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

What Happened to You? is a book intended for a readership interested in the topics of trauma, healing, and resilience. At the outset, Winfrey clarifies that the book is intended for those who have experienced trauma, or know of those who have experienced trauma, to help them understand these past histories and how they have influenced individual behavior and personality.

Although penned in a conversational format with Perry responding to Winfrey’s questions, and peppered with anecdotes offered by both co-authors, the book is not a memoir or a collection of stories. Perry roots his responses in scientific studies, specifically a neuroscientific approach to the experience of trauma. Perry defines and explains numerous aspects of the human brain and biology, and the role they play in the experience of trauma. His work as a clinician and academic is evident in his explanations, as well as his use of anecdotes drawn from his clinical experience to illustrate these concepts.

What Happened to You? offers new perspectives on trauma that are not widely acknowledged or understood by the public, or even health professionals. Perry attempts to draw convincing links between how physiology and human experience impact one another, and particularly so in the case of trauma. He sees this impact as a real and tangible influence in shaping behavior and personality. The authors advocate for a trauma-informed approach in educational and health settings, and social and public systems and institutions, as well as in framing legislation and policy. In Perry’s understanding, trauma-informed care refers not only to approaching individuals with the understanding that one’s past has real implications on one’s present personality, but also acting accordingly from this place of awareness.

Winfrey and Perry present a complementary set of skills as co-authors and collaborators on this book. Perry’s specialization as an academic and clinician is on children’s mental health, specifically with respect to trauma and its impact on the brain, serving as an expert on the subject. Winfrey, on the other hand, brings personal context and motivation, coupled with professional experience. Having experienced trauma and abuse herself, the topic is a personal one to Winfrey, and this is evident in the anecdotes she chooses to share throughout the book. However, her work as a media personality provides her with the experience to direct, lead, and draw out the conversation in a relevant and coherent manner. Winfrey asks pertinent questions, while Perry provides the answers in a collaborative effort to educate the reader on the topics of trauma, resilience, and healing.