Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., is the founder and medical director of the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is also a professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and director of the National Complex Trauma Treatment Network. When he is not teaching around the world, Dr. van der Kolk works and lives Boston.
Praise for The Body Keeps the Score
“In this inspirational work which seamlessly weaves keen clinical
observation, neuroscience, historical analysis, the arts, and
personal narrative, Dr. van der Kolk has created an authoritative
guide to the effects of trauma, and pathways to recovery. The book
is full of wisdom, humanity, compassion and scientific insight,
gleaned from a lifetime of clinical service, research and
scholarship in the field of traumatic stress. A must read for
mental health and other health care professionals, trauma
survivors, their loved ones, and those who seek clinical, social,
or political solutions to the cycle of trauma and violence in our
society.”
—Rachel Yehuda, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and neuroscience,
director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at the Mount
Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
“This is an absolutely fascinating and clearly written book by one
of the nation’s most experienced physicians in the field of
emotional trauma. The Body Keeps the Score helps us understand how
life experiences play out in the function and the malfunction of
our bodies, years later.” —Vincent J. Felitti, M.D., chief of
preventative medicine, emeritus, Kaiser Permanente San Diego;
co-principal investigator, ACE study
“Every once in a while, a book comes along that fundamentally
changes the way we look at the world. Bessel van der Kolk has
written such a book. The arc of Van der Kolk’s story is vast and
comprehensive, but he is such a skillful storyteller that he keeps
us riveted to the page. I could not put this book down. It is,
simply put, a great work.”
—Stephen Cope, founder and director, Kripalu Institute for
Extraordinary Living; author of Yoga and the Quest for the
True Self “Breathtaking in its scope and breadth, The Body
Keeps the Score is a seminal work by one of the preeminent pioneers
in trauma research and treatment. This essential book unites the
evolving neuroscience of trauma research with an emergent wave of
body-oriented therapies and traditional mind/body practices that go
beyond symptom relief and connect us with our vital energy and
here-and-now presence.” —Peter A. Levine, Ph.D., author of In
An Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores
Goodness “Dr. van der Kolk's masterpiece combines the
boundless curiosity of the scientist, the erudition of the scholar,
and the passion of the truth teller.” —Judith Herman, M.D.,
clinical professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of
Trauma and Recovery “The Body Keeps the Score is clear,
fascinating, hard to put down, and filled with powerful case
histories. Van der Kolk, the eminent impresario of trauma
treatment, who has spent a career bringing together diverse trauma
scientists and clinicians and their ideas, while making his own
pivotal contributions, describes what is arguably the most
important series of breakthroughs in mental health in the last
thirty years. We’ve known that psychological trauma fragments the
mind. Here we see not only how psychological trauma also breaks
connections within the brain, but also between mind and body, and
learn about the exciting new approaches that allow people with the
severest forms of trauma to put all the parts back together
again.”
—Norman Doidge, author of The Brain That Changes Itself
“This exceptional book will be a classic of modern psychiatric
thought. The impact of overwhelming experience can only be truly
understood when many disparate domains of knowledge, such as
neuroscience, developmental psychopathology, and interpersonal
neurobiology are integrated, as this work uniquely does. There is
no other volume in the field of traumatic stress that has distilled
these domains of science with such rich historical and clinical
perspectives, and arrived at such innovative treatment approaches.
The clarity of vision and breadth of wisdom of this unique but
highly accessible work is remarkable. This book is essential
reading for anyone interested in understanding and treating
traumatic stress and the scope of its impact on
society.” —Alexander McFarlane AO, MB BS (Hons) MD FRANZCP,
director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies, The University
of Adelaide, South Australia
“The Body Keeps the Score articulates new and better therapies
for toxic stress based on a deep understanding of the effects of
trauma on brain development and attachment systems. This volume
provides a moving summary of what is currently known about the
effects of trauma on individuals and societies, and introduces the
healing potential of both age-old and novel approaches to help
traumatized children and adults fully engage in the
present.” —Jessica Stern, policy consultant on terrorism;
author of Denial: A Memoir of Terror
“As an attachment researcher I know that infants are
psychobiological beings. They are as much the body as they are of
the brain. Without language or symbols infants use every one of
their biological systems to make meaning of their self in relation
to the world of things and people. Van der Kolk shows that those
very same systems continue to operate at every age, and that
traumatic experiences, especially chronic toxic experience during
early development, produce psychic devastation. With this
understanding he provides insight and guidance for survivors,
researchers, and clinicians alike. Bessel van der Kolk may focus on
the body and trauma, but what a mind he must have to have written
this book.” —Ed Tronick, distinguished professor, University
of Massachusetts, Boston; author of Neurobehavior and Social
Emotional Development of Infants and Young Children
“This book is a tour de force. Its deeply empathic, insightful, and
compassionate perspective promises to further humanize the
treatment of trauma victims, dramatically expand their repertoire
of self-regulatory healing practices and therapeutic options, and
also stimulate greater creative thinking and research on trauma and
its effective treatment. The body does keep the score, and Van der
Kolk’s ability to demonstrate this through compelling descriptions
of the work of others, his own pioneering trajectory and experience
as the field evolved and him along with it, and above all, his
discovery of ways to work skillfully with people by bringing
mindfulness to the body (as well as to their thoughts and emotions)
through yoga, movement, and theater are a wonderful and welcome
breath of fresh air and possibility in the therapy
world.” —Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor of medicine emeritus, UMass
Medical School; author of Full Catastrophe Living
“In The Body Keeps the Score we share the author’s courageous
journey into the parallel dissociative worlds of trauma victims and
