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A review by claudiaslibrarycard
The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
The Body Keeps the Score is an impressive work of nonfiction explaining how trauma shows up in the body and various therapeutic modalities that have been shown to be effective in reducing the impact of trauma.
While this book is long, I felt engaged throughout and thought it was accessible for those outside the world of psychiatry and counseling. There is a good balance of data and stories from patients. As you would expect, the content is heavy and if you have a history of trauma, it will probably come up in reading this book. Proceed with care and a plan for taking care of yourself while making it through this important book.
My only complaint about this book is numerous references to obesity as an outcome of trauma. I'm not disagreeing with this necessarily, but data wasn't referenced and it wasn't unpacked in a way that assured me that there was not anti-fat bias at play.
While this book is long, I felt engaged throughout and thought it was accessible for those outside the world of psychiatry and counseling. There is a good balance of data and stories from patients. As you would expect, the content is heavy and if you have a history of trauma, it will probably come up in reading this book. Proceed with care and a plan for taking care of yourself while making it through this important book.
My only complaint about this book is numerous references to obesity as an outcome of trauma. I'm not disagreeing with this necessarily, but data wasn't referenced and it wasn't unpacked in a way that assured me that there was not anti-fat bias at play.