The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
by Bessel van der Kolk
View on GoodreadsA foundational synthesis of trauma research arguing that traumatic experience is stored physiologically — not just narratively — and that recovery requires body-based interventions, not only talk therapy.
Core ideas
- Trauma fragments the brain's normal integration; the rational prefrontal cortex goes offline while the limbic system stays activated.
- Traditional talk therapy reaches the parts of the brain that can talk; trauma lives in the parts that can't.
- Body-based and rhythm-based modalities (EMDR, yoga, neurofeedback, theater, drumming) reach where words fail.
Published2014
Pages464
ISBN9780670785933
ReadFeb 2022
