Secrets That Won’t Rest - Issue 6: Secret Codes
▻http://nautil.us/issue/6/secret-codes/secrets-that-wont-rest
As someone who has studied and practiced family therapy for 37 years, I am repeatedly struck by a secret’s impact on a family. With the best intentions, parents often strive to protect a child from a shameful or painful event that happened in the past. But keeping a secret usually has the opposite effect. It can take a toll on bearers and their families for years, even generations. One way a secret surfaces is via an “anniversary reaction,” a physical or emotional response to a calendar date. (...)