In The Ancestor Syndrome: Transgenerational Psychotherapy and the Hidden Links in the Family Tree by Anne Ancelin Schutzenberger, an insightful therapist documents many therapeutic cases which indicated that trauma could impact subsequent generations, sometimes in a specific way. (For instance, a decapitation in the family system could be followed by an uncanny prevalence of generations of head injuries within a family system.)

Rupert Sheldrake, biologist, provides numerous works in print and is accumulating a lifetime of research into what is now called the "morphogenetic field". Sheldrake's work evidences perhaps a physical dimension or "field" which binds biological species together, and it appears that the connections may be stronger among those who share the same DNA.

The prolific work of Bert Hellinger introduces a method by which trans-generational trauma is interrupted from entangling and limiting subsequent generations.

War, for many is a trauma. From the soldier, to the prisoner of war (Bert Hellinger was both) to those left behind or bombed, we now have an understanding of Post Traumatic Stress. Now we are even aware of secondary post-traumatic stress; we understand that those who marry individuals as well as the children, of combat veterans who suffer, may be deeply touched by the trauma of war experienced by another.

In Family & Human Systems Constellation, it comes to light that even those beyond immediate experience may be touched, limit themselves, or grieve, as a result of the trauma of war generations before their birth.

Dynamics, which may be revealed and relieved or honored through Family & Human Systems Constellation, may include the following.

1. Difficulty in relationship because the soldier has not emotionally returned from war.
2. Survivor Syndrome, if one survived and other family members or comrades did not.
3. Prisoner of war dynamics, either the trauma of victim or perpetrator.
4. Guilt, sometimes related to a particular traumatic war related event, or perhaps because one did not suffer in war as other family members did.
5. Fear of lack, food, shelter, at times there is a generational fear of experiencing what the family system remembers
6. Difficulty feeling “at home” if exile or leaving the homeland was driven by war.

Perhaps because of his personal experience, and the relatively recent impact of war in his home country of Germany, Bert Hellinger's work holds a special place for veterans and those who are touched, even generations later, by war. His work is both gentle, and firm. Hellinger writes:

Home from the War

Childhood friends were sent off to war where they experienced indescribable dangers, and although many were killed or wounded, two came home unharmed. One of the two had become very calm and was at peace within himself. He knew he had been saved by the whim of destiny and he accepted his life as a gift, as an act of grace. The other got into the habit of drinking with other veterans and reliving the past. He loved to brag about the dangers he had escaped and about his heroic acts. It was as if, for him, the whole experience had happened in vain.

From the book Love's Hidden Symmetry: What Makes Love Work in Relationships, Bert Hellinger with Gunthard Weber & Hunter Beaumont, 1998, Zeig Tucker & Co