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

Oprah Winfrey · Bruce D. Perry

Apr 2021 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry

About this audiobook

"[Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry] are both capable, likable narrators who are sincerely engaged with their subject matter...The performances of these two humanitarians make this a must-hear for anyone recovering from their traumatic past." —AudioFile

This program is read by the authors.

Our earliest experiences shape our lives far down the road, and What Happened to You? provides powerful scientific and emotional insights into the behavioral patterns so many of us struggle to understand.

“Through this lens we can build a renewed sense of personal self-worth and ultimately recalibrate our responses to circumstances, situations, and relationships. It is, in other words, the key to reshaping our very lives.”—Oprah Winfrey

This audiobook is going to change the way you see your life.

Have you ever wondered "Why did I do that?" or "Why can't I just control my behavior?" Others may judge our reactions and think, "What's wrong with that person?" When questioning our emotions, it's easy to place the blame on ourselves; holding ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. It's time we started asking a different question.

Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the audiobook, she and Dr. Perry 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

Ratings and reviews

This book should be required reading for anyone who works with teens and children. I appreciated the doctor's knowledge as well as Oprah's anecdotes from her own past and from some of the girls who have attended her school of leadership in Africa. The shift in perspective from "what's wrong with you" to "what happened to you" is fundamental in fostering empathy and understanding, which can lead to healing and trust.

There is so much in this book. It encourages the heart as it guides you in considering the impact of the past, the reality of the present, and the hope for the future. It is worth the time, so much so that I will probably listen/read it again. Just finished and still processing, but very clear about the power of the past and the importance of being intentional about the life we lead as well as those we impact. Well done!

This book challenges our cultural approach by changing the question from "what's wrong with you?" I appreciate the thought that worldview expressions like "buck up buttercup" and "you're lazy" are themselves... Lazy.

About the author

Over the course of her esteemed career, Oprah Winfrey has created an unparalleled connection with people around the world. As host and supervising producer of the top-rated, award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show, she entertained, enlightened, and uplifted millions of viewers for twenty-five years. Her continued accomplishments as a global media leader and philanthropist have established her as one of the most influential and admired public figures in the world today.

Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., a child psychiatrist and neuroscientist, is the principal of the Neurosequential Network, senior fellow of the ChildTrauma Academy and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago. He is the author, with Maia Szalavitz, of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, a bestselling book based on his work with maltreated children, and Born for Love, about the essential nature of empathy.