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

THIS IS ANOTHER AUDIBLE PURCHASE THAT'S A KEEPER! The title is called "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU," and it's a collaboration that's sold over 100,000 copies on the AMAZON WEBSITE ALONE. I wanted this one since it's so well written by OPRAH WINFREY, and a MEDICAL DOCTOR whose work SPECIALIZES in TRAUMA. I had wanted this both in KINDLE FORM & AUDIBLE FORMAT! It's very informative, and that 100,000 copies sold on AMAZON IS WELL OVER THAT AMOUNT OF FIVE STAR RATINGS. I urge anybody who has gone through any type of trauma, big or small to buy it, because it's a valuable resource. I knew about the male Doctor that is a SPECIALIST, in the BRAIN BIOCHEMISTRY & ANATOMY of the ENTIRE NERVOUS SYSTEM since going back over twenty or more years ago, and he's very talented AUTHOR, as well as making his work with the brain and nervous system accessible to those who don't have a SCIENTIFIC background. He's very compassionate, and humble, and WORLD FAMOUS which I remembered loving that book he wrote which this I bought in hardcover since there were no such things as digital books. I'm going to purchase it in KINDLE & AUDIBLE and he fascinated me with his NON FICTION title called, "THE BOY WHO WAS RAISED BY A DOG." It could be any trauma, such as a car accident, or those who've served in the Military, PTSD or COMPLEX PTSD, who might not even know they have it, and I'm not going to say much more about OPRAH WINFREY, since you'd have to be living under a rock, to not be familiar with her philanthropic endeavors always trying to give back, and she doesn't need the money. She shares her knowledge with anything that she finds is information that is going to be helpful to the world. I listen to AUDIO books in NON FICTION only. I have been an AUDIBLE member since at least ten years, but more than that which I recommend as a way of listening to books while driving, or while you're busy doing something else at the same time. It's affiliated with AMAZON, and the people who work there are phenomenal. They are super helpful and very friendly, which I don't do, but I just might when I have the time, since I bought a book that I'm never going to listen to. Like I said I don't usually return things because it's too time consuming, but I am starting to use more AUDIO books, lately, and I bought the wrong book, that I never listened to it, so that's another thing I have to decide to take the time, if I can get it done, but I probably won't. If for any reason you don't like the book, or the narrator you can return it for a credit without any hassle, and you can either exchange it for a different choice, or save it as a credit. It's only $14.99 per month, but if you don't read a book a month, you can do the plan for every two months. The AUDIBLE book titles are yours to keep, and you can buy it and listen to it a year from now or anytime. I highly recommend joining because a lot of books cost more than 14.99, and you can't return them.

This is an exceptional book. Oprah's personal experience of childhood trauma was insightful. A psychiatrist citing former patient case studies. Instead of "what's wrong with you?" reframed to "what happened to you"? Is so much more powerful. Well written. Engaging. Research-backed, A valuable read. If trauma is in your background, this could help you in many ways.

