The fascination with trauma began with the soldiers and prisoners who returned from battlefields after World War I. Mention trauma and immediately, thoughts of war, molestation, rape and accidents come to mind. No one else, it seems, in whatever form, shape or size, can make you happy other than yourself (an insight that may kick in later in life). You repeated obvious mistakes, gravitate toward certain type of people. Mid-thirties to forties, you’ve tried a few things but they didn’t work out. If you’re past 25, this book makes sense because by then you’d come to realize what a mess you are, some days worse than others. With mental health and well-being being the soup du jour, this book is the most comprehensive and relevant vehicle available that can help us heal and improve the quality of our lives. If there is one book I’d recommend to everyone (literally, everyone of all walks of life) to read at least once in a lifetime, it is “The Body Keeps The Score, Brain Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma” by Bessel Van Der Kolk (MD).

This means feeling free to know what you know and to feel what you feel without becoming overwhelmed, enraged, ashamed, or collapsed.” - The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. The challenge of recovery is to re-establish ownership of your body and your mind - of yourself. “Trauma robs you of the feeling that you are in charge of yourself, of what I will call self-leadership. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score offers proven alternatives to drugs and talk therapy-and a way to reclaim lives.Photo by Žygimantas Dukauskas on Unsplash

He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, mindfulness techniques, play, yoga, and other therapies. In The Body Keeps the Score, he transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring-specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. Renowned trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk has spent over three decades working with survivors. Sadly, trauma sufferers frequently pass on their stress to their partners and children. Such experiences inevitably leave traces on minds, emotions, and even on biology. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat one in five Americans has been molested one in four grew up with alcoholics one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der KolkĪ pioneering researcher and one of the world’s foremost experts on traumatic stress offers a bold new paradigm for healing.

The brain keeps the score