The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.: How Trauma Lives in the Body and Mind

In The Body Keeps the Score, psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk explores how trauma reshapes both the body and the brain, altering our sense of safety, pleasure, control, and connection. Based on decades of research with trauma survivors, the book offers a profound understanding of how past experiences can be stored not only in our memories but also in our nervous system.

For therapists and coaches, van der Kolk’s work is a cornerstone for understanding trauma-informed care — and for learning how to help clients reconnect with their bodies as a vital part of healing.

Summary of the Book

Van der Kolk’s central idea is simple yet revolutionary: trauma is not just an event that happened in the past — it’s an ongoing imprint on the body and mind.When trauma isn’t processed, it can manifest as hypervigilance, dissociation, chronic pain, or emotional numbness. The body “remembers” what the mind tries to forget.

The book is divided into several parts:

1. The Rediscovery of Trauma – how trauma was historically misunderstood and minimized in psychiatry.

2. This Is Your Brain on Trauma – what happens neurologically when we experience trauma (including the roles of the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex).

3. The Minds of Children – how early experiences shape attachment and emotional regulation.

4. The Imprint of Trauma – how survivors carry trauma in their posture, breath, and physiological responses.

5. Paths to Recovery – innovative treatments that go beyond talk therapy, including EMDR, yoga, neurofeedback, and body-based therapies.

Key Psychological Concepts

Trauma and the Nervous System

Trauma activates the fight, flight, or freeze response, leaving individuals trapped in cycles of hyperarousal or shutdown. Healing involves helping the nervous system regain balance — through grounding, breath, and safe relational experiences.

The Role of the Body in Healing

Unlike traditional talk therapy, trauma recovery often requires bottom-up processing — working with sensations, movement, and interoception (awareness of internal states). The body must feel safe before the mind can process the trauma.

Integration Over Suppression

Suppressing painful memories doesn’t heal them; integration does. Van der Kolk highlights therapies that reconnect body and mind — allowing clients to experience emotions without becoming overwhelmed.

The Importance of Safe Connection

Human connection is a biological necessity. Many trauma survivors feel unsafe in relationships, yet healing happens through attuned, compassionate connection — whether in therapy or everyday life.

Relevance for Therapists and Coaches

For trauma-informed practitioners, The Body Keeps the Score offers both validation and direction.It reminds professionals that:

• Healing involves more than insight — it requires embodied safety.

• Clients may need nonverbal interventions such as breathwork, mindful movement, or somatic awareness.

• Therapists and coaches must cultivate their own sense of regulation to co-regulate with clients effectively.

• Approaches like ACT, mindfulness, EMDR, yoga, and somatic experiencing align beautifully with van der Kolk’s framework.

If your clients struggle with anxiety, dissociation, chronic stress, or emotional disconnection, this book offers a roadmap for deep, body-centered transformation.

Practical Exercises and Takeaways

Here are a few practices inspired by van der Kolk’s work that therapists and coaches can integrate into sessions or recommend to clients:

1. Grounding Through the Senses - Invite clients to notice five things they see, four they feel, three they hear, two they smell, and one they taste — a simple way to anchor in the present.

2. Body Scanning and Breath Awareness - Encourage clients to gently observe sensations in different parts of the body without judgment, paired with slow exhalations to activate the parasympathetic system.

3. Movement and Expression - Trauma constricts the body. Safe, gentle movement — yoga, stretching, or dance — can help release tension and restore agency.

4. Creating a Sense of Safety - Help clients identify sensory cues or objects that make them feel grounded (weighted blankets, scents, textures, sounds) to use as anchors when triggered.

5. Reconnecting Through Relationships - Encourage clients to build safe, nurturing connections — through therapy, community, or creative collaboration — as a foundation for healing.

The Body Keeps the Score bridges science and compassion, showing that trauma healing begins not with analysis, but with presence, embodiment, and safety.For therapists and coaches, it’s a reminder that our role is not to fix, but to create space where the body and mind can finally come home to themselves.

If you haven’t read it yet, it’s one of the most essential books for anyone working in mental health or coaching — and one that will likely transform how you view healing.

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