the medical and psychological disciplines that are meant to provide
relief. In this compelling book we learn that as our minds
desperately try to leave trauma behind, our bodies keep us trapped
in the past with wordless emotions and feelings. These inner
disconnections cascade into ruptures in social relationships with
disastrous effects on marriages, families, and friendships. Van der
Kolk offers hope by describing treatments and strategies that have
successfully helped his patients reconnect their thoughts with
their bodies. We leave this shared journey understanding that only
through fostering self-awareness and gaining an inner sense of
safety will we, as a species, fully experience the richness of
life.” —Stephen W. Porges, PhD, professor of psychiatry,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; author of The
Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions,
Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation
“Bessel van der Kolk is unequaled in his ability to synthesize the
stunning developments in the field of psychological trauma over the
past few decades. Thanks in part to his work, psychological
trauma—ranging from chronic child abuse and neglect, to war trauma
and natural disasters—is now generally recognized as a major cause
of individual, social, and cultural breakdown. In this masterfully
lucid and engaging tour de force, Van der Kolk takes us—both
specialists and the general public— on his personal journey and
shows what he has learned from his research, from his colleagues
and students, and, most important, from his patients. The Body
Keeps the Score is, simply put, brilliant.” —Onno van der
Hart, PhD, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; senior author, The
Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic
Traumatization
“A fascinating exploration of a wide range of therapeutic
treatments shows readers how to take charge of the healing process,
gain a sense of safety, and find their way out of the morass of
suffering.” —Francine Shapiro, PhD, originator of EMDR
therapy; senior research fellow, Emeritus Mental Research
Institute; author of Getting Past Your Past
“In this magnificent book, Bessel van der Kolk takes the reader on
a captivating journey that is chock-full of riveting stories of
patients and their struggles interpreted through history, research,
and neuroscience made accessible in the words of a gifted
storyteller. We are privy to the author’s own courageous efforts to
understand and treat trauma over the past forty years, the results
of which have broken new ground and challenged the status quo of
psychiatry and psychotherapy. The Body Keeps the Score leaves us
with both a profound appreciation for and a felt sense of the
debilitating effects of trauma, along with hope for the future
through fascinating descriptions of novel approaches to treatment.
This outstanding volume is absolutely essential reading not only
for therapists but for all who seek to understand, prevent, or
treat the immense suffering caused by trauma.” —Pat Ogden PhD,
founder/educational director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
Institute; author of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for
Trauma and Attachment
“A book about understanding the impact of trauma by one of the true
pioneers in the field. It is a rare book that integrates cutting
edge neuroscience with wisdom and understanding about the
experience and meaning of trauma, for people who have suffered from
it. Like its author, this book is wise and compassionate,
occasionally quite provocative, and always
interesting.” —Glenn N. Saxe, MD, Arnold Simon Professor and
chairman, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; director,
NYU Child Study Center, New York University School of
Medicine
“The Body Keeps the Score eloquently articulates how overwhelming
experiences affect the development of brain, mind, and body
awareness, all of which are closely intertwined. The resulting
derailments have a profound impact on the capacity for love and
work. This rich integration of clinical case examples with ground
breaking scientific studies provides us with a new understanding of
trauma, which inevitably leads to the exploration of novel
therapeutic approaches that ‘rewire’ the brain, and help
traumatized people to reengage in the present. This book will
provide traumatized individuals with a guide to healing and
permanently change how psychologists and psychiatrists think about
trauma and recovery.” —Ruth A. Lanius, MD, PhD, Harris-Woodman
chair in Psyche and Soma, professor of psychiatry, and
director PTSD research at the University of Western Ontario; author
of The Impact of Early Life Trauma on Health and
Disease
“This is an amazing accomplishment from the neuroscientist most
responsible for the contemporary revolution in mental health toward
the recognition that so many mental problems are the product of
trauma. With the compelling writing of a good novelist, van der
Kolk revisits his fascinating journey of discovery that has
challenged established wisdom in psychiatry. Interspersed with that
narrative are clear and understandable descriptions of the
neurobiology of trauma; explanations of the ineffectiveness of
traditional approaches to treating trauma; and introductions to the
approaches that take patients beneath their cognitive minds to heal
the parts of them that remained frozen in the past. All this is
illustrated vividly with dramatic case histories and substantiated
with convincing research. This is a watershed book that will be
remembered as tipping the scales within psychiatry and the culture
at large toward the recognition of the toll traumatic events and
our attempts to deny their impact take on us all.” —Richard
Schwartz, originator, Internal Family Systems
Therapy
“When it comes to understanding the impact of trauma and being able
to continue to grow despite overwhelming life experiences, Bessel
van der Kolk leads the way in his comprehensive knowledge, clinical
courage, and creative strategies to help us heal. The Body Keeps
the Score is a cutting-edge offering for the general reader to
comprehend the complex effects of trauma, and a guide to a wide
array of scientifically informed approaches to not only reduce
suffering, but to move beyond mere survival— and to
thrive.” —Daniel J. Siegel, MD, clinical professor, UCLA
School of Medicine, author of Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of
the Teenage Brain; Mindsight: The New Science of Personal
Transformation; and The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the
Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are
“This is masterpiece of powerful understanding and brave
heartedness, one of the most intelligent and helpful works on
trauma I have ever read. Dr. Van der Kolk offer a brilliant
synthesis of clinical cases, neuroscience, powerful tools and
caring humanity, offering a whole new level of healing for the
traumas carried by so many.” —Jack Kornfied, author of A Path
With Heart
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