Repeating anniversaries and birthdays, dates of determining events for a given family, occurring over several generations... and illnesses that reveal what a mother or grandparent has experienced: family history usually repeats itself. Memories that do not belong to us become present and active in our life to the point that some people think they are facing a destiny. How is all this possible? The inheritance of a family memory has its origin in the intensity of the emotions experienced by our ancestors during a traumatic event. These emotions are memorized and stored, before being transmitted in an invisible but very effective way. Recent scientific discoveries (epigenetic transmission, effects of trauma, neurons mirror or brain waves) describe physiological processes that allow us to understand how the history of an ancestor can reach us and mark us with its imprint before it even occurs in our conception. They also show that we can transform that legacy and how to do it. Vincent Van Gogh, Arthur Rimbaud and Sigmund Freud, survivors of genocide or criminals... and other friends join us in this discovery.

Barbara Couvert is a Gestalt therapist and psychogenealogist. He trained in psychogenealogy with Anne Ancelin Schützenberger. He is also a specialist in family theory and history. Couvert is the author of Au coeur du secret de famille.