Intergenerational trauma occurs when the traumas that occurred to one generation have an impact on the health and wellbeing of future descendants. Despite its prevalence among Vietnamese Americans, no research has been done to explore interventions which could promote healing from intergenerational trauma and building resilience in this community. Ample evidence supports that intergenerational trauma is an embodied experience that could be healed through mindfulness practices focused on cultivating interoception. This project aims to support a community-led development, implementation, and evaluation of a mindfulness-based intervention for healing intergenerational trauma among Vietnamese-Americans. The intervention, which will include components of psychoeducation, storytelling, genograms, community dialogue, and mindfulness practices, will be delivered to a multigenerational, bilingual adult Vietnamese-American sample of up to 40 participants. A combination of first-person methods (i.e., focus groups, individual interviews, evaluation forms) and third-person methods (i.e., a witness form) will be used to gather data on the intervention’s impact on individual well-being, community awareness on intergenerational trauma, and perceptions on the suitability of mindfulness for healing intergenerational trauma. Findings will be publicly disseminated to continue building community dialogue and awareness on this topic and could serve as a framework for developing similar interventions for other contemporary refugee communities.
