The Body Keeps the Score

Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

443 pages

English language

Published Oct. 30, 2014

ISBN:
978-0-670-78593-3
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
861478952

View on OpenLibrary

5 stars (4 reviews)

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope …

2 editions

Review of "The Body Keeps the Score"

4 stars

This was not a book I approached lightly—or leisurely. "The Body Keeps the Score" is dense, academic, and filled with clinical insight. To get through all 460 pages before my next therapy session, I toggled between the physical copy and the audiobook. It actually became a unique way to experience the material—reading when I had time to sit and focus, then listening while doing chores or cooking. Switching between formats helped me move through the content quickly, but also made it feel like I was processing the book in layers.

Van der Kolk’s central argument—that trauma reshapes both the brain and the nervous system—is hard to unsee once you’ve absorbed it. Trauma doesn’t just color how we feel about the world; it rewires how we function within it, biologically and neurologically. The electrical signals in our bodies are affected. And while medication may have a place in treatment, the author …

Review of 'The Body Keeps the Score' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Hard and unpleasant, yet highly valuable read, at least for me. Sadly, it made me understanding lots of people and lots of happenings around me notably better. It also helped me to differentiate non-scientific BS from the ways my unresolved fear, anxiety and doubt can make my feel physicaly sick. However, should you ever considered reading this book, be warned that it discusses every single worst thing that a human can experience and yet survive. All the trigger warnings ahead.

avatar for jaapstronks

rated it

5 stars

Subjects

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Treatment