening to her body and believing what was happening to it. “What would happen if we listened to our bodies and believed its stories?” She says, “That is really one of the book’s main messages.”
Tapping into somatic experiences challenges Western societal norms that often prioritize rationality over emotion and physical sensations. What presented as chronic pain in her body stemmed from a traumatic birth experience she later discovered as she was seeking relief. Soriano details her own embodied flashbacks: “I felt like I was a baby on my back and fighting for my life. I spread my arms, kicking my legs like I couldn’t get up.”
Additionally, Soriano’s exploration of her body also revealed connections to her grandfather’s experiences in the Second World War. “I was carrying some of the trauma of his loss [in my family], even some of the trauma that he went through in the war,” Soriano reveals. “I think it’s common for people with ancestral influences. But we just don’t necessarily talk about it, especially if you’re a woman of color, you get dismissed as crazy.”
See also: Dear Kiki: I want to learn more about my parents’ immigration experience. How can I start a dialogue?
Building her communities of care
In Nervous, Soriano emphasizes the creation of communities of care where wellness becomes a value practice. This approach involves helping each other with access to care and challenging the barriers created by societal and cultural dismissals of mental health…
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