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The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma Paperback – 24 Sept. 2015

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 76,315 ratings

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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD

'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, author of Trauma and Recovery

The effects of trauma can be devastating for sufferers, their families and future generations. Here one of the world's experts on traumatic stress offers a bold new paradigm for treatment, moving away from standard talking and drug therapies and towards an alternative approach that heals mind, brain and body.

'Fascinating, hard to put down, and filled with powerful case histories. . . . the most important series of breakthroughs in mental health in the last thirty years' Norman Doidge, author of The Brain that Changes Itself

'An astonishing and important book. The trauma Bible. I cannot recommend it enough for anyone struggling with...well...anything' Tara Westover


The Body Keeps Score has sold over 3 million copies since publication [Circana BookScan, April 2024]
Sunday Times (UK) and New York Times (USA) bestseller, March 2024

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Review

Everyone should read this book -- Nigella Lawson

Fascinating, hard to put down, and filled with powerful case histories. . . . the most important series of breakthroughs in mental health in the last thirty years -- Norman Doidge, author of The Brain That Changes Itself

A gripping bestseller about where trauma goes, and its disastrous effects on both individuals and societies. Deeply interesting. ―
Times

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., author of Trauma and Recovery

A seminal book that outlines the author's pioneering work -- Thea Jane May ―
Vogue

Draws on 30 years of experience to argue powerfully that trauma is one of the West's most urgent public health issues... Packed with science and human stories ... van der Kolk has a lot to say, and the struggle and resilience of his patients is very moving ―
New Scientist

Fundamental in understanding how our physical self is connected to all the things we go through and beyond -- Gemma Cairney

A masterpiece of powerful understanding and brave heartedness, one of the most intelligent and helpful works on trauma I have ever read. . . a brilliant synthesis of clinical cases, neuroscience, powerful tools and caring humanity, offering a whole new level of healing -- Jack Kornfied, author of A Path With Heart

Incredible -- William Leith, 'Books of the Year' ―
Evening Standard

From the Back Cover

The effects of trauma can be devastating for sufferers, their families and future generations. Here one of the world's experts on traumatic stress offers a bold new paradigm for treatment, moving away from standard talking and drug therapies and towards an alternative approach that heals mind, brain and body.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin; 1st edition (24 Sept. 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141978619
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141978611
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 2.77 x 12.9 x 19.7 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 76,309 ratings

About the author

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Bessel van der Kolk
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Bessel van der Kolk (born 1943) is a Boston based psychiatrist noted for his research in the area of post-traumatic stress since the 1970s. His work focuses on the interaction of attachment, neurobiology, and developmental aspects of trauma’s effects on people. His major publication, the New York Times bestseller, 'The Body keeps the Score', talks about how the role of trauma in psychiatric illness has changed over the past 20 years; what we have learned about the ways the brain is shaped by traumatic experiences; how traumatic stress is a response of the entire organism and how that knowledge needs be integrated into healing practices.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
76,315 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and with interesting insights into trauma and the nervous system. They appreciate the eloquent writing style and technical knowledge in the book. The book helps readers better understand childhood trauma, its physical aspects, and available treatments.

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563 customers mention ‘Readability’516 positive47 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They say it's a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the mind better. The book is written in an accessible format that allows readers to follow the logic.

"...some readers may find elements of the content triggering, this is an ideal read for those who have ever wondered if events of their childhood are..." Read more

"...chapters deal with the book title: the body keeps the score and are truly excellent...." Read more

"...It has a diverse knowledge or different applications which are proven to work...." Read more

"This book needs careful reading because of the value within the texts. It follows the learning path that the author followed in his career...." Read more

484 customers mention ‘Insight’477 positive7 negative

Customers appreciate the book's insights and understanding of trauma and the nervous system. They find it helpful in gaining some understanding, an enlightening read, and an eye-opening study of many psychotherapeutic models that is easy for the layperson to understand. The topic is interesting and the author is unpretentious, so they find the case studies insightful. Overall, readers describe the book as comprehensive, rewarding, and a lifetime of knowledge.

