Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

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

246 reviews

akillerhoneybee's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.75

Informative. Not necessarily an enjoyable read, but insightful on methods of dealing with trauma. Trigger warnings in various stories told of patients' experiences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and War

tamzy6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

I'm fascinated by how trauma affects the body and as the name suggests, how the body keeps the score of trauma. I found myself wincing at the anecdotes and user stories because their stories were very haunting and the details were horrific. I can't believe they actually experienced such trauma. I also liked the chapters on theatre/performance and its benefits for trauma survivors. As an ex-theatre kid, I can definitely relate. 

However (and this is because I have a personal interest) I do wish that this book delved a bit more into CPTSD and how that affects the body as well and how that compares to other forms of trauma and I would find that useful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

grovesr's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

An informed take on PTSD, trauma, and wellness by an expert in the field. I appreciated the exploration of studies, and how they tied into his work and experiences. The book offers a wide range of proven techniques that the author has witnessed impact his patients. He describes how different therapies and techniques work for different kinds of people with different histories of trauma. Overall, a slow burn, but very interesting and thought provoking. I can see why this is an important read for folks who've dealt with trauma in any form. I found myself identifying how my experiences are reflected in this book, and what techniques may work for me.
As someone who's undergone therapy and addressed my triggers, I was comfortable reading this. I would caution folks with serious triggers to read the trigger warnings as there are descriptions of the violence many of his patients experienced. I found it very important to understand, though. And encourage folks who have responses to what they've read to explore the therapies that worked for the patient he described. 
I really appreciated the nuanced approach to discussing medication. The author described his personal experiences working in the mental health field as drugs were being developed, and how drugs CAN help, but are not a perfect solution for a myriad of reasons. I found that portion very insightful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

karensushi's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

coruscant's review against another edition

3.5

I have a lot to say about this book. Perhaps I will update this review at a later date when I’ve had more time to collect my thoughts. What I feel is relevant for a prospective reader to know is that this is not a self-help book (which, in fairness, I was not looking for in the slightest) and contains a lot of incredibly triggering and explicit content. 

Dr. van der Kolk is clearly very well educated/experienced in trauma, however, for a book so scientific in language there was an over reliance on anecdotal evidence for my liking. The book is lengthy and heavy and, in parts, a difficult read but is filled with valuable insights. I do think despite any misgivings The Body Keeps the Score is an important read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

carpe0noctem's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

sierrabowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

I think this book is great for those who are interested in how trauma affects the body. Educators, therapists, psychiatrists, and so many more professions can benefit from reading. The only reason I didn’t give it a five stars is because at about the halfway mark I did start to lose interest but I think that was as a result of audiobook listening and not reading the print version. I am definitely going to reread someday in print and would recommend to everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

analia's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.5

This book has a ton of traumatic /triggering content! It took me a while to finish the audio book because it was so heavy. Apart from that it was also dense, packed with lots of information on studies and personal stories of traumatized individuals. I learned a lot but I also think this is not the best book to read in audio format. I think a lot of the content flew over my head because it required much more concentration than the type of audiobooks I normally listen to. I thought the narrator was a bit dry. Overall it’s a great book for someone wanting to know more about how trauma physically impacts us and ways we can treat it. I do wish there had been more social justice connections. He mentions it briefly in the epilogue but it deserves a whole chapter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Car accident

indianabrown's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and War

triciace's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment