“For me it was school, and teachers…”
Overall, this report was not so much about Oprah personally, nor her own life experience, but more about the phenomena (or, in a loose way, the ‘science’) of childhood trauma. She highlights the trauma-informed work being done at “SaintA” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., whom she interviews, is considered one of the 3 or 4 leading, researchers, and practitioners in the world (going the whole way back to the kids in the Waco fiasco). He is Founder and Senior Fellow of the ChildTrauma Academy, in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Perry made powerful points: Children are more vulnerable to fear and stress than adults. Childhood, when brains are physically forming, is the period of greatest sensitivity for the brain.
A child’s developing brain doesn’t ‘just get over it’. Unaddressed, trauma in children generates lifelong impacts, and can end in early death.
Dr. Perry was also crystal clear in bringing ‘relationships’ to the forefront as the counterpoint to traumatic stress in childhood.
Oprah briefly defines Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Much more information is available: Click here and here.
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