Oprah Says "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Was like “Therapy in Front of the World”

Photo credit: Oprah Daily
Photo credit: Oprah Daily
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Three years ago, Oprah and neuroscientist Dr. Bruce Perry were collaborating on a story for 60 Minutes about SaintA, an institution that helps young people who have been orphaned and are suffering from behavior disorders. It was then that Oprah had one of her “aha moments” as Dr. Perry expressed that people would often ask: “What’s wrong with these kids?” Instead, he thought the question should be: “What happened to that child?”

After decades of learning about childhood trauma—and dealing with her own—something “clicked” for Oprah in a way it hadn’t before, and that was why she decided to co-author the book with Dr. Perry: What Happened to You? Conversations About Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. During a conversation on the virtual book tour with actor Rob Lowe Oprah said the idea of changing the conversation from "what's wrong" to "what happened" was a life-changing moment" for her.

What Happened to You combines case studies, scientific research, personal anecdotes, and dialogue between Oprah and Dr. Perry. “Asking other people what happened to them,” Oprah said during during her conversation with Lowe, who also hosts the "Literally!" podcast, “opens up the aperture for that question to also be answered by yourself.”

This was also a central tenet of The Oprah Winfrey Show, an experience Oprah said taught her that every single person is looking “to live out the truest expression of ourselves” and of how necessary investigation and reflection are in the process of healing.

Lowe, who has been in recovery and sober for 31 years, was flabbergasted when Oprah mentioned she hadn’t ever been to therapy. “That blows my mind,” he said. “With your curiosity? But I guess you probably had all your therapy on the show.”

“I had all of my therapy in front of the world,” Oprah explained. “I always saw myself as a surrogate for the viewers. Every single person is looking for answers to the same question: ‘How do I become more of me?’” One of the reasons she pointed to the show’s success was her recognition that “I was no different than the viewer, except I was in charge of the microphone. I was empowered to ask questions and be who I was because it wasn’t just me.”

Another form of “therapy” for Oprah was—and still very much is—her close friendship with Gayle King. Gayle watched every episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, and after, the two of them would have a conversation, “processing what happened that day.”

“As Gayle has been for me and I have been for Gayle, as my teachers and the church were for me growing up, we can be that for other people.”

For more, read our exclusive What Happened to You? excerpt, and don't miss Oprah's favorite quotes from the book.


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