Witnessing the Shared Story of Intergenerational Trauma in a Chinese Canadian Family: An Autoethnographic Narrative

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47634/cjcp.v57i`1.74700

Abstract

This article presents the narrative of the first author witnessing the process of sharing intergenerational trauma (IGT) stories between a parent-offspring dyad. The narrative described in this paper is part of a study that involved the construction of IGT narratives in Chinese Canadian families (Chou et al., 2023). Arvay’s (2003) Collaborative Narrative Method was utilized to develop participant narratives, while autoethnographic data was used to construct the researcher’s narrative. The paper introduces an intergenerational family dyad (father-daughter) engaging in a facilitated process that involved sharing their IGT stories with one another and presented from the researcher’s perspective. The study has implications for researchers and practitioners working with IGT in the Chinese diasporic community as well as other ethnocultural groups. It provides insight into a scarcely studied phenomenon and illustrates how IGT narratives can be shared in a facilitated and supportive manner and has implications for research and clinical practice.

Author Biographies

Fred Chou, University of Victoria

Fred Chou is an assistant professor in counselling psychology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. His research and clinical interests focus on intergenerational trauma, narrative approaches to psychotherapy and research, and Asian mental health in Canada. He is also a registered psychologist in the province of British Columbia.

Carmen Huang, Richmond, British Columbia

Carmen Huang is a registered clinical counsellor and a British Columbia–certified teacher. She currently works as a clinical counsellor on the integrated child and youth teams in the Richmond school district of British Columbia. Her research and clinical interests focus on intergenerational trauma and resilience, Asian mental health, and community-informed integrated approaches that foster collective healing.

Published

2024-07-15

How to Cite

Chou, F., & Huang, C. (2024). Witnessing the Shared Story of Intergenerational Trauma in a Chinese Canadian Family: An Autoethnographic Narrative. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 57(1). https://doi.org/10.47634/cjcp.v57i`1.74700

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Section

Articles/ Articles