We are the dreams of our ancestors; we are their hopes for the future. But sometimes their trauma is transmitted to us through nightmares. Today’s guest, Dream Journal regular Linda Schiller, will be talking about how to heal that intergenerational pain and focus on the gifts of ancestral connection.

Linda talks about her own ancestors and how her grandfather, who she called Grandpa Joey, fled Kiev with his family at age of three because of the pogroms and how making borscht soup always helped her feel more connected to that side of her family. We talk about the trauma that we inherit from our ancestors but also the caring and resilience. Linda also talks about synchronicity, public trauma vs private trauma, drawing up a family tree, and dream incubation.

After the break, we explore a dream of Katherine’s about doing numerical computations like she used to during her NASA career and about why she might be having this dream now over 20 years after leaving that position.

BIO: Linda Yael Schiller, MSW, LICSW is an international teacher, psychotherapist, and dream worker. She is professor emeritus from Boston University School of Social Work and the post-graduate Trauma Certificate program. She is the author of three books: “PTSDreams: Transform Your Nightmares from Trauma through Healing Dreamwork” her classic, “Modern Dreamwork: New Tools for Decoding Your Soul’s Wisdom,” and her new book “Ancestral Dreaming: Healing Generational Wounds with Active Dreamwork” which comes out this summer and is currently available for pre-order through Llewellyn publishing.

Find her at LindaYaelSchiller.com

Find a short video clip of the conversation @experientialdreamwork on YouTube on the “Dream Journal shorts” playlist, or click here:

Find the full video record of the conversation @ExperientialDreamwork on YouTube on the “Dream Journal podcast FULL LENGTH VIDEOS” playlist, or click here:

BIO: Linda Yael Schiller is an international teacher, psychotherapist, and dream worker. She is professor emeritus from Boston University School of Social Work and the post-graduate Trauma Certificate program. She is the author of three books. Her new book is “Ancestral Dreaming: Healing Generational Wounds with Active Dreamwork”.

Find our guest at: LindaYaelSchiller.com

This show, episode number 348, was recorded during a live broadcast on January 31, 2026 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.

Here are links to some other Dream Journal episodes you might be interested in:

Healing Nightmares through Dreamwork with Linda Schiller

Trauma, Nightmares and Spirituality with Linda Schiller

Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Erik Nelson for answering the phones.

SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at [email protected]. Follow on LI, IG, YT, FB, & LT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com.

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