The Body Keeps the Score
Author
Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.\
Subtitle
Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Quick Facts
Author: Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
Genre: Psychology, Trauma, Mental Health, Mind-Body Wellness
Published: 2014
Best For: Readers interested in understanding trauma, prolonged stress, the mind-body connection, and approaches to recovery
Core Themes: Trauma, traumatic stress, brain and body responses, relationships, self-regulation, resilience, and healing
The book explores how traumatic experiences can affect the brain and body and examines approaches to recovery ranging from traditional therapeutic methods to movement, mindfulness, neurofeedback, yoga, and other body-centered practices.
What It's About
Sometimes we think that because an experience is over, our body should simply move on.
But human beings don't always work that way.
In The Body Keeps the Score, psychiatrist and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk explores how overwhelming experiences can continue to affect the way people think, feel, relate to others, and experience their own bodies.
For the SILWELL-C conversation, that raises an important point.
When someone spends a long time in an environment where they continually feel tense, unsafe, overwhelmed, or on guard, it is worth paying attention to what their body is communicating.
The tight shoulders.
The headaches.
The inability to relax.
The feeling of always being “on.”
The difference between how your body feels when you're in an environment and how it feels when you're finally away from it.
Those signals should not automatically be diagnosed as trauma—and this book is not specifically about workplace stress. But it can help us understand a much larger truth:
Our experiences don't happen only in our thoughts. Our bodies experience them too.
Why We Recommend It
At SILWELL-C, we talk about wellness as something deeper than simply getting through the day.
This book encourages readers to:
Better understand the connection between traumatic stress, the brain, and the body
Recognize that difficult experiences can affect more than thoughts and emotions
Consider the role relationships can play in both hurt and recovery
Explore the importance of reconnecting with the body and the present
Think differently about what healing and recovery can look like
Van der Kolk also discusses neuroplasticity and a range of therapeutic approaches intended to help people reconnect with themselves and regain a sense of agency.
For me, the SILWELL-C connection comes back to something very simple:
Pay attention to how you feel in the places where you spend your life.
Your body may be giving you information that you've become accustomed to ignoring.
Get the Book
📚 Get your copy on Amazon:
The Body Keeps the Score on Amazon
You can also view the book through Penguin Random House.
Pair It With
🌿 Pair it with: Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
The Body Keeps the Score provides a deeper understanding of how difficult and traumatic experiences can affect us.
Set Boundaries, Find Peace brings the conversation toward something practical:
What do I need to protect going forward?
One helps us understand what we may be carrying. The other helps us think about what we will allow ourselves to continue carrying.
SILWELL-C Reflection Prompt
“What has my body been trying to tell me that I've been too busy, or too accustomed to pushing through, to notice?”
