The Body Keeps the Score

outofrange reviewed The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. Van Der Kolk

Added a new dimension to my view of humans

5 stars

I was not very curious about trauma and its impacts, but I was interested in learning about the ways our experiences affect our body and vice versa. It quickly became clear that trauma is just the more extreme reaches of this relationship, and the study of it sheds light on nearly everything about being human and relating to humans. I felt a foundational shift of my perspective on my life and relationships as I read, and already my life is changing as a result. If I made a manual for being human, I would put this book near the front.

Greg Grossmeier reviewed The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. Van Der Kolk

Good overview of a range of modalities

4 stars

While I want to go back and write some summaries (notably of the different modalities), the book was helpful in guiding some options already.

Given his longer history in this field of work he was able to weave a compelling story of the evolution and options for addressing PTSD. I, of course, kinda wish I could have a not-really-a-debate-but-multiple-view-points style book for these kinds of topics (psych[iatry|ology]). I appreciate the personal perspective (vs a dry textbook or encyclopedic one) for what it is (easier to read the whole them straight through) but acknowledge the biases that may result.

I did this as an audiobook and it actually worked pretty well given how structured the author was in their writing.

Baltipink reviewed The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. Van Der Kolk

Review of 'The Body Keeps the Score' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

There is just sooooo much information in this book it is hard to know where to begin. The short of it is that a lot of things make more sense now and it gives me hope that so many people are learning just how much our lives are affected by trauma and that people can come back from it - even the truly horrifying stuff.

chrisamaphone reviewed The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. Van Der Kolk

Review of 'The Body Keeps the Score' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This wasn't a perfect book, but it has probably permanently changed the way I view and treat other human beings, hopefully for the better. Van der Kolk is a persuasive and passionate writer, clearly well-educated by his experience as a psychiatrist and researcher but good at writing for a general audience. I also largely agree with his views on society and mental health, which made this a pretty smooth read, with lots of nodding and highlighting and very little critical margin-scrawling. I learned a lot about the mechanisms of trauma and trauma treatment, and I have a new resource through which to make my own arguments.

I say "this wasn't a perfect book" mostly only because the organization seemed strange to me; the treatments were all listed at the end, and were so varied and presented in so random an order that they didn't really seem to suggest anything coherent, …

This wasn't a perfect book, but it has probably permanently changed the way I view and treat other human beings, hopefully for the better. Van der Kolk is a persuasive and passionate writer, clearly well-educated by his experience as a psychiatrist and researcher but good at writing for a general audience. I also largely agree with his views on society and mental health, which made this a pretty smooth read, with lots of nodding and highlighting and very little critical margin-scrawling. I learned a lot about the mechanisms of trauma and trauma treatment, and I have a new resource through which to make my own arguments.

I say "this wasn't a perfect book" mostly only because the organization seemed strange to me; the treatments were all listed at the end, and were so varied and presented in so random an order that they didn't really seem to suggest anything coherent, other than "fund more of my research please" (which, fair, I get it). It doesn't seem like it's clear yet how to predict when certain of these treatments will be more effective than others.