The Body Keeps the Score - Book Summary by a Therapist w/o the Triggering Bits

Explore trauma recovery with this therapist-led summary of The Body Keeps the Score, highlighting key insights into healing and body-based therapies.
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I think a lot of people are intimidated by “The Body Keeps the Score”, to be honest I was too. It’s pretty long, and it has a lot of triggering examples of real-life trauma. But it’s a great book for understanding how trauma affects the brain and body and that’s probably why it’s been on the NYT bestseller list for like 5 years!

And also that’s probably because trauma affects all of us, and Psychiatrist Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk has written the modern user's guide to understanding it. There’s so much to talk about with Trauma and PTSD and the book is over 350 pages long, so I’m going to summarize the essentials without the triggering bits. And, you can download the free pdf summary linked in the description.

OK So, I’m excited to tell you what Dr. Van Der Kolk has learned about trauma treatments that are surprisingly effective, but first let’s look at the broad impacts trauma has on the brain, body, and relationships.

Okay, let’s start with a basic question. How would you define trauma? Most of us think of it as an event that is deeply disturbing. But really, trauma is about how different people might respond to the same event with either an adaptive response, or a traumatic response that gets the brain and body stuck reliving the trauma. And that’s one of the defining parts of trauma, that it continues to affect a person in damaging ways.

Van der Kolk says:
“Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present.”

So while trauma starts with an event, the brain and body’s reaction can keep a person stuck as time moves on. Rather than live in the present, survivors focus their energy on suppressing the inner chaos that arises when a trigger makes them remember (and re-experience) their past. And that affects their relationships with the people around them.

00:00 Intro
00:54 Trauma’s Big 3 Impacts
13:03 Child Abuse and Neglect, the ACEs Study
15:49 Solutions for Healing Trauma
18:03 Medication for PTSD or Trauma
18:48 Somatic/Body Based Therapies for Trauma
32:12 3 Takeaways from “The Body Keeps the Score”
35:25 My Review of The Body Keeps the Score

Check out the transcript below:
https://therapyinanutshell.com/the-bo...

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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.
And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/c...

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