What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

Summary

Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain development and trauma expert, Dr. Bruce Perry, discuss the impact of trauma and adversity and how healing must begin with a shift to asking, “what happened to you?” rather than “what’s wrong with you?”

Through deeply personal conversation, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Perry explore how what happens to us in early childhood influences the people we become. They challenge us to shift from focusing on “What’s wrong with you?” or “Why are you behaving that way?” to asking, “What happened to you?”

Many of us experience adversity that has lasting impact on our physical and emotional health. “What happened to us” in childhood is a powerful predictor of our risk for health problems down the road, and offers scientific insights in to the patterns of behaviors so many struggle to understand.

Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma at a young age. Joining forces with Dr. Perry, one of the world’s leading experts on childhood trauma, Winfrey and Dr. Perry marry the power of storytelling with science and clinical experience to better understand and overcome the effects of trauma.

In conversation throughout the book, the two focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it’s one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future—opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way.