The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

At the age of eight, I (James) received a horrific licking from my father – who at the time was also my grade three teacher, principal, hero and minister. And adding another authority figure into the mix, he called the piece of leather he used “the policeman”. That was over fifty years ago. What blew me away three years ago, when I was talking to my trauma counselor about it for the first time, is that my right butt cheek, the exact spot that received the whipping, started twitching. The body had kept the score.

While my dad and I have a beautiful reconciliation story, what I learned from this book has contributed in significant ways to the healing of five-plus decades of lingering trauma. Van Der Kolk synthesizes cutting-edge neuroscience to show the effects of trauma on body and brain development. He then shows how to move past psychic devastation to the sense of safety and self-awareness necessary for a rich life of integration and connection. This is a comprehensive and engaging account for anyone wanting to understand their own traumatic past and then move on from dread towards joy.