Bessel A. van der Kolk
Author of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
About the Author
Bessel van der Kolk M.D. has been active as a clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of posttraumatic stress and related phenomena since the 1970s. He was co-principal investigator of the DSM IV Field Trials for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. His current research is on how trauma affects show more memory processes and brain imaging studies of PTSD. He has written or co-written several books including Psychological Trauma, Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society, and The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D.
Works by Bessel A. van der Kolk
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014) 8,460 copies, 105 reviews
Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society (1996) — Editor — 175 copies, 1 review
The Body Keeps Score 8 copies
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Psychological and Biological Sequelae (Clinical Insights) (1984) 4 copies
Das Trauma in dir wie der Körper den Schrecken festhält und wie wir heilen können 2 copies, 1 review
The Body Keeps the Score / Trauma and Recovery / Hidden Healing Powers of Super & Whole Foods (2018) — Contributor — 2 copies
Smart Trauma Interventions 1 copy
Associated Works
Overcoming Trauma through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body (2011) — Introduction, some editions; Introduction, some editions — 149 copies
Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) (2006) — Foreword, some editions — 138 copies
Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recover from Trauma (2019) — Foreword — 82 copies, 4 reviews
Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders (Adults): An Evidence-Based Guide (2009) — Afterword — 55 copies
Treating Adult Survivors of Childhood Emotional Abuse and Neglect: Component-Based Psychotherapy (2019) — Foreword, some editions — 20 copies
Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Scientific Foundations and Therapeutic Models (2013) — Afterword, some editions — 19 copies
Let Your Light Shine: How Mindfulness Can Empower Children and Rebuild Communities (2022) — Foreword — 11 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- van der Kolk, Bessel A.
- Birthdate
- 1943
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- psychiatrist
- Organizations
- Boston University School of Medicine
- Short biography
- Bessel van der Kolk (born 1943) is a Dutch psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator. Since the 1970s his research has been in the area of post-traumatic stress.
Van der Kolk formerly served as president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and is a former co-director of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. He is a professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and president of the Trauma Research Foundation in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Van der Kolk has published more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles and four books.
Wikipedia - Nationality
- Netherlands
- Birthplace
- The Hague, Netherlands
- Places of residence
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Netherlands
Members
Reviews
I’ve had The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. on my shelves (both analog and audio) for quite a few months. I suppose I put it off because trauma is such a heavy subject. However, I unexpectedly found the tone to be comfortable and almost conversational. Perhaps that’s the talent of audiobook narrator Sean Pratt and van der Kolk’s evident compassion.
The reason I picked up this book at this time was because I recently finished Hunger by Roxane Gay. As Gay told her story show more of gang rape at 12, along with subsequent disordered eating behavior, I wanted to understand more about how trauma affects people. Choosing The Body Keeps the Score was a perfect follow up.
Van der Kolk began his journey by working with Vietnam War veterans, and he references veterans repeatedly throughout the book. But he also tells the story of many other patients, individually and as research groups. It’s hard to hear the traumatic experiences, but each time van der Kolk infuses the telling with hope and positive change.
I appreciated the personal stories from the author as well. You can see why he’s been driven to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder and it’s related disorders. Van der Kolk’s advocacy for the PTSD diagnosis, as well as Complex PTSD and Developmental Trauma Disorder is groundbreaking and important.
The Body Keeps the Score covers how trauma affects our brains, how it changes children, and how traumatic memories can be hidden as well as revealed later. The science was clear and relatable, while also detailed and fascinating. I can imagine myself rereading part or all of this book in the future to revisit concepts.
For me, the most interesting part of the book was the final third. This section covers a variety of treatment methods including therapeutic theater, yoga, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). I found myself wishing for more information, and also feeling curious about exploring some methods I’ve not tried.
As I said, this is a book to read and reread. I’ll use it as reference in the future, since I sometimes work with trauma survivors in my massage therapy practice. I highly recommend it to professionals and lay people. show less
The reason I picked up this book at this time was because I recently finished Hunger by Roxane Gay. As Gay told her story show more of gang rape at 12, along with subsequent disordered eating behavior, I wanted to understand more about how trauma affects people. Choosing The Body Keeps the Score was a perfect follow up.