"This is the greatest book I have ever read. It is a lifetime of knowledge (and it is clear that it had taken a very long time to write) from a..." Read more

"...the misconceptions, the discoveries, the myths, the treatments, different theories, and the great work continually being done to understand and deal..." Read more

"...To varying degrees, we each have four capabilities: Self-Awareness (interoception), Imagination, Conscience and Free-will, as articulated by Viktor..." Read more

"...in touch with your hidden feelings and I particularly liked the historical anecdotes of how marching in unison with drums and flutes helped turn the..." Read more

209 customers mention ‘Trauma’200 positive9 negative

Customers find the book helpful for understanding trauma. They say it provides a thorough explanation of the neuropsychology and physical aspects of it, as well as treatment options. The book helps them unlock issues and promote a healing journey. Readers appreciate the presentation of various treatment methods and find it empowering to know they're not just moody or get triggered due to trauma.

"...starting with explanations about the problem and ending with explanations of how to recover...." Read more

"...and the great work continually being done to understand and deal with trauma. Nothing comes easy...." Read more

"...creates a solid platform for developing and sustaining wellbeing for those in the acceptance and action areas of the awareness /..." Read more

"...The book develops into other types of therapy, such as dance and theatre, eye-movement therapy, tapping key body areas to get in touch with your..." Read more

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 September 2018
    This is the greatest book I have ever read.
    It is a lifetime of knowledge (and it is clear that it had taken a very long time to write) from a practising clinician who, as far as I can tell, is THE most well-informed person on the subject, all in one book.
    It can be applied to you. Therapy like this would cost thousands, and that is even if you have the good fortune to find a therapist who knows anything about it.
    It is perfectly written and laid out, starting with explanations about the problem and ending with explanations of how to recover.
    At first it was hard to read because I was only just coming to terms with having childhood trauma, and was still feeling very upset about it. However the great thing about a book is that you can take as long as you like to finish it. As I read more I understood more and more and began to feel more and more free, understood, and positive. There is SO MUCH information in here, and it is all extremely useful and interesting. I often read one sentence several times because it made such an impact on me, and after some pages (most of them!) I would think for ten minutes until I read more.
    This is the most helpful book I have read on the subject, and I have read a lot. It has taken me a long time to read, but recovery takes a long time. I think that if you have not been traumatised and are just reading it for interest that you would read it quickly, as it is such a great book. I feel like it has transformed me.
    1,446 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 February 2025
    This is an incredible book. It has 30 years plus worth of knowledge of the study of trauma. It is not an easy read, and people who have experienced sexual abuse or violence might find many of the experiences mentioned in this book triggering.

    The book goes through the whole timeline of studies on trauma, the misconceptions, the discoveries, the myths, the treatments, different theories, and the great work continually being done to understand and deal with trauma.

    Nothing comes easy. The book contains case studies of people who have hit rock bottom and fought their way back, with some help as well as the misdiagnosed/mistreatment of trauma survivors. The book goes over everything that has been learned so far. However, for all the people helped as a society or people of the world, we are still no closer to removing the cause of trauma.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2024
    What is the book about?

    In this excellent volume, BVDK gives an overview of the knowledge about the effects of psychological trauma, abuse, and neglect based on three emerging disciplines:
    • Neuroscience: the study of how the brain supports mental processes.
    • Developmental psychopathology: the study of the impact of adverse experiences on the development of mind and brain.
    • Interpersonal neurobiology: the study of how our behaviour influences the emotions, biology, and mind-sets of those around us.

    What are the books’ key messages?
    Trauma is not just the event(s) that took place sometime in the past. It is also the imprint left on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has on-going consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present. Trauma results in a fundamental reorganisation of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think. What has happened – the events themselves – cannot be undone. This leaves us with a series of challenges:
    • Finding a way to become calm and focused.
    • Learning to maintain that calm in response to images, thoughts, sounds, or physical sensations that remind you of the past.
    • Finding a way to be fully alive in the present and engaged with the people around you.
    • Not having to keep secrets from yourself, including secrets about the ways that you have managed to survive.

    These goals are not steps to be achieved, one by one, in some fixed sequence. They overlap, and some may be more difficult than others, depending on individual circumstances.

