Bruce D. Perry

Wonderful and intelligent. This book is an amazing look not only at how the brain is shaped by early interactions (including trauma) but a look at how amazing recovery can be. Perry handles this potential depressing subject wonderfully. Instead of leaving me appalled at the horrors that people commit against children (which I was), it left me feeling amazed at how children can handle and cope with amazing things. I was left, not with disgust, but with hope.

I've read this twice, years apart, in two different editions. As part of an undergrad psych course I read the original book, and more recently for a graduate counseling course I read the new, expanded edition. I've also had the opportunitiy to hear Dr. Perry lecture in person and talk to him a bit. Both editions are excellent, with the more recent one literally just containing updates to the individual cases to account for the large span of time between editions, so pick up the new one.
Dr. show more Perry is one of the greatest living therapists/psychiatrists working with highly traumatized children. For those familiar with his work overall, a lot of the discourse here is going to be familiar to the point of repetitiveness, but if you're just getting into the field there's a really low barrier to entry here as its written to be accessible to a lay audience. Think of it as something between anecdotal stories and case studies involving the application of his theories and techniques across his career.
While written to be accessible to the lay person, this is really looking at highly traumatized individuals mostly from backgrounds of unbelievable abuse. Unless you or a loved one is struggling with a traumatic background, or you work with those who have/work in education or human services, it feels a little exploitive/distasteful to read this just for 'fun'. Though I can definitely see some material here for those interested in or working in fields related to True Crime or cults, as there are stories involving children from groups such as the Branch Dividians. Similarly, those who may have had a very violent/traumatic childhood may want to just assume the whole book has a big trigger warning label on it. show less

This fascinating book produced many “lightbulb moments” for me. Some reviewers have stated that “What Happened to You” contained very few new ideas. I’ve read quite a few self-help books over the decades. Perry and Winfrey covered a lot of territory I had yet to explore. What’s more, they explained complex issues involving brain science in an understandable and interesting way, vividly demonstrating how stress and trauma change us. Oprah boldly shares her personal struggles. I show more never realized that the first couple months of our lives have a disproportionate impact on our emotional well-being for the rest of our lives. Infants with high stress or trauma in their first two months typically will experience more problems than others who had very little stress in their infancy but endured years of stress later in childhood. I do wish the book had spent a bit more time examining the impacts of stress and trauma on teens and even adults. But I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in PTSD, brain science or psychology. show less

the audiobook version is EVERYTHING! it felt like listening to a podcast. Oprah and Dr. Perry were basically just having a long conversation that was easy to follow and understand. i loved how Dr. Perry presented his real case studies alongside the science of trauma and healing. i would listen to a podcast with Oprah and Dr. Perry.. but i guess that was the Oprah show... not everything needs to be a podcast...... anyways i just really loved the conversational style of this audiobook *chef's show more kiss* this book was eye-opening. i never would have thought to ask "what happened to you/ me rather than what's wrong with you/me". i learned lots about feelings, PTSD, vibration of love, etc. very well written, well researched, Dr. Perry knows. his. stuff.! show less