In this episode of Poetry in Layers, I explore the weight of intergenerational trauma—the way shame, silence, and emotional abandonment pass from one generation to the next like a baton in a race we never agreed to run.
I share personal reflections on my relationship with my father, read from my poem The First Time, and present my new piece garage widower. Through poetry and story, I unpack how absence and avoidance live in families, how they shape our coping, and how cycles of pain can be inherited without ever being spoken aloud.
This episode looks at trauma through an Internal Family Systems lens, offering language for protector parts, silence, and the body’s strategies for survival. I also leave listeners with reflective questions to help them notice the “garages” they retreat to and imagine what healing might look like beyond them.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:22 - Intergenerational Trauma
00:49 - The First Time I Attempted to Fight My Father
03:01 - The Story We Inherit
05:03 - The Poem: garage widower
06:29 - The Literary Breakdown
10:40 - The Clinical Breakdown
13:04 - Reflection Questions
14:05- Second Reading: garage widower
15:50 - Closing
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Carl's Publication
The Mis-Execution of a Black Son by Carl Patterson, LPC - https://amzn.to/3UyX6nP
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Book Resources
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Poetry Related Books
• All the Flowers Kneeling — Paul Tran.
• Don’t Call Us Dead — Danez Smith.
• Postcolonial Love Poem — Natalie Diaz.
• Citizen: An American Lyric — Claudia Rankine.
Psychology Related Books
• It Didn’t Start With You — Mark Wolynn.
• Break the Cycle — Mariel Buqué.
• My Grandmother’s Hands — Resmaa Menakem.
• Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents — Lindsay C. Gibson.
• The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk.
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Carl Patterson is a licensed professional counselor, published author, public speaker, and spoken word artist. Click the link to learn more about Carl and his works - https://www.familysolutionsok.com/carl-patterson
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This podcast is published and produced by Family Solutions Media, a media program of Family Solutions Counseling. For more great content, please check out our LinkTree - https://www.linktr.ee/familysolutionsok