Description: "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 ... 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?' Our earliest experiences shape our lives far down the road, and [this book] provides ... scientific and emotional insights into the behavioral patterns so many of us struggle to understand"--Publisher marketing.
Brief description: 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.
Review Quotes:
"Where Hope Lives:
What we experience in childhood shapes us forever--and that is especially true for young victims of trauma. It's a lesson Oprah learned as a child being raised by an abusive grandmother. She developed 'a keen sense of when trouble was brewing'--when she would be subjected to 'whuppings' at times so brutal, the welts left behind would bleed through her clothing. As a result of this and other abuse she suffered, Oprah has had a lifelong interest in understanding and overcoming the profound effects of early trauma--and helping others do the same. Now, she's teamed up with neuroscientist and child trauma expert Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, on this essential book. Revealing, intimate, and educational, it's a testament to the authors' wish for readers to come to grips with, and let go of, the past--and to move forward into 'post-traumatic wisdom.'" --Leigh Haber, O Magazine