The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. is one of the primary resources I’ve consulted in the writing of my The Body and the Brain blog series. This book is about the effects of trauma on our brain, mind, and body. I’ve read this book a few different times, and each time I gain new insight into the complexity of the brain. With that being said, the first time through I had to eventually tell myself there was no way I was going to understand everything I was reading and if I got stuck on trying to then I would never finish the book.

That is not a dig at all on Van Der Kolk’s writing. He is brilliant and his experience makes his writing understandable and engaging. What’s hard is the content itself is rather complex, especially because the first time I read the book was one of the first times I had come across content about the inner workings of the brain, so I had minimal prior knowledge.

I recommend doing what I did and going into the book knowing that you will not understand every part of every page. Keep reading, keep going, and know that things will click eventually. I’ve had at least a year between each re-read and have encountered similar information within those year gaps through other books, speakers, and trainings. I think that the time away and additional formats of obtaining this information has been helpful in gaining more and more each time I read this book.

I think Bessel Van Der Kolk is brilliant and the things that he names in this book are powerful, especially in terms of understanding how our brain processes trauma. But, don’t get frustrated or discouraged if in reading it there are times when the content feels overwhelming and confusing, just keep reading and know you can go back to that content at a later time.

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