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A review by barelyconcealed
What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
2.0
This book is odd; I listened to this because it was recommended to do it that way - the book is more of a conversation between Dr. Perry and Oprah Winfrey. This is perhaps the part that makes it odd in that several times throughout the book they would reference third parties - either people dealing with their own trauma, or folks like Maori community elders, and I kept thinking "wow I wish they had written this book instead."
This book is a work of pop-science, and that's to its detriment since it frequently relies on anecdotes - truly horrific anecdotes - to support its conclusions and then when it mentions the science frequently seems to admit that the results just aren't in yet.
Other negative reviews have pointed out its mixed messages - namely that it seems to believe that trauma is ingrained and permanent, but also that you can heal through it. There is a finality to the way that trauma is presented.
If this had been an article, it might have been revelatory. As a book, I bounced about halfway through
This book is a work of pop-science, and that's to its detriment since it frequently relies on anecdotes - truly horrific anecdotes - to support its conclusions and then when it mentions the science frequently seems to admit that the results just aren't in yet.
Other negative reviews have pointed out its mixed messages - namely that it seems to believe that trauma is ingrained and permanent, but also that you can heal through it. There is a finality to the way that trauma is presented.
If this had been an article, it might have been revelatory. As a book, I bounced about halfway through
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Medical trauma