Review: van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score (2014)

[truepenny]

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

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Famous book about healing trauma, organized around the apparently radical notion that trauma causes long-term problems, physical as well as mental. Van der Kolk is an engaging writer, excellent at making individual patients both vivid persons and useful examples (both these things are necessary in a book like this). He also describes the various treatment types (EMDR, IFS, neurofeedback, yoga, etc.) clearly and succinctly, and makes a persuasive case that the first thing we ALL need is awareness of self and awareness of body.

Four and a half stars, round up to five.



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