Until a person has the
opportunity to tell
his or her story,
one can never be
completely whole.
Meet the Author
For over thirty years, Dr. Gita Baack ran a private Organizational Development consulting practice aimed at creating democratic, participatory organizations. She had great successes working with teams and individuals at all levels to change culture, policies and planning structures. Gita changed paths to conduct doctoral research on the effects of generational and collective trauma after having had a lifetime wondering about and observing the traits of her own generation after the Holocaust. This has put her on a path to help Inheritors of Trauma everywhere to reclaim their lives and build on their resilience. Her current goal is to hold dialogues across cultures, races, ethnicities and religions and continue her explorations of Inherited Trauma with a research focus on Inherited Memory, which she defines as a felts sense of something known that cannot be known.
Gita holds a PhD. from Tilburg University, The Netherlands, in association with Taos Institute, and an M.A. in Human Systems Intervention from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
For over thirty years, Dr. Gita Baack ran a private Organizational Development consulting practice aimed at creating democratic, participatory organizations. She had great successes working with teams and individuals at all levels to change culture, policies and planning structures. Gita changed paths to conduct doctoral research on the effects of generational and collective trauma after having had a lifetime wondering about and observing the traits of her own generation after the Holocaust. This has put her on a path to help Inheritors of Trauma everywhere to reclaim their lives and build on their resilience. Her current goal is to hold dialogues across cultures, races, ethnicities and religions and continue her explorations of Inherited Trauma with a research focus on Inherited Memory, which she defines as a felts sense of something known that cannot be known.
Gita holds a PhD. from Tilburg University, The Netherlands, in association with Taos Institute, and an M.A. in Human Systems Intervention from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
About “The Inheritors”
The Inheritors is a ground- breaking, non-fictional book, told from a personal lens. It aims to provide readers from all backgrounds, a comprehensive understanding of the complex ways we are affected by the shadow of Generational and Collective trauma that Gita calls, Inherited trauma. We may be haunted by thoughts, feelings, and even memories, about events that happened when we were very young, or before we were born, or that may even go back to earlier generations. It is as though we individually and collectively carry the heavy weight of history.
As people around the world cope with trauma, devastation and displacement from war, displacement, economic disasters, environmental disasters, and various forms of loss and marginalization, it becomes more critical that we process our stories in order to stop its perpetuation to future generations. Complicating this further is the trauma on the side of the Perpetrators who unconsciously or consciously forget what they did. This fragmentation of trauma leads to the perpetuation of generational suffering by the victims.
Recognizing that people resist talking about their unrelenting pain, outrage, sense of absence, betrayal, guilt and shame and that trauma is difficult to treat, Dr. Baack wrote this book to serve as a tool, offering guiding process questions, dialogues, poetry, art, etc. to help access embedded emotions, embodies impacts, unexplained memory and knowledge of that which has been left unspoken or unfinished in their family narratives. The book serves people from all sides of the trauma: victims, perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders and rescuers and from various races, ethnicities, and religions. The ultimate goal is to help those affected by the tragedies of the past to have the full and joyful life we all deserve.
YOUTUBE TV Interview - "The Authors Journey" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEtw_IIbwc8s
-- More links to webinars, presentations and articles on next page --
Reviews and Testimonials
Library Journal Review— According to counsellor Baack (PhD, founder, Center for Transformational Dialogue, Ont.), inheritors of trauma can be described as those who consciously or unconsciously have thoughts and feelings about horrific events that happened in their youth or even before they were born. Inheritors can be groups of people such as descendants of slaves and survivors of the Holocaust. This book guides inheritors through a journey of self-discovery by way of stories, questions, and insights to help them overcome the past and thrive. VERDICT Excellent guidance for those who are held back by legacies not of their own making.
