Dr. Bob Beare Profile picture
May 19, 2025 16 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Trauma isn’t just in your head—it’s in your body.

Science shows trauma can alter gene expression, shape stress responses, and even be passed down to future generations.

Here’s how to break the cycle and rewire your system for good (by a PhD psychologist):🧵 Image
U.S. National Academy of Science called trauma "An unrecognized epidemic".

• 75% of people worldwide are affected by it
• 70% of adults in U.S.A have experienced trauma in some way
• 66% of kids have experienced 1 traumatic event by the age of 16
Generational trauma isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a biological reality.

Your nervous system is shaped by the stress responses of your parents and grandparents.

But here’s the good news: You can rewire it.

Here's what inherited trauma can look like:
First, let’s define the problem:

Generational trauma is the unconscious transmission of fear and stress from one generation to the next.

It happens through:
• Parenting styles
• Stress and trauma
• Unprocessed emotions
• Epigenetics (yes, trauma can alter your genes) Image
The traditional view:

“Just talk about it. Go to therapy. Heal through understanding.”

But here’s the truth:

Awareness alone won’t heal you.

Because trauma isn’t just psychological—it’s physiological.
You don’t just “think” about trauma.

You feel it in:
• Chronic stress and anxiety
• Gut issues and autoimmune diseases
• Tension in your body
• Uncontrollable emotional triggers

This isn’t just mindset work. It’s nervous system work. Image
The science backs this up:

• Trauma changes the brain’s amygdala (fear center)
• It alters cortisol (stress hormone) levels
• It’s even passed down through DNA (epigenetics)

Meaning? You inherit your ancestors’ unresolved stress.

But you don’t have to keep it.
Just because you inherited trauma through DNA it doesn't mean you can't heal it.

Healing your trauma doesn't just transform your life—it changes future generations.

The best part? It can be healed at any time.

The best 2 solutions I've seen (from 25 years of experience): Image
1) Become Aware Of Inherited Mindsets

• "People are evil"
• "Love only leads to pain"
• "Everyone is looking out for themselves"

These phrases show unhealed trauma passed down from generations.

Become aware of your family's unhealed patterns of trauma. Image
2) Talk Therapy alone takes too long

Trauma doesn't only live in your head. It also lives in your nervous system.

You can try to think or talk your way out of it, but the problem will always stay.

To solve it, you have to address the problem from its root cause—the body.
The real solution? Healing at the level of the nervous system.

Here’s what actually works:
1. Polyvagal Regulation – Teaching your nervous system safety
2. Inner Child Work – Reparenting yourself to break old patterns
3. Somatic Therapy – Releasing stored trauma through movement & breath
4. Daily Nervous System Resets – Small habits that rewire stress responsesImage
In my 25 years of experience:

Breaking generational trauma isn’t about “thinking positive.”

It’s about rewiring your body to feel safe for the first time in generations.

You don’t just heal for yourself—you heal for your children and their children.
If you're ready to change the patterns of inherited trauma and stress for good,

Check out the 7-day body-based course based on 25+ years of experience as a PhD psychologist.

Join here (available for a limited time): offers.drbobbeare.com/inner-work-mas…
Thanks for reading

For more psychology content like this,

Drop a like and follow me @DrBobBeare
👉Thanks for reading.
👉If you enjoyed this, please follow me and repost the first post (below).
👉Reply with your thoughts on body-focused healing.
Same old relationship struggles?

Same carreer blockades?

Inner Work Mastery is a 7-day, body-based system to help you finally break the cycle.

Check it out here: offers.drbobbeare.com/inner-work-mas…

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More from @DrBobBeare

Jan 30
You’re not “easygoing.” You’re not "too nice".

You’re stuck in a trauma loop of people-pleasing and overthinking.

You learned to stay safe by staying small.
Now you can’t tell what you really want.

Here’s the truth—(most therapists won't tell you): 🧵 Image
In my 25+ years as a psychologist, I've learned:

People-pleasing is the compulsive need to prioritize others' comfort over your own needs.

It's not kindness—it's a survival response developed in childhood when your authentic expression was unsafe. Image
The popular understanding frames people-pleasing as a bad habit..."Just say no."

This completely misses what's happening in your body and brain.

People-pleasing and overthinking are survival tactics developed to keep you safe.

They're not bad habits—they're trauma responses. Image
Read 13 tweets
Jan 24
A friend once said, “You’re selfish.”
I said, “Would you rather I be you-ish?”
He didn’t get the joke.

Then he added, “You’re self-centered.”
“Where would you have me be centered?”
That didn’t help either.

A thread on healthy selfishness 🧵 Image
Underneath the jokes, I knew what was happening.

I’ve been on both sides of that moment.

When I’ve accused someone of being selfish, something in me was usually hungry—

For attention, care, or love I hadn’t given myself.
When people say “you’re selfish,” they often mean:
“You’re not doing what I need.”

Old needs resurface in present moments.

They look for a place to land.

They usually land on the nearest relationship.
Read 12 tweets
Jan 23
Healthy sex and love feel different in the body.
Not dramatic.
Not addictive.
Different.
🧵 Image
Let’s talk about what health looks like in relationships.

Especially for those of us with sex and love shadows.

Which is all of us.

Healthy sex and love shows up:

-In our priorities
-In what we tolerate.
-In how we stop the constant chase.

It changes everything important.
SPIRITUALITY IN SEX AND LOVE

A connection with something larger than our urges changes how we love.

Whether its a 12-step group, a (healthy) religious practice, or in a trauma healing circle...

We have to find that "spiritual feeling" we were chasing through sex and love.
Read 9 tweets
Jan 21
You don’t just remember trauma.
You relive it—every day.

In your posture.
Your reactivity.
Your inability to relax.

Here’s what The Body Keeps the Score reveals—and how to finally heal it (by a PhD psychologist):🧵 Image
Most people think trauma is only what happened to you.
More importantly, it's what happens inside you.

Our nervous system gets stuck on high alert.

It’s the body bracing for danger that’s no longer there.

"Trauma comes back as a reaction, not a memory." ~Bessel Van Der Kolk
Traditional psychology got a lot wrong.

They taught us to only talk about and analyze trauma.

Understanding and remembering is important.

But we must also address how It lives in our nervous system: Image
Read 11 tweets
Oct 31, 2025
60%+ of adults had Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

This doesn't even include more subtle forms of trauma like family enmeshment.

The more ACEs, the higher the risk for depression, addiction, autoimmune disease, and even cancer.
These wounds don’t fade with age—they embed in the nervous system. Image
You can’t grow out of them.

You have to grow through them.

That's why I created the free course, "The Inner Child Toolkit."
See below. 👇👇
Read 4 tweets
Sep 6, 2025
This is Viktor Frankl.

• He survived 4 Nazi concentration camps
• Wrote Man’s Search for Meaning (16M+ copies sold)
• Developed Logotherapy: the “therapy of meaning”

Here are his 7 timeless lessons on finding purpose when life feels meaningless: 🧵 Image
Image
Before we begin:

Some statistics about the current state of mental health globally:

• 280 million people have depression
• 301 million people have anxiety disorders
• 1 in 10 people report their life feels meaningless

Frankl’s wisdom provide a timely perspective for us today:
Lesson 7: Find your Why

Frankl: “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear almost any ‘how.’”

In 2025, most of us don’t feel tired—we feel empty.

We numb with work, substances, and dopamine hits.

Your nervous system doesn’t need more distractions. It needs a reason to keep going.
Read 12 tweets

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