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The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma,
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Sophy H
I'd say it is academic in nature but it covers lots of different therapies in the second part of the book that may be helpful to you. Also there is a list of resources at the back. To be honest, just reading this book and discovering some of the issues behind trauma can be useful in itself.
Rebecca Stayman
I really found this book to be profoundly helpful. I am not a professional. I used the insights I gained from Van der Kolk's perspective to help me understand trauma and how it affects my life. I highly recommend.
Tracy Grammer
It is a beautiful blend of science, story, and solutions. I found it profoundly helpful in addressing my own trauma and recommend it without hesitation.
Melissa Lemon
I'd say it's academic, but as a trauma survivor, I've never read a more validating book. It was profoundly helpful for me, but also deeply educational. I recommend for practical application as it recommends many effective treatment approaches. If that's all you need, just read section 5.
Sally
You might find "Healing Trauma" Peter A. Levine useful.
Vanessa
Hi, a bit late, you may have read the book already. I would describe it as more academic, but I found it helpful nevertheless because it provides a pretty broad overview of potentially helpful techniques and approaches. Also, there's a lot of insights and stories from VdK's clinical practice and experiences that I found helpful and validating. I agree with what Sophy H wrote -- the second half of the book is more helpful.
Greer Taylor
Benjamin, this is the best book to help understand what has happened to you and start to untangle the trauma. The last section goes over some therapies that have been shown to work for patients and why and they are not what you think...
I have read many books on trauma and like Rebecca I found this to be so helpful.
Good luck with your journey.
BTW check out Melanie Tonia Evans' videos she gets it! and her NARP program works.
I have read many books on trauma and like Rebecca I found this to be so helpful.
Good luck with your journey.
BTW check out Melanie Tonia Evans' videos she gets it! and her NARP program works.
Megan Galloway
Hi, Benjamin! I see Body Keeps the Score as a balance of academic discussion of the effects on the brain of abuse and trauma from a doctor's perspective, with a deeper understanding of the lasting effects such abuse and trauma have on the lives of the survivors and how often abuse and trauma are ignored with a simple diagnosis of depression or anxiety and the accompanying medications. As a child abuse survivor myself, I found some help in Dr. Van Der Kolk's description of "being inhabited by warring impulses" and how we had to "resort to extreme measures in order to survive." (page 280) A number of us survivors have written books so I hope you can find some that address your life. Blessings to you, Megan Erin Galloway
Sharon
I agree with Tracy. It does not read like an academic text but is accessible and well crafted. But then, you probably already know that.
Ladyfilosopher
I am both a professional in the field and a survivor who finds this book extremely compassionate and useful on both personal and professional level. I wish you all the wellbeing you desire
Purviben K. Trivedi-Ziemba
Both. This book is used as a textbook for Trauma course at graduate level for marriage and family therapy. On personnel level, it validates a person's experience and views as part of healing.
Pamela O
From what I have read so far, it is more academic history. It's a story of how the author and other contemporaries developed theories surrounding trauma and ways to support people who have experienced it. I feel it's good in that you learn A LOT about trauma and what research has found without having to go into academic journals. Yet it's not a classic self-help book. As a therapist, it has really helped me to conceptualize what is happening with some of my clients.
Manny
I think it strikes a great balance between being a self-help therapeutic and academic. There is a lot of stories that are based on the author's professional experience. Some of them are about his patients and some of about people who participate in his research. But the author's language is mostly lay except probably in the first few chapters. However, I think they are necessary to lay the ground for what follows. I read the book seeking a personal self-help therapeutic experience, and it didn't disappoint.
A Y
It is neither an academic nor a self-help book, this book is merely a deep analysis without the author's intention to put it in either category. Once you read this book you will go back several times to keep understanding your journey if you are interested in self-awareness or you are struggling with trauma. Not everyone processes events the same way and not everyone is prone to trauma. Also, events can be traumatic or not, there is also cumulative trauma which is the main issue!
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