The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, brain and body in the transformation of trauma



by Bessel Van Der Kolk (2015)


Where to start?  This book is monumental, being vast in scope, beautifully argued and hugely significant all at once.  It is also deeply humane and potentially healing.  It would have been very easy for Bessel to have turned out an angry diatribe but instead he quietly makes his case, and you only gradually begin to clock, whilst reading between the lines, that his argument represents a huge challenge to current psychiatric, schooling and social services.

His argument is that the epidemic of unhappiness which is currently so often attributed to snowflakery/lack of resilience is actually, often as not, a response to deeply traumatic events which for whatever reason, we do not really want to acknowledge or confront. So instead of blaming the victim or imposing deeply cruel methods of treatment (he gently explains why CBT so often fails),  Bessel gets about delineating the effects of trauma upon the mind, brain and body, and argues for a different way of treating these symptoms. 

The book is enormous.  It is his life's work laid out. The research is extensive and convincing, the ideas for treatment eminently practical and potentially hugely healing for those who were subjected to child abuse of various sorts, including neglect, as well as for those who have experienced trauma as an adult.  I can't recommend this book enough.  Could save you thousands in therapy!

Rating 10/10


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