    Narrowing down to developmental trauma, BVDK provides a good summary of the original 1990’s ACE study. In the years since TBKTS’ publication in 2014 this has been widely disseminated. The section concludes with a valuable re-frame: the idea of the problem being a solution, while understandably disturbing to many, is certainly in keeping with the fact that opposing forces routinely coexist in biological systems… What one sees, the presenting problem, is often only the marker for the real problem, which lies buried in time, concealed by patient shame, secrecy and sometimes amnesia – and, frequently clinician discomfort.

    Following a refreshing discussion of the DSM’s weaknesses is a summary of BVDKs’ as-yet unsuccessful, attempts to establish developmental trauma as its own recognised diagnosis. Readers are led to recognise that two hurdles need to conquered: (1) PTSD, C-PTSD, and developmental trauma each need to be recognised as their own diagnoses and (2) the blinkered brain disease model summarised below needs to be replaced with multi-modal helping approaches blending BVDKs’ three avenues (as below) to best suit the individuals’ needs.

    The brain’s own natural neuroplasticity can be developed to help survivors feel fully alive in the present and move on with their lives. There are fundamentally three avenues to follow:
    • Top down, by talking, (re-)connecting with others, and allowing ourselves to know and understand what is going on with us, while processing the memories of the trauma.
    • By taking medicines that shut down inappropriate alarm reactions, or by utilizing other technologies that change the way the brain organises information.
    • Bottom up: by allowing the body to have experiences that deeply and viscerally contradict the helplessness, rage, or collapse that result from trauma.

    What BVDK referred to as the the brain-disease model ignores four fundamental truths – we ignore them at our peril:
    • Our evolutionary legacy provides us with a set of capabilities – and constraints. The more we – or others - push those boundaries, the more likely we are to suffer. This is central to restoring and sustaining our well-being.
    • Our intelligence gives us the potential to develop ourselves, others, our environments, and our responses.
    • We have the capability to regulate aspects of our own physiology, including some of the so-called involuntary functions of the body and brain, through such basic activities as breathing, moving, and touching.
    • We can, collectively, change social conditions to create environments aligned with our evolutionary needs and expectations within which we can feel safe and where we can thrive.

    When we ignore these basic truths of our humanity, we deprive ourselves of ways to both prevent maladies in the first place and to heal when they do occur. We may subordinate our agency and render ourselves patients of the healthcare system, rather than exercise our agency to drive our healing process. Connecting with – rather than disconnecting from – what makes us incredible.

    Seeing issues with our mental health as internal processes, grants us much-needed agency – that feeling of being in control of our lives: being able to make the decisions that will lead us to our chosen future. If we consider the causes of mental health issues as external factors, something that happens to or around us – or as a biochemical anomaly - then it becomes a piece of history we can never dislodge. If, on the other hand, mental health issues are what take place inside us, resultant of what happened, then healing becomes a credible possibility. Trying to keep mental health issues at bay – or subcontracting them out to the medics (the doctor is responsible for resolving that issue while I get on with my life) hobbles our capacity to know ourselves better – to develop our agency.

    What are its weak-spots?
    Due to its very nature, the content runs the risk of triggering some readers: it’s difficult to see an easy solution to this.
    TBKTS delivers on its intentions to disseminate knowledge about the effects of psychological trauma, abuse, and neglect based on the three emerging disciplines of neuroscience, developmental psychopathology, and interpersonal neurobiology. It was not intended as a self-help ‘how to heal yourself’ which may leave some readers looking for more.

    While not a weakness, TBKTS was published around ten years ago. Given the pace of research, I wonder if there is scope or plans for a revised edition.

    How does this relate to my practice with Solution Focused Hypnotherapy?
    BVDK refers to one of the key underpinning theories of SFH – the triune (three phase) theory of human brain evolution. With that theory understood, we introduce two further key concepts: (1) the existence of a dynamic equilibrium between evolutionary phases and (2) developing the capability to manage that dynamic equilibrium to our advantage. Academically, these two concepts are supported by the generally accepted Broaden & Build theory (Frederickson.)

    Trauma – among other things - can shift the dynamic equilibrium to limit our options and plunge us in to vicious cycles of anger, and or anxiety and or depression (which can manifest in a myriad of ways.) Additionally, developmental trauma can lead to neurobiological effects in the hippocampus, amygdala, and pre-frontal cortex.

