The power of connection

Oprah, the psychiatrist and the Hokianga marae visit that revolutionised thinking about how we should nurture our young.

-  ANGELA BARNETT & RUTH BROWN

It’s a small marae, tucked under trees in a valley, just before you go over the hill to be dazzled by the splendid vista of Hokianga Harbour.

It was here that Dr Bruce Perry, a pioneering US neuroscientist and psychiatrist, gained inspiration to continue his work in trying to heal kids reeling from a tough start in life. Perry, now 68, is an internationally recognised expert on the effect of abuse, neglect and trauma on the child’s brain. In his 2021 book written with Oprah Winfrey, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, he mentions his formative New Zealand experiences.

In 1997, through Kiwi connections impressed by his burgeoning work in neuroscience, Perry visited Te Kai Waha Marae. During that period, Perry was challenging the medical models of the time and writing about how early childhood experiences affect the wiring of the brain.

His colleagues working in mental health and child abuse pushed back. His work was “bullshit”; he didn’t know what he was talking about. But one doctor was listening. New Plymouth paediatrician Robin Fancourt read one of his articles and asked to study alongside him in Chicago. A very surprised Perry, who was still quite junior, said come on over.

At the time, Fancourt, also a pioneer in her field, was founder and chair of the newly formed Children’s Agenda. She later invited him to New Zealand to speak around the country on the “assessment and treatment of maltreated children: a neurodevelopmental approach”.