The Body Keeps the Score Book Summary (PDF) by Bessel van der Kolk

Ready to learn the most important takeaways from The Body Keeps the Score in less than two minutes? Keep reading!

Why This Book Matters:

The Body Keeps the Score explains the nature of trauma in individuals, and how trauma affects the body long after the traumatic experience.

The Big Takeaways:

  1. Emotional wounds are an ordinary part of society.
    1. If Trauma lives inside many people living today, not just from war.
  2. People are often triggered, forced to endure powerful memories.
    1. Physical responses to these memories are common, for these flashbacks are realistic to the person experiencing them.
  3. The trauma individuals endure in childhood follows them throughout their lives.
    1. Trauma can often shape a child’s personality, following them into adulthood.
  4. Flashbacks in association with trauma are often intense and detailed, even when the regular memory faded away.
    1. Trauma causes individuals to hyperfocus on the memory to a point where it feels as if they are experiencing it again.
  5. Several types of therapy allow those who suffer from trauma to mend the fracture between their physical and emotional being.
    1. Things like yoga, EMDR, and mindfulness help the individual become more connected with their body, allowing them more control when trauma attempts to impact their body.

Want To Keep Reading?

  1. Read A Longer Form Summary on Blinkist
  2. Buy The Book on Amazon
  3. Listen To The Audiobook
Cam Woodsum