Endorsements and Academic Reviews
Dr. Baack has broken new ground in social science research.~ John Rijsman, Dean, Social Science, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
In this intensely personal, poetic and compassionate work, Gita Baack illuminates the reverberations in our personal lives of traumas inherited from preceding generations. She shares the wisdom, courage, insights and routes to resilience harbored by inheritors —from children of the Holocaust and beyond. The work teems with resources for all those carrying heavy packs as they find their way to the future. ~ Kenneth J. Gergen, PhD. President of Taos Institute, Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College, renown author of "Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community", "The Saturated Self", and numerous other books and journal publications on Social Construction.
My generation―the Inheritors, as Dr. Baack calls us―is searching for answers to the large questions which were never discussed in our families. My parents’ experience of WWII was that of Canadian volunteers. They too had stories that were ‘un-discussable,’ and fears they tried unsuccessfully to hide. Throughout my life, I have tried to find a way to understand the impact these secrets had on our family and on me. Dr. Baack’s research and ‘construction of meaning’ has given me language and a connection with others who have had similar experiences that has helped to lift this burden from my shoulders. ~ Moira E. Grayson BEd, MEd, Teacher, Transition Consultant for First Nations, Saskatchewan, Canada
For me, this book is the mother lode . . . I stayed up all night reading and crying and identifying for the first time with words and descriptions of what I have experienced my whole life. I realized there is nothing wrong with me. I read Eckhart Tolle’s pain bodywork but nothing resonated like this. This will help me complete my own puzzle. ~ Jeanie Keyes, Artist
I love all the poetry, the epigrams, the dialogues, the personal stories, and the author’s own biography as part of it. It is an all encompassing book, and has a strong therapeutic message for many people, especially those who have had your generational experiences. ~ Dr. Mary Gergen, Professor Emeritas, Psychology, Swarthmore College (Always Remembered)
Amazon Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A book of courage, strength, endurance, and resilience
The Inheritors by Gita Arian Baack, PhD…is a book of courage, strength, endurance, and resilience, and one of the most comprehensive books I have ever read. In this book of hope, Gita Arian Baack, PhD, takes us on a journey of understanding compassion. … Dr. Arian Baack uses this book to guide and allow the reader to move along on their own, personal journey, from exploring, to speaking, to being witnessed, and finally acknowledging their own, innate wisdom. Throughout the book there are exercises that reinforce the presented material, bringing the unknown to light and shining a path into the future. Dr. Arian Baack is to be applauded for her fortitude in not only following through on her own search; she continues to beckon others to find their own legacies. ~ Dr. Shamai Surrimon, Psychotherapist, Educator, Educational Consultant
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for us all on healing of generational and collective trauma
What a timely book! There is a growing recognition of our need to pay attention to the traumas that we carry and also those of others. We are embarking on a journey of collective healing and this book is a great aid for this journey. Although the author speaks from her personal experience, its applicability to all of us from all over the world is clear. ~ Pamela Schreiner, Systems and Structures Speaker/Consultant
Other Selected Reviews
... An extraordinary analysis that shapes our understanding of disruptions such as war and social injustice - including their offspring for generations afterward - and also, how to remediate. A masterpiece by someone born to holocaust survivors. Her insight has already been helpful for indigenous and numerous cultural groups who have inherited trauma. ~ Andrew Michrowski, Association for Clean Energy
At every moment I was reading this book, I felt this was seminal work that would surely benefit the world on a very large scale. ~ Danielle Silverman, MBA, MA, BCC, Reinvention Coaching
This book creates a visceral response in the body and provides a wonderful invitation to engage in a different healing conversation both internally and externally. ~ Lisa J. Weiss, Life Coach
Yes it is happening! Gita Baack has the ability to ring the bell for those who are ready to hear it. Paid marketing is not necessary — people will see the value of the book and will spread the word. ~ Maya Bobrowski, Scientist, Seeker (Always Remembered)
The Inheritors is a ground- breaking, non-fictional book, told from a personal lens. It aims to provide readers from all backgrounds, a comprehensive understanding of the complex ways we are affected by the shadow of Generational and Collective trauma that Gita calls, Inherited trauma. We may be haunted by thoughts, feelings, and even memories, about events that happened when we were very young, or before we were born, or that may even go back to earlier generations. It is as though we individually and collectively carry the heavy weight of history.