The photo I shared is how my personal childhood trauma played out as an adult when I was 47. This book validates the experiences I had, and that in fact, I'm not an exception at all. My hope and prayer is that with this being on Oprah's list of 2021 best gifts that more folks will take the time to understand how in fact their past can and does play out in their life and in their relationships with others. The best gift any of us can give our children is to break generational cycles of abuse, neglect, and negative patterns. We can't do that without an understanding of how our brains work to deal with trauma we have experienced in our lives. Dr. Perry and Oprah take such a complicated topic and give concrete examples to help folks who haven't had exposure to this topic have a better understanding. You more than likely have had adverse experiences in your life that impact your current relationships. This book will help you have a better understanding of how past experiences play out in current relationships. Additionally, there are examples of how folks have overcome great adversities to go on and thrive. What happens to us doesn't have to define us or our future, we each need to process our past, understand how a wrong, injustice, or adversity, has shaped our worldview, and then make the decision to learn and grow from the experience. It's not easy, and I don't think in the book they allude to the fact that it is, it's very difficult, but as I've come to learn in life, probably like most folks, the rewards come after the difficult work/journeys. Nothing worthwhile in life is usually easy. My personal experience, I was brought up in a middle class white family, graduated college at 23, and on to work full-time, a fulfilling career, until my childhood trauma was triggered when I felt bullied by a $3trillion company. I suffered from dissociative trauma, as a child, fight or flight were not options to the significant abuse I suffered. This bully triggered the bully from my childhood that significantly abused me and I took all the anger from my childhood bully and placed it on this company. Whether I was right or wrong in feeling bullied is moot, book will point to that. I resigned from a career at this company of 11 years, a good career, and went on to file multiple lawsuits consuming two years of my life, the picture shows I took the case all the way to The Supreme Court of the US, after I was rejected in every other court. You see the child who did not have a voice when she was being abused, was determined this time to be heard, hence all the lawsuits begging someone to see how I was being bullied. I wasn't successful, every court denied to allow me to go to discovery, which just again, reactivated my childhood trauma of not being heard. This started for me in 2014, it would take me 4 years to walk through the doors of a trauma counselor where I would connect all the dots and be flooded with past memories, experience PTSD, body sensations, and here I am 3 years later, healthier and whole, but it was the most difficult process I've ever experienced. I was lucky, I had an incredible support system in my husband and friends but I can easily see how this type of event would cripple anyone and how they could be ostracized by friends and family, not that I didn't experience some of that, but those who were there for me helped me overcome. So, yes, I recommend the book because all of us have experienced adversities or trauma and most folks have no idea how it is playing out in their lives today and how they are passing it down to their children. If you take the time to be openminded, reflective, and honest, you will in fact take something away that will make your life better. Thank you Dr. Perry and Oprah, for all the work you have done in this field for decades. I can't imagine how difficult it has to be to hear so many of these stories, live it, and know it, and see how slow our society has been to address mental health. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Oprah for putting it on your 2021 list, and thank you too for sharing your personal story, how you struggled and resolved your relationship with your mother, it moved me to tears, for many reasons. May God bless you each abundantly and may His hand be upon the mission of expanding this topic of What Happened To you? Leigh Ann Harris North Carolina

This is a dry read on the topic of trauma. At the end it provides a few ideas for healing but most of it is a conversation between Oprah and the other author...a seasoned trauma therapist. They go through causes and how trauma steers people in certain directions if not dealt with. It's a good book for anyone who works with kids or adults who have experienced trauma. It covers big trauma, but also small trauma. It provides a window of understanding. What you do with this information afterwards and how you use it to help yourself or others is up to you.

I didn't figure out that I was an abused child until I was almost 70 years old and when I realized this it was very devastating to me. This book answered a lot of questions about my difficulty getting along with people and about why my family was so hateful. This book reads like a clinical analysis of my autobiography, it's changed my life, it could change yours. I recommend it.

What Happened to You is an eye opening read with a lot of great pointers on how to deal with things from your past and gives you some insight on what could have caused some different ailments we may been fighting with our bodies and mind. This book was recommended by my therapist and while learning some of the reasons I have experienced certain issues we have reached new ground together. I have read it twice..

Great book that helps bring light to childhood trauma whether you realize you had any or not, your childhood is a good reflection of who you are as an adult and who you choose to continue as or become as you grow through life at any age. I bought another copy for a friend.

