The Body Keeps the Score

Book Review

When I think back to when I first read this book, it brings up a flood of emotions. Reading this book was such a positive turning point in my life - I had chosen to slowly walk into the pain of my past rather than trying to maneuver around it.
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In the interest of full disclosure, this can be a heavy read at times.  There were some parts where I could only make it through a few pages, let myself digest it, and then come back to the book later.  However, I kept reading it.  Every page.

The author, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, is a psychiatrist and one of the foremost world experts on trauma.  The Body Keeps the Score functions almost as an “encyclopedia” of sorts describing trauma’s effect on the brain and the entire body.

Dr. van der Kolk got his start working in trauma back in the 1970s when he was working with veterans returning from Vietnam.  He has spent the decades since observing and compiling the most effective treatments for those suffering with trauma and PTSD.  He discusses tangible ways that trauma survivors can, as he calls it, “come back into their bodies.”

The one (minor) criticism of the book is that it can be a bit dense, especially regarding the brain science.  If you are more interested in skipping ahead and learning about the “Path to Recovery” - that can be found in Part Five.

In Part Five of the book, Dr. van der Kolk describes how simple activities such as yoga and theater classes can help people begin to “reinhabit their bodies.”  Also in this section, he describes more advanced therapies like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Neurofeedback as ways of helping the brain reprocess the trauma - so the trauma becomes less overwhelming.

This is the 3rd book in my “Healing Trilogy”.  It can be an intense, but worthwhile read for achieving greater understanding of how the body responds and heals from trauma.