Book SummaryWhat Happened to You?, by Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of What Happened to You?

In What Happened to You?, Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey discuss how trauma affects the brain. In particular, they explain how traumatic events suffered in childhood have a lasting impact on development, behavior, and relationships. They maintain that by understanding this impact, trauma survivors can begin to heal and move forward.

For more than three decades, Perry and Winfrey have worked together on the topic of childhood trauma. Perry is an internationally renowned expert on how trauma affects the developing brain, and Winfrey has used her platform as a talk show host, actress, and author to increase awareness of the issue. Their partnership helped lead to the passage...

What Happened to You? Summary Part 1: Understanding Trauma

Before discussing how trauma impacts the brain, we first need to talk about what trauma is. Perry and Winfrey note that our society uses the term “trauma” very broadly. We sometimes refer to misfortunes as “traumatic,” such as failing an exam or receiving a negative review at work. We also might use the word to refer to an uncomfortable situation, such as watching violent news footage. The authors acknowledge that these types of events can cause distress and can even be traumatic for some people. But they urge us to use the word “trauma” carefully.

Perry explains that in psychology, trauma is difficult to define. This is because people can experience and react to the same event in different ways. For example, an earthquake might destroy one child’s home, causing severe trauma. But in a different part of the city, another child might experience only a slight shaking, which causes alarm but not lasting trauma.

Because of these difficulties, Perry and Winfrey stop short of defining trauma. Instead, they suggest that all trauma has two factors: a stress response, or the body’s reaction to a difficult event; and the lasting impact of that event. The extent and...

What Happened to You? Summary Part 2: Childhood Trauma

In the last section, we discussed the two basic elements of trauma: a heightened stress response and a lasting impact. These elements are common for trauma experienced at any age. However, in What Happened to You?, Perry and Winfrey are particularly interested in childhood trauma—trauma experienced during the formative years of development. In this section, we’ll discuss this type of trauma, including how it impacts the brain and its consequences in the short and long term.

Childhood Trauma’s Impact on the Developing Brain

While experiencing trauma at any stage of life can impact our wellbeing and mental health, Perry and Winfrey explain that childhood trauma has especially severe and long-lasting effects. This is because so much of our brain development happens during the first few years of life. As a result, our childhood experiences are foundational to our worldview, personality, and behavior.

(Shortform note: Scientists disagree on whether our worldview, personality, and behavior depend more on nature (the genetic material in our DNA) or nurture (our childhood experiences), as Perry and Winfrey suggest. However, recent research suggests that [personality...

What Happened to You? Summary Part 3: The Healing Process

In the previous section, we discussed how trauma can have short-term and long-term impacts on our worldview, behavior, and relationships. Fortunately, there are ways of addressing and working through trauma to help us heal and develop healthy relationships.

Perry and Winfrey maintain that every person going through trauma has a different background and different needs. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to trauma.

(Shortform note: While doctors agree that there is no one-size-fits-all care plan for trauma, there are common guidelines that care providers can follow. For example, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network uses the Psychological First Aid model, which outlines several “core actions” that doctors should perform. These include speaking to the patient with compassion and understanding, stabilizing symptoms, connecting the patient to support networks, and offering practical assistance to the patient and their family. While the details of each case will be different, these “core actions” help doctors make sure that they’re providing...

Shortform Exercise: Explore Your Childhood Memories

Perry and Winfrey maintain that our early childhood memories have a formative impact on our worldview, behavior, and personality. In this exercise, we’ll explore how your own childhood memories and associations have influenced the way you see the world.

Think about a difficult memory from your childhood. Describe the memory in detail: What happened? What sensory information (smells, sights, tastes, and sounds) do you remember?