book review: the body keeps the score by bessel van der kolk

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

What are the main ideas?

If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?

start doing a body-oriented type of therapy as well as talk therapy to help resolve my own trauma.

How would I describe the book to a friend?

dang. i can’t believe i waited ten years to read this book. this is a treasure trove of science and story that explains in vivid detail what trauma is, how it is created in the body and mind, explorations of what we can do to tend to it (individually and collectively), and the societal implications of doing (or not doing) that tending. it’s a biggie, for sure, but absolutely worth its weight in gold. it also is pretty explicit and intense regarding the specific stories and examples of people’s traumatic experiences. as i learned from the book, just hearing about someone else’s trauma is actually not likely to be triggering (because triggers are about the sensory experiences the feel like the overwhelming experience that caused the trauma in the person being triggered), but it’s still pretty intense and often upsetting stuff. handle with care and caution.

note: van der kolk was fired for allegations of misconduct in 2018. the situation was settled out of court so very little is publicly known about what happened. i don’t quite know what to make of this but here’s some articles in case you’re curious and want to be informed:


reminder: book review structure

words / writing / post-processing
714w / 32min / 20min