Integrative Epigenetic Relational Therapy® (IERA-Therapy®)

IERA-Therapy™

An Overview of some Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

For Therapists & Mental Health Professionals

Q: What is IERA-Therapy™?
A: IERA-Therapy™ (Integrative Epigenetic Relational Approach™) is a specialist, structured therapeutic model developed by Epigenetic Relational Therapy Academy (ERTA)™.

It integrates epigenetics, relational neuroscience, and trauma-informed psychotherapy to address trauma and its intergenerational impact.

Q: How is IERA-Therapy™ different from other trauma therapies?
A: Unlike traditional models, IERA-Therapy™ focuses on both biological and relational factors in trauma healing. It considers how trauma is carried across generations, shaping emotional patterns, relationships, and nervous system responses. This structured approach provides therapists with a clear, research-based framework for deep healing work.

For Clients Seeking Therapy

Q: How can IERA-Therapy™ help me?
A: IERA-Therapy™ helps individuals understand how trauma, stress, and relational dynamics affect their mental and emotional wellbeing. It provides structured tools for emotional regulation, healing attachment wounds, and breaking generational patterns.

Q: What types of issues can IERA-Therapy™ address?
A: This approach supports individuals dealing with:

Intergenerational trauma (patterns passed down through families)
Attachment difficulties & relational struggles
Emotional dysregulation & nervous system imbalances
Childhood trauma & complex PTSD
Systemic trauma & cultural influences on mental health.

What is IERA-Therapy?

IERA-Therapy® (Integrative Epigenetic Relational Approach) is a trauma-informed relational psychotherapy framework developed by Novena-Chanel Davies.

IERA-Therapy integrates relational psychotherapy, attachment theory, neurocscience, trauma research, and epigenetic perspectives in order to understand how psychological distress develops, and how healing can occur across individual, relational, and generational levels.

The therapeutic model explores psychological distress through the interaction of developmental relationships, biological and epigenetic processes, neuroscience, social context, and anti-oppressive practice. IERA-Therapy recognises that identity formation and emotional difficulties develop through relationships, lived experiences, and the environments in which people grow and live.

A core question within IERA-Therapy is: Where did the relational disconnection occur, and how can it be understood, repaired, or integrated?

Integrating relational psychotherapy, trauma-informed practice, and an understanding of survival-based presentations, IERA-Therapy practitioners are trained to work with trauma at both the individual and systemic levels, recognising how attachment patterns, nervous system responses, and intergenerational influences shape emotional regulation, relational dynamics, and identity formation across the lifespan.

How Trauma affects the Brain and Body

Trauma refers to experiences that overwhelm a person’s ability to cope or feel safe.

When trauma occurs, the brain and nervous system adapt in order to protect the body.

These responses can influence emotional regulation, memory processing, stress responses, and relational patterns. Over time, the body may remain in a heightened state of alertness or disconnection, even when danger is no longer present.

Trauma can develop after a single event, or over time through repeated experiences of fear, instability, neglect, or relational harm.

IERA-Therapy recognises that these responses involve the interaction of the nervous system, relational experiences, and biological processes that may also influence stress and relational patterns across generations.

What is Trauma and Intergenerational Trauma?

Within IERA-Therapy®, trauma is understood as both relational and embodied. It can shape how individuals experience themselves, how they relate to others, and how their nervous system responds to the world around them. For many people, trauma may also be connected to intergenerational experiences, cultural history, and wider social realities.

Intergenerational Trauma: How Trauma is Passed Down

Trauma does not only affect one individual. Its effects can also influence families and communities across generations. Research in epigenetics suggests that significant stress and trauma can influence biological processes related to how the body regulates stress and emotion. These changes may affect how future generations respond to stress, even when they have not directly experienced the original event.

For example, when a grandmother is pregnant with a daughter, the developing foetus already carries the eggs that may later become the next generation. This means that biological development unfolds across multiple generations simultaneously.

Research is also beginning to explore how paternal experiences may influence biological inheritance.

Within IERA-Therapy, these insights help us understand how emotional patterns, stress responses, and relational behaviours may be shaped by both personal experiences and inherited biological sensitivities.

What IERA-Therapy® Supports

IERA-Therapy may support individuals experiencing:

• relational trauma
• intergenerational trauma
• anxiety and chronic stress
• depression
• identity fragmentation
• attachment disruption
• neurodivergent self-concept struggles
• cultural or social dislocation
• experiences of psychosis where relational meaning-making remains accessible

The Epigenetic Relational Therapy Academy offers an exclusive certification, ensuring high standards in IERA-Therapy®. The certification pathways are only available through ERTA's accredited training programmes.

Want to learn more?
Contact us to explore our training and practitioner directory.