The Body Keeps the Score

Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

By: Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Number one New York Times best seller

“Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding and treating traumatic stress and the scope of its impact on society.” (Alexander McFarlane, director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies)

A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing in this New York Times best seller.

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 more than 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 for reclaiming lives.

Cover image: © 2020 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Courtesy of the Archives Henri Matisse, All rights reserved.

©2014 Bessel van der Kolk (P)2021 Penguin Audio

WOW!!! I wish I had read this decades ago . . .

This is so well written. I listened to it on audio. After decades of therapy for PTSD, I didn't think I could "learn" any more that would help me out. I've gone thru soooooo many therapies. However, this was incredible at explaining in a manner I can understand (neurology is heavy!) so that I can be aware when my brain is telling me things which I can now apply "tools" to that I've learned throughout the years. It gave me a feeling of "I'm really ok" whereas normally I would blame myself for being "stupid" in not being able to "control" certain emotions (that seemed ridiculous to me at my age of 63). I'm going to listen to it again and take more notes so that I can have my arsenal of tools at the ready so as not to go down a spiraling emotional path for days on end. If you're dealing with childhood trauma (sexual, physical or emotional), this book could be for you. Mind you, I've been through years of therapy for this and worked thru very many issues/problems so if you're new in realizing your trauma, this may be a bit much for this period in your recovery. I can't say enough about it! It was truly an awakening for me in many areas of my life. Kudos to the author for his work with PTSD patients and the "naming" of a diagnosis for it so people, especially our soldiers, can now get the sorely needed help. Great narrator as well - I felt like I was in the stories!

so much info!!

this book really covers it all. there were some realizations I made about myself, some about others and some I simply marvelled that anybody had lived through and recovered from. this book gave me a deeper appreciation for veterans and psychology as a whole. it really opened my eyes to the amount and types of trauma that are experienced. it also addressed many different forms of treatment and how they are beneficial in aiding the mind to let go.

Very heady but great information

This book is so full of great perspectives as well as a boatload of studies and technical information that can become overwhelming at times but is at the same time always intriguing. Made it through on audio after owning the paper copy for a year an never getting past 1/4 way through. Narrator was EXCELLENT.
Glad I made it.

Insightful and helpful

This book was a revelation. It helped me understand a lot of things about myself and convinced me to seek out therapy.

Recommended by my therapist

I spent many years in an abusive relationship in which I had neither the language nor the coping skills to handle it without trauma resulting from it. This book was not a manual to teach me the coping skills but more a dictionary to give me the words I was missing. It does describe trauma from a variety of sources- domestic and sexual abuse, PTSD, and societal pressures- so it is a difficult listen.

long but thourough and life-changing

I've heard about this book for years and I'm glad I took the time to listen. He says a lot of controversial things about medicine , which I love. I believe he really cares about people. I wish I could get his help with pwople I know. His knowledge and approach are dynamic and legit deal with the "whole person." Listening was like taking a college course. I took pages of note and I'll be listening to this again.

A must read if you want to transform yourself.

This book has transformed the way I have thought of trauma on myself and others. It was very in-depth and explained a lot about why and how I was living my life and the emotions I felt are okay to have. I can go on and on about what this book has given me insight on for myself. I recommend it to those who was to transform their life.

Wow! 🫶🏼

Best book I’ve listened to so far! Very informative & I hope I can help heal the ancestral trauma passed from generation to generation.

Must Read

This book is life changing and a must read even if you are fortunate enough to not be suffering from trauma.

Uncomfortable, but informative

Super informative but in no way a fun read. Many disturbing testimonials of his clients traumas and there road to recovery. The topic on internal mental family structure was pretty mind blowing, how the mind creates protective personalities to guard one from the pains of a trauma. He explains in exhaustion how the body's sympathetics fight or flight, freeze or fawn (people please) are on overdrive, as a result of undelt with and unprocessed traumas. He illuminates how one can be in a chronic state of panic because of the traumatized mind/body connection. Unless you yourself specialize in this field, its kind of alot to take in. But with a few pauses and mental decompressive breaks, when needed you'll at lease have more knowledge on the subject of mind body connection, in reference to trauma.