The Body Keeps the Score

If you have experienced trauma — or if you love someone who has — and you want to understand why traditional 'talking it through' sometimes is not enough, this book offers answers. I recommend it to clients who are ready to understand how their experiences have shaped them, and to explore a wider range of paths toward healing.

Who This Book Is For

This book is for anyone who has experienced trauma, whether recently or years ago, and wants to understand its impact on a deeper level. It is also for partners, family members, and friends supporting someone through trauma recovery. Please note that this book can be confronting at times — it is best read at your own pace, and I recommend having support available as you work through it.

What It's About

Bessel van der Kolk is one of the world's leading researchers on trauma, and this book represents a lifetime of work. It explains how trauma is not just a psychological event — it reshapes the brain, the nervous system, and even the body itself. That is why talking about a traumatic experience is sometimes not enough; the body holds the memory even when the mind cannot find the words. The book explores a wide range of healing approaches, from traditional talk therapy to EMDR, yoga, neurofeedback, and more.

Key Topics

• How Trauma Changes the Brain — The neuroscience of survival responses and why the brain gets stuck in alarm mode
• The Body's Role — Why trauma lives in the body and what that means for healing
• Attachment and Trauma — How early relationships shape our capacity to recover
• EMDR and Somatic Approaches — Evidence-based therapies that work with the body and the brain together
• Reclaiming Your Body — Yoga, movement, and other body-based practices for recovery

Why I Recommend It

At Little Big Journeys, I work from a trauma-informed perspective, and this book has shaped much of my understanding of how trauma really works. It is not an easy read emotionally, but it is an incredibly valuable one. It validates experiences that many people have never been able to put into words, and it offers real hope — showing that healing is possible, even when it does not follow a straight line.

Visit Bessel van der Kolk's website to purchase or learn more ↗