    Without downplaying the seriousness of this, there are counter-balancing positive factors. To varying degrees, we each have four capabilities: Self-Awareness (interoception), Imagination, Conscience and Free-will, as articulated by Viktor Frankl. These sit at the root of us developing our sense of agency. The same process of neuroplasticity that shaped our developing neurology as children can support us in developing our adulthoods. Through the work of BVDK and many others, we have an emerging understanding of the lifelong effects of developmental trauma, and an ever-growing understanding of how these can be mitigated.

    Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can be highly effective in helping those at threshold (motivated, and responsible for their outcomes) with anger, anxiety, and depression. Adding the body of knowledge supporting the PERMA model (this profound model is the reason I call my practice Perma Hypnotherapy) creates a solid platform for developing and sustaining wellbeing for those in the acceptance and action areas of the awareness / acceptance / action spectrum. Those in the earlier – awareness, acceptance – areas would benefit more from the traditional analytical / counselling approaches to helping.

    Who would benefit from reading this book?
    With the caveat that some readers may find elements of the content triggering, this is an ideal read for those who have ever wondered if events of their childhood are negatively affecting their present.
    For those experiencing developmental trauma, and those living with and supporting those who are – this is one of the must reads.
    95 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2022
    Van der Kolk starts with a chapter on pharma drugs, which put me off as I thought it was about holistic therapies. I put the book aside and only recently went back, to discover that the following chapters deal with the book title: the body keeps the score and are truly excellent. For example, the chapters on early childhood abuse and how it relates to PTSD,albeit differently. There follows wider issues, such as veterans returning from war zones, people who've survived horrific car accidents. The fascinating anecdotal story telling is interspersed with dry psychology and brain scans.

    The book develops into other types of therapy, such as dance and theatre, eye-movement therapy, tapping key body areas to get in touch with your hidden feelings and I particularly liked the historical anecdotes of how marching in unison with drums and flutes helped turn the Netherlands into a military power throwing off the Holy Roman Empire and Spain and the tale of singing Estonia throwing off the Soviet yoke.

    Having taken Psychology as a BSc(Hons) degree, I found the dry academic stuff boring. Perhaps the author should decide whether his book is aimed at the storytelling populist market or towards other academics because I don't think the combination works. At least not for me, although it was easy enough to skip the theoretical parts already done in my studies.
    29 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and so well written
    Reviewed in Canada on 9 February 2025
    Such an amazing book, as someone learning about himself and on my own healing journey this has easily been my favorite book I've read. So much knowledge and information and new ways to understand myself. Also looking into some of the therapy forms mentioned in the book. Yes, some content can be triggering and/or disturbing but it's woven in to the book to get points across. You need to understand the situation of those people to give weight to their healing
  • Yessica
    5.0 out of 5 stars Muy interesante y sanador
    Reviewed in Mexico on 10 June 2024
    Es un libro que puedes leer sin saber nada de psiquiatría o psicología, trae incluso varios esquemas que explican todo muy bien. Me encanta que no es un libro tipo "superación personal" (que igual no tiene nada de malo), sino uno que relata con fundamento, casos reales y evidencia científica los procesos de trauma y recuperación. Personalmente, el proceso de lectura también sirve mucho para validar tus sentimientos, es muy bello❤️‍🩹
    Customer image
    Yessica
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Muy interesante y sanador

    Reviewed in Mexico on 10 June 2024
    Es un libro que puedes leer sin saber nada de psiquiatría o psicología, trae incluso varios esquemas que explican todo muy bien. Me encanta que no es un libro tipo "superación personal" (que igual no tiene nada de malo), sino uno que relata con fundamento, casos reales y evidencia científica los procesos de trauma y recuperación. Personalmente, el proceso de lectura también sirve mucho para validar tus sentimientos, es muy bello❤️‍🩹
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  • Carolina
    5.0 out of 5 stars Muito bom!
    Reviewed in Brazil on 28 April 2024
    Vale a pena a leitura!
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Super
    Reviewed in Turkey on 3 February 2025
    Super
  • Ankit
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book for people having truma
    Reviewed in India on 12 January 2025
    This is extremely good book. Vary simple and detail descriptions of trauma . Any person can understand the language. You don’t need to have knowledge of medical science to understand this book..any people with any kind of trauma mist read it..you will have answers of all your trauma related quarries after reading the book.