The Body Keeps The Score: A Book Report

The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk

My initial reaction to the book:

This book is heavy. How does Bessel deal with this stuff? Neurological stuff has become normal to me so it skews my perception of the commonality of such diseases. How did he become so OK with dealing with this and hearing about these horrific events?  He alludes to it a few times, about having his own psychotherapy but how do you REALLY become OK with constant exposure to this level of trauma? 

The concept of trauma being stored in the  body is quite a new concept to me and, when I’ve tried to explain it to my peers, I’m usually met with skepticism. The book helped me to consolidate this knowledge and really get behind this thought process.

The most important messages:

Trauma is complicated, messy, unique. 3 people could have the same experiences and have entirely different reactions and long-standing repercussions (or not). As such, there is no ‘one size fits all’ 

Diagnoses are not always helpful. Sadly, diagnoses open doors to certain treatments, but the ‘business’ aspect of healthcare really shines through when discussing diagnoses and how these can be damaging for all involved. Treat the person, not the diagnosis. 

My main takeaways:

 “Working with trauma is as much about remembering how we survived as it is about what is broken” - this quote stuck with me. It changed my perspective of trauma / survival - it is easy to think about everything lost but really important to remember everything we still have and can take forwards with us.

Approaches and treatments in this field are ever changing. Neurofeedback was one of the final concepts discussed in the book and it was indicated this could become huge. I am particularly interested in this from a Functional Neurological Disorder perspective; is there a link between this diagnosis and trauma, and thus this treatment (or any other treatment approaches mentioned in the book)?

In Breathwork there is a lot of talk about ‘emotional releases’ whereby stored trauma is effectively moved/removed from the body. However, this book highlighted the importance of not only supporting people with the ‘release’ itself but of holding space for them to explore that afterwards. I’m interested to see how this will work moving forwards; we are not mental health practitioners so where exactly are our remit boundaries in the world of Breathwork and trauma?

On a personal level: 

Section 6: Taking Action talks about stress hormones and how, if utilised whilst the disaster is occurring, a person is less likely to become traumatised. I believe this is what happened with me when I found out Martin had died; I contacted his landlord to inform him, I cancelled an appointment I knew Martin had scheduled for that night, I went to speak with his Dad and I went home to take delivery of my food shop which I’d ordered the night before. 

During the initial few weeks, I wanted to help in any practical way I could but was at a loss when I was informed I couldn’t be involved with sorting the utilities as I was no longer on the bills and I was not a next of kin. I had always thought this was a way of me taking control over a horrific situation. However, this book taught me it could have been more to do with the stress hormones carrying me through the trauma. 

How it could be improved:

Personally I found it very heavy and I struggled to engage with it. However, I realise that is the whole point. Trauma is not easy. I wonder if it might be more accessible in a different layout. I found the order of the book a bit complicated with many different sub-sections. As such, I didn’t feel it flowed all that well. Lots of repetitions as case studies given early then referred back to later. I would have preferred a case study for each topic to consolidate each aspect.

How it will inform my practice as a Breathwork Facilitator:

I will never assume how someone’s experiences might have affected them. I will always try to make my approach individualised. I feel that working through trauma may be helpful in both 1:1 situations and group settings but that this will differ for everybody. 

I will also ensure I spend a lot of time learning how to hold space in order to provide safe spaces for people to feel and discover. I will need to be prepared for anything coming up and will need to be able to support people through this, not just opening up emotions/trauma and then sending them on their way.