Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

252 reviews

bookfriend8's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.75

Really appreciate this book. I was worried about it being too medical and difficult to understand, but the author provides thorough and accessible explanations on what happens to the human body and mind after trauma, and also offers his opinion on how conditions such as (C)PTSD can effectively be cured. He supports his scientific descriptions with personal and patient anecdotes, and although these were often very graphic and distressing (trigger warning for everything), it helped to balance out the scientific information and to see how they manifest in real life. Understanding how distressing experiences can literally change a person forever really explains the origins of people’s behaviours and patterns. Overall, would give it 5/5, but some chapters were also long-winded and repetitive, and there was plenty of US-defaultism.
It was deeply enlightening for me to read this book and I’m glad I decided to pick it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicide, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Includes virtually all triggering topics, would not recommend to people who aren’t comfortable with difficult or graphic stories, particularly if they relate personally.

sugarwookiee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

If you're looking for a self-help book that will tell you how to overcome trauma, this is not it. If, like me, you were more interested in the ways that trauma manifests in the body and mind from a more clinical perspective, as well as the various treatments and their efficacy, it's great. There are plenty of books that accomplish the former and that's not what I was looking for here, so overall I enjoyed this. 

It is quite slow paced and the author is a bit pretentious at times. There is a significant amount of detail involving some of his patients' trauma (more than I feel is necessary in my opinion) but this is coming from someone who suffers from CPTSD; those reading from a clinical perspective without that may feel differently.

I found the first half of the book to be the most interesting because it showed me the ways in which I was holding onto trauma that I hadn't realized. The way that trauma can and does seep into every part of your existence and things that you may not realize were related were in fact a direct result. If that seems interesting to you and you're able to deal with some intense descriptions, it's a worthwhile read. If you're looking for self-help and a less medical, more talk-therapy type of book, this isn't it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Rape, Self harm, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Death, and Death of parent

egcam's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

mikkidrayton's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

as a therapist using this to think about interventions and psycho education. however i dont think this should be recommended to clients to read like many of my colleagues do. i dont think its aimed at them nor would be read in the same light. it actually may be triggering and give answers without the means to receive them. very interesting in parts, self indulgent in others and overall a little too long and faffy. but useful to see how far trauma research and intervention has come and where it still has to go

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and War

emsemaroo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

kaiulanilee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol

amessina3399's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

l1brarygirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

This was such a difficult book to read - all the trigger warnings for various traumas, please be forewarned. It was so very insightful though. There were many different types of therapies included and discussed and it was impactful to see what coping techniques traumatized people exhibit to survive (and may not realize). The power of the pharmaceutical companies and our [American] health care system that wants to prioritize over-medicating and treating symptoms instead of curing what ails us was also discussed.  There's no money to made when you can sell someone a pill  ...

My actual rating: 4.5 stars - I'm rounding up because I think this book is going to stay with me for a long time. I would recommend it to anyone that wants a deeper understanding of trauma and how it effects your physical body as well as the mind.  

I also recently read [book:Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art|48890486], which may be a very good companion read.

Impactful quotes:
“Many of our patients are barely aware of their breath, so learning to focus on the in and out breath, to notice whether the breath was fast or slow, and to count breaths in some poses can be a significant accomplishment.”

“We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present. Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.”

“The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves.”

“Over the years our research team has repeatedly found that chronic emotional abuse and neglect can be just as devastating as physical abuse and sexual molestation.”

“Talking about painful events doesn’t necessarily establish community – often quite the contrary. Families and organizations may reject members who air the dirty laundry; friends and family can lost patience with people who get stuck in their grief or hurt. This is one reason why trauma victims often withdraw and why their stories become rote narratives, edited into a form least likely to provoke rejection.”

“I wish I could separate trauma from politics, but as long as we continue to live in denial and treat only trauma while ignoring its origins, we are bound to fail. In today’s world your ZIP code, even more than your genetic code, determines whether you will lead a safe and healthy life. People’s income, family structure, housing, employment, and educational opportunities affect not only their risk of developing traumatic stress but also their access to effective help to address it. Poverty, unemployment, inferior schools, social isolation, widespread availability of guns, and substandard housing all are breeding grounds for trauma. Trauma breeds further trauma; hurt people hurt other people.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Genocide, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

comrad3's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Gaslighting, and Abandonment