The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk

⭐9/10

This is a book is subtitled Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma. It is a book I mostly read to be better at my job, but also it's just a very important book for anyone to read to better understand how our brain operates, and how trauma changes that. I once read a tweet that was something like, we'll know society has healed when The Body Keeps the Score is no longer a bestseller. We live in strange times, and this book is ever relevant. 

I mean, this book has a million points, but I feel like one of my major takeaways is that trauma shifts our brain to always operate like we're in danger, and we come up with trauma responses to lots of normal stimuli. These are points I make to my clients, and even that simple understanding goes a long way. Having this understanding has certainly helped even in my own life that is mostly trauma-free, but it's also helped to have meaningful conversations and get a better understanding of why people act the way they do. This book then also teaches lots of strategies to rewire your brain in healthy ways, and I feel like I'm a smarter person and a better therapist for knowing them. It's a pioneering book in many ways, and many of these points continue to be researched and studied, but for a baseline understanding, this is kinda the holy grail. 

What else can I say? Of course I wasn't just devouring this book. It's long, it's heavy, and it's something you can only read a few pages of at a time. The author tells some pretty horrific stories, but I suppose it's nothing I haven't heard before. Still, it's useful and informative and necessary, and I'm glad I read it.