“That is just how I am; I can’t change.” How many times have you said this sentence in your life? Or how often have you heard someone say about another, “He is just like his father; his character will never change”?
Most of us mistake our character, fears, and traumas for an immutable “fate,” much like our eye color. We accept the situation by saying, “My grandfather was angry, my father was anxious, so I am like this too.” For years, this is what we were taught in biology classes: Whatever your DNA is, you are nothing more than that. However, a silent revolution in genetics in recent years has radically changed this scenario.
We now know that what we experience, what we feel, and even what we discuss during therapy can reorganize the way our genes work. So, can that deep mental and emotional repair process conducted in the therapy room truly change the biological codes deep within your cells? The answer lies in that fascinating mechanism called epigenetics.
Hardware And Software: Our Internal Operating System
To understand this complex biological process, let us use a simple computer metaphor. Our DNA is the computer’s hardware. This hardware comes from our parents and is fixed; we cannot change it. However, what determines how the computer works is not just the hardware; there is also software. Epigenetics is the software of our biology.
The traumas, chronic stress, or neglect we experience do not change our DNA sequence (the hardware); however, they update the software that determines whether these genes will remain “silent” or work “loudly.” Scientists call this DNA methylation. Simply put, trauma places a chemical “lock” on the genes that enable us to cope with stress. As a result, we are faced with a nervous system that is constantly on alert, anxious, and intolerant to stress.
The Biological Power Of Compassion: What Did Rats Teach Us?
We find the answer to the question, “Are these locks permanent once they are placed?” in the groundbreaking experiments conducted by Canadian researcher Michael Meaney and his team.
Meaney examined the relationship between mother rats and their pups. The offspring of “compassionate” mothers, who frequently licked, groomed, and cared for their pups, became individuals who were extremely resilient to stress in adulthood. The offspring of indifferent mothers, on the other hand, were timid and anxious.
The remarkable finding was this: The difference was not in the genes, but in how the genes were used. When researchers took a pup born to an indifferent mother and gave it to a compassionate mother, the pup’s destiny changed. Compassionate care unlocked those chemical locks (methylation) on the pup’s stress genes (Glucocorticoid Receptor gene) (Weaver & Meaney, 2007). In other words, love and care acted as a biological “reformatting” process.
The Chemistry Of Conversation: Can Therapy Touch Genes?
What about us humans? What maternal licking is for a rat, being understood, emotionally contained, and establishing a secure bond is for a human. In other words: psychotherapy.
Recent research demonstrates that psychotherapy provides not only psychological relief but also molecular-level change. Studies conducted specifically on individuals suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) focused on a critical gene called FKBP5, which regulates stress hormones.
Trauma disrupted the functioning of this gene, causing the individual to remain in a constant “alarm state.” However, when the blood values of patients undergoing trauma-focused psychotherapy were examined, a surprising result emerged: The therapy process altered methylation levels in the FKBP5 gene, enabling the gene to function in a healthier way (Vinkers et al., 2020).
This means that the sentences you form in the therapy room, the memories you confront, and the secure therapeutic relationship you establish do not disappear into thin air. They descend from your brain to your cells and update that traumatic software. Within the framework of trauma and epigenetics, healing becomes both a psychological and biological transformation.
Conclusion: Genes Do Not Have The Final Word
Our genetic heritage is not a rigid destiny plan that determines the boundaries of our lives; it is a starting point. The most important truth scientific research has shown us is this: Our biology is not fixed, it is flexible.
The traumatic predispositions or stress-related genetic tendencies we inherit from our ancestors do not have to be lifelong burdens. The therapy process, healthy relationships, and environmental changes have the power to regulate genetic functioning in a positive direction. Healing is not only emotional relief; it is also a scientifically demonstrable biological repair process.
We cannot change what happened in the past; but with the steps we take today, we can influence how our genes function in the future.
References
Daskalakis, N. P., Bagci, S., & Thekdi, A. T. (2020). Epigenetic mechanisms of PTSD: A review of the impact of trauma and subsequent stress on the HPA axis and neurodevelopment. Neuroscience Letters, 717, 134633.
Vinkers, C. H., Geuze, E., van Rooij, S. J., & Boks, M. P. (2020). Trauma-focused psychotherapy and changes in FKBP5 methylation: A potential epigenetic mechanism of treatment response. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1), 1–10.
Weaver, I. C. G., & Meaney, M. J. (2007). Epigenetics and the adult brain: A life-long commitment. Neurobiology of Aging, 28(8), 1141–1143.
Yehuda, R., Daskalakis, N. P., Bierer, L. M., Bader, H. N., & Binder, E. B. (2016). Holocaust exposure induced intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation. Biological Psychiatry, 80(5), 372–380.*