“Lo Que Callamos”: Breaking the Silence Around Generational Trauma in Latinx Families

A Therapist’s Guide to Healing What We Inherited but Never Chose

In many Latino households, pain is passed down quietly. Not through words—but through silence, roles, expectations, and "así somos" ("that’s just how we are").

You may not have heard your parents or grandparents talk about trauma, but you likely felt it. It may have shown up as emotional distance, pressure to be perfect, explosive anger, or deep guilt for wanting something different.

At Healing Space Therapy Collective, we work with clients across Miami, Aventura, and Coral Gables, and virtually throughout Florida, who are learning to say:

“I love my family… and I don’t want to carry their pain anymore.”

What Is Generational Trauma?

Generational trauma refers to emotional wounds that are passed down through families, even if they’re never directly talked about. For Latinos, this can stem from:

• Immigration stress or displacement

• Poverty and survival mode

• War or political violence

• Family separation or abandonment

• Cultural stigmas around mental health

• Rigid gender roles and silence around emotion

Even if you didn’t experience these things firsthand, you may have inherited the emotional aftershocks. Therapy helps bring those invisible patterns to light.

“Calladita te ves más bonita” (“You look prettier when you’re quiet”)

Many Latinx clients recall being told to stay quiet, keep family matters private, and avoid expressing big emotions. Common sayings like:

• “No llores” (“Don’t cry”)

• “No exageres” (“You’re being dramatic”)

• “Eso ya pasó” (“That’s in the past”)

…may have taught you to swallow emotions instead of process them.

But unprocessed pain doesn’t disappear. It shows up later in the form of anxiety, perfectionism, emotional disconnection, people-pleasing, or even parenting styles we swore we’d never repeat.

Signs You Might Be Carrying Generational Trauma

You may be holding inherited trauma if you notice:

• Feeling overly responsible for others’ emotions

• Difficulty setting boundaries with family

• Guilt when prioritizing your own needs

• Fear of expressing anger or vulnerability

• A sense that you must “hold it all together”

• Emotional reactivity to things you “should be over”

• Patterns in relationships that feel familiar, but painful

These aren’t personality flaws. They are coping strategies your nervous system developed to survive in a system that didn’t make space for your emotional truth.

Therapy Helps You Break the Cycle—Not the Bond

Choosing therapy doesn’t mean you’re rejecting your culture or disrespecting your family. It means you’re honoring both—and choosing to heal.

At Healing Space Therapy Collective, our bilingual therapists help clients:

• Understand their family’s emotional inheritance

• Learn how to validate feelings without shame

• Explore identity, culture, and intergenerational roles

• Build boundaries that are rooted in self-respect

• Develop tools to break painful patterns—while staying connected to your roots

We believe you can love your family and choose not to carry their pain. That’s not betrayal. That’s liberación (liberation).

Ready to Break the Silence?

You don’t have to keep carrying what isn’t yours.
Whether you’re healing from something named or unnamed, we’re here to help you find language, space, and strength.

💬 Schedule a free consultation
🔎 Explore our bilingual, trauma-informed therapy services
📲 Follow us on Instagram for more culturally grounded mental health content