From CBS This Morning: Tony Dokoupil: Oprah Winfrey is challenging all of us to examine and actually reexamine how the trauma that all of us experienced in one way or another as children can shape our world view today as adults. It’s part of a new book she co-wrote with psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Perry; Oprah urges people to flip the question “What’s wrong with you?” to instead ask “What happened to you?”
Ever since I dipped into the book “What Happened To You?”, I’ve been looking at everybody on the street as a “former newborn,” in your phrase, Oprah. That really gets to what the title represents: a reframing of how we look at one another. It’s subtle, but it’s very profound.
Oprah: It’s subtle, but profound and powerful . . . Each of us creates a unique worldview shaped by our life’s experiences, and most of that comes—that worldview is shaped when you are a child.
Dokoupil: The very same part of the brain that’s learning language is also learning lessons in trauma . . . Once you understand the script that led to you today, what happened to you, you can rewrite that script,
Oprah: Having somebody who sees you, fully sees and recognizes you and you can connect to that, changes the way you view yourself and view the world. And that’s why “what happened to you” is so important to all of us.
Dr. Perry: Healing really comes from these moments where people are present, attentive, attuned, and truly see you, as Oprah says.
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