The Body Keeps the Score

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
By Bessel van der Kolk

What if the anxiety you can't shake, the sleep you can't find, or the relationships you can't quite sustain aren't signs of weakness — but signs that your body is still trying to protect you from something that happened long ago?

That's the central insight of The Body Keeps the Score, written by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist and trauma researcher who has spent over three decades working with trauma survivors. First published in 2014, the book has become one of the most widely read and referenced texts in the mental health field — and for good reason.

Van der Kolk challenges the long-held assumption that trauma lives primarily in the mind. Through decades of clinical experience and neuroscience research, he demonstrates that trauma is a full-body experience. When we live through overwhelming events — whether a single incident or years of chronic stress, neglect, or abuse — the nervous system encodes that experience not just as a memory, but as a physical reality. The body holds it. The muscles hold it. The breath holds it. Long after the danger has passed, the body can remain stuck in a state of alarm.

What makes this book especially compelling is its compassion. Van der Kolk never pathologises his clients. Instead, he helps readers understand that trauma responses — hypervigilance, emotional numbness, dissociation, self-destructive behaviour — are intelligent adaptations to experiences that were simply too much to process at the time.

Equally important is the book's focus on healing. Van der Kolk explores a wide range of therapeutic approaches beyond traditional talk therapy, including Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprossing (EMDR), yoga, theatre, neurofeedback, and somatic therapies. His core argument is that healing trauma requires working with the body — not just the story.

For anyone who has ever felt like something is "off" but couldn't explain why, this book offers language, understanding, and hope. It validates that what you experienced was real, that your responses make sense, and that recovery is genuinely possible.

As a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), I draw on trauma-informed approaches in my practice. If anything in this summary resonates with you, I'd welcome the opportunity to connect.