Van der Kolk began his journey by working with Vietnam War veterans, and he references veterans repeatedly throughout the book. But he also tells the story of many other patients, individually and as research groups. It’s hard to hear the traumatic experiences, but each time van der Kolk infuses the telling with hope and positive change.
I appreciated the personal stories from the author as well. You can see why he’s been driven to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder and it’s related disorders. Van der Kolk’s advocacy for the PTSD diagnosis, as well as Complex PTSD and Developmental Trauma Disorder is groundbreaking and important.
The Body Keeps the Score covers how trauma affects our brains, how it changes children, and how traumatic memories can be hidden as well as revealed later. The science was clear and relatable, while also detailed and fascinating. I can imagine myself rereading part or all of this book in the future to revisit concepts.
For me, the most interesting part of the book was the final third. This section covers a variety of treatment methods including therapeutic theater, yoga, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). I found myself wishing for more information, and also feeling curious about exploring some methods I’ve not tried.
As I said, this is a book to read and reread. I’ll use it as reference in the future, since I sometimes work with trauma survivors in my massage therapy practice. I highly recommend it to professionals and lay people. show less
This is the Bible for medical gaslighters. Do not recommend. This needs to come out of curriculums as it contains dangerous concepts with little to no evidence-based research backing it up. It is regarded as scripture and should not be.
I keep thinking about this book and I read it 8 years ago. I continue seeing it in healthcare offices and it infuriates me. I read this book during a time I had chronic pain and other issues. I was diagnosed years later with a painful and pervasive condition show more that I had been living with my whole life. I let healthcare people tell me shit was in my head for a decade partly because of this book and its concepts. At one point, I even convinced myself it was in my head. Then, I got an accurate medical diagnosis explaining literally all of my medical problems. I subsequently developed cPTSD from people saying shits in my head my whole life. I continue to struggle with this mind fuckery because people would rather read and listen to books like this than learn about rare diseases. It’s much easier to diagnose someone with mental illness.
Until this happened, I thought the book was ok. Now I just hate it, but what I hate more is that people are educating to this book. Let’s teach people about rare diseases instead and leave this one on the shelf thank you show less
I keep thinking about this book and I read it 8 years ago. I continue seeing it in healthcare offices and it infuriates me. I read this book during a time I had chronic pain and other issues. I was diagnosed years later with a painful and pervasive condition show more that I had been living with my whole life. I let healthcare people tell me shit was in my head for a decade partly because of this book and its concepts. At one point, I even convinced myself it was in my head. Then, I got an accurate medical diagnosis explaining literally all of my medical problems. I subsequently developed cPTSD from people saying shits in my head my whole life. I continue to struggle with this mind fuckery because people would rather read and listen to books like this than learn about rare diseases. It’s much easier to diagnose someone with mental illness.
Until this happened, I thought the book was ok. Now I just hate it, but what I hate more is that people are educating to this book. Let’s teach people about rare diseases instead and leave this one on the shelf thank you show less
Fascinating and eyeopening book on the physiological/neurological effects of trauma, particularly childhood trauma. The book tracks how trauma affects the functioning of the brain in lasting ways, breaking down the normal coping and processing functions. The author is especially critical of current psychological diagnostic and treatment practice for those suffering in the wake of trauma, saving his most ardent criticism for pharmaceutical reliance which only mask symptoms. He spends the last show more few chapters on treatments more focused on addressing trauma in unique ways that allow the sufferer to slowly begin processing things normally again. While the book is incredibly detailed, the author never overplays the science - it's an incredibly readable book.
5 bones!!!!!
Highly recommended!!!!! show less
5 bones!!!!!
Highly recommended!!!!! show less
A classic place to start if you're hearing the word "trauma" for the first time. Very big book and at times pretty dense - but overall still a good foundational anchorpoint to say "people are more than the sum of their parts, and trauma really does impact more than just the brain". Major content warning - descriptions of war, violence, sexual trauma, injuries, and just about any other traumatic experience. Descriptions are VERY detailed and some people even consider it to fall into the show more "trauma p0rn" category wherein the details might just be there for shock value. If you're recommending to a client, choose specific segments instead of suggesting they read the whole thing. -Morgan show less
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Statistics
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- Rating
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