As people around the world cope with trauma, devastation and displacement from war, displacement, economic disasters, environmental disasters, and various forms of loss and marginalization, it becomes more critical that we process our stories in order to stop its perpetuation to future generations. Complicating this further is the trauma on the side of the Perpetrators who unconsciously or consciously forget what they did. This fragmentation of trauma leads to the perpetuation of generational suffering by the victims.
Recognizing that people resist talking about their unrelenting pain, outrage, sense of absence, betrayal, guilt and shame and that trauma is difficult to treat, Dr. Baack wrote this book to serve as a tool, offering guiding process questions, dialogues, poetry, art, etc. to help access embedded emotions, embodies impacts, unexplained memory and knowledge of that which has been left unspoken or unfinished in their family narratives. The book serves people from all sides of the trauma: victims, perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders and rescuers and from various races, ethnicities, and religions. The ultimate goal is to help those affected by the tragedies of the past to have the full and joyful life we all deserve.
YOUTUBE TV Interview - "The Authors Journey" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEtw_IIbwc8s
-- More links to webinars, presentations and articles on next page --
Reviews and Testimonials
Library Journal Review— According to counsellor Baack (PhD, founder, Center for Transformational Dialogue, Ont.), inheritors of trauma can be described as those who consciously or unconsciously have thoughts and feelings about horrific events that happened in their youth or even before they were born. Inheritors can be groups of people such as descendants of slaves and survivors of the Holocaust. This book guides inheritors through a journey of self-discovery by way of stories, questions, and insights to help them overcome the past and thrive. VERDICT Excellent guidance for those who are held back by legacies not of their own making.
Endorsements and Academic Reviews
Dr. Baack has broken new ground in social science research.~ John Rijsman, Dean, Social Science, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
In this intensely personal, poetic and compassionate work, Gita Baack illuminates the reverberations in our personal lives of traumas inherited from preceding generations. She shares the wisdom, courage, insights and routes to resilience harbored by inheritors —from children of the Holocaust and beyond. The work teems with resources for all those carrying heavy packs as they find their way to the future. ~ Kenneth J. Gergen, PhD. President of Taos Institute, Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College, renown author of "Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community", "The Saturated Self", and numerous other books and journal publications on Social Construction.
My generation―the Inheritors, as Dr. Baack calls us―is searching for answers to the large questions which were never discussed in our families. My parents’ experience of WWII was that of Canadian volunteers. They too had stories that were ‘un-discussable,’ and fears they tried unsuccessfully to hide. Throughout my life, I have tried to find a way to understand the impact these secrets had on our family and on me. Dr. Baack’s research and ‘construction of meaning’ has given me language and a connection with others who have had similar experiences that has helped to lift this burden from my shoulders. ~ Moira E. Grayson BEd, MEd, Teacher, Transition Consultant for First Nations, Saskatchewan, Canada
For me, this book is the mother lode . . . I stayed up all night reading and crying and identifying for the first time with words and descriptions of what I have experienced my whole life. I realized there is nothing wrong with me. I read Eckhart Tolle’s pain bodywork but nothing resonated like this. This will help me complete my own puzzle. ~ Jeanie Keyes, Artist
I love all the poetry, the epigrams, the dialogues, the personal stories, and the author’s own biography as part of it. It is an all encompassing book, and has a strong therapeutic message for many people, especially those who have had your generational experiences. ~ Dr. Mary Gergen, Professor Emeritas, Psychology, Swarthmore College (Always Remembered)
Amazon Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A book of courage, strength, endurance, and resilience
