I Totally Relate's First Book Club: What Happened to You?

Welcome to our FIRST LIVE RECORDING! This episode is the conversation we recorded as a group discussing our first Book Club pick: What Happened to You by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry. This book does a phenomenal job explaining the biology of the brain and it's responses to traumatic events, and the impact that has on our unconscious behaviors and actions as we continue to interact in the world.

We want to be upfront and let you know that this book covers a very heavy topic and portions of our conversation touch on personal and painful experiences and emotions. We do discuss sexual assault in a portion of this episode. The authors have a note at the beginning of the book that states the following:

"We know this reading experience will make you think and make you feel - and at times the feelings may be hard and painful. For some, the intense and sometimes disturbing content will be a challenge. For other, the concepts about the brain may be unfamiliar and initially difficult to understand. We ask for your patience and trust, with us and yourselves.

When you find the reading too challenging, stop. Put the book down for an hour or a week. It will still be there when you feel able to return to it. And when you are ready to continue exploring why "what happened to you" shapes how you think, feel, and act, welcome. You just may discover a path forward."

We feel like this is really important to mention here, because one of our book club attendees, Linette, experienced this deeply, and she shares her experience of beginning to look into her past and memories that she felt she had put behind her.

We discuss multiple stories from the book that gave clear examples and really impacted us, including the story of Sam, Oprah on set for a movie, and the grumpy guy at the airport. We share how we have internalized these concepts as mothers ourselves, as daughters, and women who work in the community.

Knowledge is power, and this book is a gift to our society because it breaks down complex ideas into relatable stories and simple analogies, as well as sharing very helpful diagrams and charts. We absolutely recommend this book, and hope that you enjoy the conversation of a group of women discussing what happened to us.

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