In this book Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce D. Perry analyze the effects of trauma on the the developing brain, and discuss both the emotional and biological changes and adaptations that this trauma creates. Dr. Perry has a background in neuroscience and psychiatry, and uses this interdisciplinary knowledge to explain how trauma, especially trauma experienced in childhood, can profoundly affect our lives. The book alternates between sections written by Oprah, as she recalls events from her life, and Dr. Perry, as he uses examples and stories from his practice to explain concepts about the brain's response to trauma. Oprah's sections are written in blue, while Dr. Perry's are written in black, to easily distinguish the two. There are sections at the beginning of each chapter where either Oprah or Dr. Perry will recount events that happened in their lives and discuss the effects of trauma. Most of the rest of the chapter is then written in more of a conversational tone; as Perry and Oprah go back and forth in a way that feels more like a discussion on Oprah's show. In the first chapter of the book there is a diagram that I found very helpful that depicts the 'Hierarchical Organization of the Human Brain'. This diagram is referenced many times throughout the book, and is a key to understanding the effects of trauma. Dr. Perry explains that traumatic experiences are first registered in the lowest levels of this hierarchical structure, so that certain situations that are similar in some way to a traumatic situation of the past, still trigger the same physiological responses even before our cortex can analyze these situations. Oprah and Dr. Perry do a great job of using examples of patients or guests that experienced trauma, and explaining the underlying biological responses that have shaped their behaviors later in life. In the chapter on self regulation and balance, Dr. Perry explains the processes involved in the body's core regulatory networks, and the body's response to stress activation. Dr. Perry discusses drug addiction and how people use artificial means to attempt to restore some sense of balance. There is another chapter that discusses love, and the effects of growing up in an environment where you do not feel cared for. Later chapters focus on identifying trauma, and the eventual healing process. This book can be helpful for a wide range of people. Obviously if you have experienced trauma, especially early in life, this book can help explain what adaptations your brain went through and how this affects your perspectives on situations later in life. Perhaps equally important though, is the ability to prevent trauma-related issues in future generations by using these insights to guide your parenting behaviors and decisions. For me, reading about the long-lasting effects of certain childhood experiences has made me even more vigilant as a parent; and more focused on the less-obvious ways that my children might be absorbing information. I enjoyed reading this book, and it contains so much information that I will likely go back and reread later, as I try to make sure to create the healthiest environment for my children.

excelente libro, se entiende cómo funciona el cerebro muy bien con todos los ejemplos que tiene. Recomiendo 100%

Muy ilustrativo leer acerca de la importancia del trauma, sus consecuencias y su tratamiento. Ojalá y en la sociedad estuviéramos más informados al respecto. Como se explica en el libro, todo lo q hacemos al final tiene que ver con lo que nos pasó en el pasado. La importancia de nuestras figuras de apego mientras crecemos no puede ser enfatizada lo suficiente. Ojalá todos podamos ser esos adultos que tienen empatía por el de enfrente y podamos formar conexiones sanadoras. Con las explicaciones del Dr. Perry y Oprah, estaremos más cerca de concientizarnos al respecto.

Never read anything like this before! Oprah's questions and Dr Bruce Perry's answers were just fantastic. Lots of aha moments regarding trauma and how we can obtain tools to live with it. I was a child of the 50's where big emotions were not really dealt with. You were told not to cry or get angry and just be a "good girl" to keep others happy. For all those people who shamed us and told us to "get over it" or "it happened a long time ago" or "stop being so sensitive" should read this book to see the huge impact of trauma on a young child. This book answered lots of questions for me. Well worth the read.

Reading this œuvre has made me realize key points of my life. I finally understand and accept that, whatever happened to me during my youth, especially as a teenager and young adult, shaped me into what I am today. It somehow gave me the strength to move on and build a loving family of my own.

By asking; What happened to the Inner Child? I find is enlightening in understanding many aspects of our current personality, mentality and world view. I love the explanation of the concept of evocative cues, those sensory inputs that activate traumatic memories and trigger complex behaviours, emotions and psychological responses. We can learn to pay attention and understand our evocative cues so we can keep ourselves regulated, grounded and centred in our own reality. It is important to give back to yourself and take care of yourself so you can bring the best version of yourself and become effective in your life endeavours. It is important to have a healthy degree of control in your environment and your experience of life to ensure moderate, predictable and controllable experiences that build your resilience and personal growth. If at all possible, eliminate and avoid all sources of toxicity and negativity in your life, that wear you down to functional vulnerability of your brain and body and lead to a cascade of risks in your emotional, social, mental, and physical health. Brilliant excerpt from the book. Until you heal the wounds of your past, you will continue to bleed. The wounds will bleed through and stain your life, through alcohol, through drugs, through sex, through overworking. We must understand and heal the wounds of the past before we can move forward. The book discusses the open possibilities of how one can heal and transmute experiences of adversity, challenges, disappointment, loss, relational betrayal, neglect, degradation, abuse and trauma, into personal empowerment, inner strength, post-traumatic growth and wisdom. I recommend the book.