Everyday Experience, Everyday Trauma

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

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It took me a while to get all the way through this one and, for all that, I feel like I need to read it again. There’s quite a bit to unpack here and I genuinely don’t think I’ve absorbed it to the extent that would allow me to do it justice.

I do want to say that it is well worth reading for anyone who struggles to understand their own behaviour or the behaviour of others, however. The work is based on empirical science, but is made accessible through personal and professional anecdotes. The research presented ranges from trauma experienced during war, as first responders, domestically and within day-to-day society. The diagnostic tools available and suggestions of treatment are equally varied.

“As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself…The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know. That takes an enormous amount of courage.”

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

What you won’t find is an in-depth examination of any specific trauma or treatment. The Body Keeps the Score is an overview of sorts, an introduction. It is fascinating, however, and a lot of the content mentioned can be further explored through a series of works readily accessible at the moment. One that stood out to me, as it’s been on my to-read list for quite a few months now, is Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love. I’ve moved it up my list because of The Body Keeps the Score. Mainly because I’ve heard it thoroughly explores Attachment Theory, which is a topic that deeply relates to trauma.

I do wonder what this book might have included if it had been written post-pandemic. The intricacies and complexities of the current day will undoubtedly shape how we move forward individually and collectively and, after a good long break of several years from the topic, I would be really interested to read such research.



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