The Body Keeps the Score

The Body Keeps the Score weaves cutting‑edge neuroscience with stories from combat veterans, abuse survivors, and accident victims to show that trauma is not just a troubling memory but a physical imprint on the brain, nerves, muscles, and hormones.

Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk explains how traumatic stress rewires key circuits, hyper‑activating the amygdala’s alarm system, numbing the thinking prefrontal cortex, and fragmenting memory so sufferers relive danger through flashbacks, nightmares, and chronic tension. Because much of this imprint lies beneath words, traditional talk therapy only scratches the surface; lasting healing requires healing of the body to restore a sense of safety and control.

Ultimately, van der Kolk offers a hopeful message: by engaging both brain and body, trauma’s scars can be rewired, allowing survivors to heal.