Zero Commitment Book Club - December/January

"What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing"
By: Bruce D. Perry, MD, Ph.D and Oprah Winfrey

Wow! This book is an EXCELLENT primer on trauma! Written in interview form between Oprah and Dr. Perry, this book is super readable and easily digestible despite being packed with research and neurobiology. Although many of the Worth It therapists read the book, it would make an excellent listen for those who prefer  audiobooks. Let's dive in:

• The basis of this book is proposing moving away from the question of "what's wrong with you" and towards an understanding of "what happened to you". This idea creates the foundation for an understanding of the human experience through a trauma-informed lens.  This allows for an empathic interpretation of behavior as an adaptation to trauma, as opposed to a fundamental human flaw.
• Autonomic Arousal - which they refer to as the stress-response system - is impacted by trauma. Period. This system becomes sensitized through the experience of trauma and remains sensitized without intervention. We are OBSESSED with Figure 1 on pg. 27 as an immensely helpful model for understanding the hierarchy and functioning of the human brain - laminated form in office coming soon :)
• We are most susceptible to trauma in the early years of life (birth - age 2) because this is when our brains are developing most rapidly. This is the time when the blueprints of the world around us are directly influencing the landscape of the developing brain. 
• Trauma is incredibly difficult to define. However, despite the difficult definition, we KNOW we need a much broader understanding of what constitutes trauma. It is especially important to include stressful experiences in early life.
• The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study was/is crucial to understanding and predicting future physical health concerns in adults traumatized as children.
• Connectedness matters! Dr. Perry's research has shown that "the best predictor of their current mental health functioning is their current connectedness". So much so, that current connectedness appears to be even more influential on mental health that childhood adversity. 
• Marginalization is trauma.
• Generational trauma is real.