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Digital Seminar

Inherited Hurt: Making Sense of Generational Trauma in Today’s Youth and Families


Speaker:
S. Kent Butler, PhD
Duration:
1 Hour 30 Minutes
Format:
Audio and Video
Copyright:
Aug 06, 2026
Product Code:
POS150908
Media Type:
Digital Seminar

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Description

Generational trauma lives not just in stories, but in nervous systems – shaping how families respond to stress, conflict, and connection. This session offers a regulation-informed framework for understanding inherited patterns and supporting youth and families toward greater safety and stability.

  • A clear, nervous-system-aware framework for differentiating generational trauma from acute, developmental, or situational stress.
  • Trauma-informed, shame-free conversation strategies that reduce defensiveness and increase felt safety for youth and caregivers
  • Family‑stabilization tools that interrupt survival-based patterns such as repetition, conflict, and emotional withdrawal
  • System-level resilience approaches that support regulation, connection, and healing across the family unit

Credit

Speaker

S. Kent Butler, PhD's Profile

S. Kent Butler, PhD Related seminars and products


S. Kent Butler, Jr. holds a PhD in Educational Psychology, with a concentration in Counseling Psychology, from the University of Connecticut. He is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), and Nationally Certified School Counselor (NCSC). Dr. Butler is a Past President of the American Counseling Association (2021-2022), is an ACA Fellow, and hosted an ACA’s weekly vodcast, “The Voice of Counseling”. Dr. Butler formerly served the University of Central Florida as the Chief Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Officer and is a National Association of Chief Diversity Officer in Higher Education Fellow (2020-2021). In March of 2020, he was selected as a Fellow within the National Association of Chief Diversity Officers in Higher Education’s Chief Diversity Officer Fellows Program (NADOHE-CDOFP). He is a 2020-2021 cohort (C-7) member. The professional leadership program mentors new and early career Chief Diversity Officers. Dr. Butler is a Professor of Counselor Education at the University of Central Florida and has served as a Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence within the Office of the Provost.

Dr. Butler presently serves as faculty advisor to CHI SIGMA IOTA International Honor Society (CSI), the Counselor Education Doctoral Student Organization (CEDSO), Project for Haiti Knights, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He served as the Principal Investigator, for The High-Risk Delinquent and Dependent Child Educational Research Project: Situational Environmental Circumstances Mentoring Program (SEC), which was a partnership between the University of Central Florida and several Florida universities. This grant opportunity has transitioned into the UCF Young Knights Mentoring Project, a program that supports students at Hungerford Elementary School in Eatonville, FL.

Also on the national level, Dr. Butler has served the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) as the 2011-2012 President and ACA Governing Council Representative (2015-2018). He is a proud member of AMCD’s Multicultural Counseling Competencies Revisions Committee, which produced the Multicultural Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC). His research and academic interests lie in the areas of Multicultural and International Counseling, Social Justice, Mentoring, Counseling work as it relates specifically to African American males, Group Counseling, School Counseling, and Multicultural Supervision.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. S. Kent Butler has an employment relationship with the University of Central Florida. He is a published author and receives royalties. Dr. Butler receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. S. Kent Butler is the founder and co-chairperson of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) Writer’s Consortium. He is a member of the American Counseling Association, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling.


Additional Info

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.


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Objectives

  1. Summarize intergenerational trauma and its effects on adolescents’ emotions, behavior, relationships, and family patterns.
  2. Differentiate common trauma-related behaviors in adolescents from developmental or situational behaviors based on key indicators such as fear, distrust, hypervigilance, and shutdown.
  3. Utilize trauma-informed interaction and communication strategies for escalation management, prevention of retraumatization, and support of trust and openness with youth and families.

Outline

Intergenerational Trauma

  • What it is and how it’s transmitted
  • How historical, family, and community experiences shape current functioning
  • Effects on adolescents’ emotions, behavior, and relationships
  • Impact on family patterns and system involvement

Trauma Behaviors

  • Common presentations: aggression, withdrawal, defiance, dysregulation
  • Trauma responses vs. developmental or situational behaviors
  • Key indicators: fear, distrust, hypervigilance, shutdown

Mental Health Links

  • Associated diagnoses: PTSD, anxiety, depression, conduct issues, attachment disruptions
  • How generational trauma influences symptom development
  • Considerations for assessment and interpretation

Empathy & Re‑Traumatization

  • Core trauma responses: fight, flight, freeze, fawn
  • Approaches that reduce escalation and build emotional safety
  • Interaction strategies that avoid retraumatizing youth and families
  • Communication practices that support trust and openness

Legal & Ethical

  • Confidentiality boundaries
  • Mandated reporting
  • Cultural and community considerations
  • Limitations of research and the importance of context

Target Audience

  • Psychologists
  • Social Workers
  • Counselors
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Physicians
  • Speech-Language Pathologists
  • School Administrators

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