Oprah Winfrey in South Africa talks about the impact of trauma

On Friday 21 July American media mogul Oprah Winfrey held conference event in Midrand, highlighting and tackling issues of trauma, education and psychological wellbeing.

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‘WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?’

Hosted by the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (Owlag), the conference event was titled “What Happened to You: Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Learning, Teaching, and Psychological Functioning”.

The daylong event saw the attendance of various individuals across various walks of life, all of whom were seeking knowledge and skills to better understand the effects of trauma on learning, the human mind and wellbeing.

Industrial psychologist Hema Parbhoo told Sowetan Live that her love for Winfrey and her career is what inspired her to attend the conference.

“We’re all fans of Oprah. I’ve been in psychology for more than 20 years and I’ve also experienced trauma. I’m here with an open heart and I want to understand healing”, Parbhoo shared.

During the conference event, talking about her trauma, Oprah shares that dealing with trauma needs to be approached with understanding what happened to you as opposed to questioning what could be wrong with you.

“It’s not what’s wrong with you? It’s what happened to you? This is how we need to be approaching each other and our own traumas”, she said.

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OPRAH WINFREY IS A LIVING TESTAMENT

Throughout her career her career Oprah has rallied and advocated for mental health and wellness. The talk show host is a living testament herself, as she too has to heal from the trauma she endured.

Oprah was born into poverty in rural Mississippi. Growing up she endured emotional, physical and sexual abuse throughout her childhood. As a teen Oprah also struggled with body image issues and endured the crippling effects of racism and discrimination.

Despite the continuous obstacles and trauma she has faced, Oprah has persevered and in turn encouraging, inspiring and empowering thousands of others to seek help.

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