How Psychedelic Therapy Helped Me Heal the Wounds of My Ancestors
by Karlijn
It shows up as anxiety, fear of being too much or not enough, exhaustion, or the feeling that something just isn’t right… even when life looks fine on the outside.
Sometimes it runs deeper.
Because it didn’t start with you. It started with those who came before you.
And it lives in your body now.
This is ancestral trauma. Passed down through generations.
It’s the silent inheritance of fear, shame, disconnection, and survival strategies that were never meant to be yours.
And yet… here you are, carrying it.
That was me.
Until I found the key that helped me begin to release it—psychedelic therapy.
What is Ancestral Trauma?
Ancestral trauma—sometimes called generational trauma—is pain that travels through the bloodline.
It can be rooted in war, displacement, oppression, abuse, addiction, religious dogma, or cultural silence.
Our ancestors survived by adapting, but those survival patterns don’t always serve us.
We might feel:
- Constantly on edge, as if we’re bracing for something.
- Insecure, no matter how hard we work or how much we’re loved.
- Disconnected from who we truly are.
- Afraid to take up space or use our voice.
Without knowing it, we carry the unresolved grief, fears, and beliefs of those who came before.
Real-Life Examples
Family Trauma: Children of emotionally unavailable parents (themselves hurt by trauma) often grow up not knowing how to feel safe or loved—and pass that to their own kids, unless something shifts.
Women’s Oppression: Many of us carry the residue of a time when women weren’t allowed to speak, choose, or rest. That old message—you must serve, you must be quiet, you must not be too much—still lingers in our nervous systems.
War & Holocaust Trauma: Descendants of survivors can experience depression, anxiety, and fear, even if they never lived through those events themselves.
How Is It Passed On?
Through behavior: The way we’re parented (or not parented) shapes us, often in unconscious ways.
Through the body: Trauma literally changes the body—it leaves marks in our nervous system and even in our DNA (this is called epigenetics).
Through culture: Oppressive systems, religious rules, and societal expectations can carry trauma forward through generations.
So How Do We Break the Cycle?
There are many paths.
Therapies like family constellations, EMDR, and somatic work can be powerful.
But for me, the deepest shift came through working with psychedelics—especially psilocybin.
These journeys helped me access the emotional imprints I couldn’t reach through talking alone.
I was able to feel what my ancestors could never. And by feeling it…I could finally let it go.
My Story
It was Portugal. September 2024.
I sat in ceremony under the stars, by a fire, guided by a medicine man and woman.
I’d been feeling for years that I held a key—one that could unlock the pain of my family line.
I’d always sensed that the women before me were silenced, burdened, stuck in a life of sacrifice.
They were trapped, not just by religion or culture, but by the belief that their needs didn’t matter.
That night, I shook and cried and danced around the fire.
I released generations of grief.
And then I heard something deep within:
“Now you are ready to write a new story.”
It was like the Earth herself was moving through me.
My body filled with life, with strength, with truth.
I saw clearly: the old story ends here.
But stepping into a new story isn’t easy.
It means no longer hiding. No longer shrinking.
It means letting yourself be seen.
And that’s terrifying.
But necessary.
The Three Phases of Healing
1. Becoming Aware
The trauma often shows up first as illness, burnout, anxiety, depression, or a constant feeling of being “off.”
Your body knows before your mind does.
2. Feeling It To Heal It
Psychedelics help open the door to buried feelings.
You can feel what wasn’t safe to feel before—your own pain, your parents’ pain, the heartbreak of your lineage.
This is not an easy path. But it is an honest one.
3. Writing A New Story
It’s not enough to feel.
You have to live differently.
That’s what integration is about—slowly creating new patterns, new ways of relating to yourself and others.
In my work, I help people take small steps toward that new story—one rooted in truth and soul.
Why Psychedelics?
Science is catching up to what many of us already know:
Psychedelics can support deep healing.
They’ve shown promise in treating anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more—especially when trauma is buried in the body and passed down through generations.
But psychedelics are not magic pills.
They open the door.
You still have to walk through it.
That’s why integration and support are everything.
Final Words
If you’ve been carrying a pain you can’t name, a heaviness that doesn’t feel fully yours… you’re not alone.
And you’re not broken.
You might be carrying someone else’s story.
But you don’t have to keep it.
I’m living proof that healing is possible.
That the cycle can stop with you.
And that something new—something more true—can begin.
Now, I feel my ancestors behind me, not as a weight, but as support.
They see me.
They walk with me.
And I know they’re proud.
Microdosing Psilocybin and Inner Child Healing for Mental Wellbeing