The Inheritors by Gita Arian Baack, PhD…is a book of courage, strength, endurance, and resilience, and one of the most comprehensive books I have ever read. In this book of hope, Gita Arian Baack, PhD, takes us on a journey of understanding compassion. … Dr. Arian Baack uses this book to guide and allow the reader to move along on their own, personal journey, from exploring, to speaking, to being witnessed, and finally acknowledging their own, innate wisdom. Throughout the book there are exercises that reinforce the presented material, bringing the unknown to light and shining a path into the future. Dr. Arian Baack is to be applauded for her fortitude in not only following through on her own search; she continues to beckon others to find their own legacies. ~ Dr. Shamai Surrimon, Psychotherapist, Educator, Educational Consultant
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for us all on healing of generational and collective trauma
What a timely book! There is a growing recognition of our need to pay attention to the traumas that we carry and also those of others. We are embarking on a journey of collective healing and this book is a great aid for this journey. Although the author speaks from her personal experience, its applicability to all of us from all over the world is clear. ~ Pamela Schreiner, Systems and Structures Speaker/Consultant
Other Selected Reviews
... An extraordinary analysis that shapes our understanding of disruptions such as war and social injustice - including their offspring for generations afterward - and also, how to remediate. A masterpiece by someone born to holocaust survivors. Her insight has already been helpful for indigenous and numerous cultural groups who have inherited trauma. ~ Andrew Michrowski, Association for Clean Energy
At every moment I was reading this book, I felt this was seminal work that would surely benefit the world on a very large scale. ~ Danielle Silverman, MBA, MA, BCC, Reinvention Coaching
This book creates a visceral response in the body and provides a wonderful invitation to engage in a different healing conversation both internally and externally. ~ Lisa J. Weiss, Life Coach
Yes it is happening! Gita Baack has the ability to ring the bell for those who are ready to hear it. Paid marketing is not necessary — people will see the value of the book and will spread the word. ~ Maya Bobrowski, Scientist, Seeker (Always Remembered)
About Poems of Angst and Awe
We tell stories and write poems to live.
Poems of Angst and Awe offers a mixture of all the tastes of life — sweet, bitter and the many in-betweens. The book is presented in four acts as a metaphor for the stages upon which we play out our life.
Importantly, this little book, can be a model for writing your own poetry in your own way! What a wonderful way to release feelings and experiences, reflect on triumphs and downfalls, and find a renewed Self and perhaps a new voice along the way!
We tell stories and write poems to live.
Poems of Angst and Awe offers a mixture of all the tastes of life — sweet, bitter and the many in-betweens. The book is presented in four acts as a metaphor for the stages upon which we play out our life.
- Act I — Burdens and Lightness of Youth —are about a time when we create our identity, leave home, build relationships, experience loss and fulfillment, and experiment with life.
- Act II — Life in General, is about our strivings, successful or not, to achieve self-fulfillment and joy.
- Act III - Unrequited Love shares the angst and awe of romantic relationships which indeed does make the world go round.Act IV- Maybe, culminates in poetic expressions of the possibilities available to us all
Importantly, this little book, can be a model for writing your own poetry in your own way! What a wonderful way to release feelings and experiences, reflect on triumphs and downfalls, and find a renewed Self and perhaps a new voice along the way!
- My Story: A Journal
I created this guiding journal to accompany The Inheritors in order to help you process and write your own story. All the processing questions from the book are included here. Perhaps you will have written your own story by the time you have gone through the process and travelled down new paths.
The journal can also be your go-to place to write poetry, or simply to capture your feeling and thought and perhaps even memories.
The books are available on all Amazon outlets in US, Canada, UK as well as retail stores.
If you want a personalized book for yourself or a friend, please contact me for inscription and shipment.
If you want to purchase the guided journal please contact me as well.
gbaack@rogers.com
If you want a personalized book for yourself or a friend, please contact me for inscription and shipment.
If you want to purchase the guided journal please contact me as well.
gbaack@rogers.com