Summary and Analysis of The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, MD.

In The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, explores the ways in which trauma rewires the brain and changes the way people experience the world.

Trauma affects the mind and body immensely and prevents those affected from living in the present. Van der Kolk, who has researched trauma since the 1970s, first became interested in trauma after meeting with Vietnam veterans who had a very hard time living their lives after returning from the war. They would become very angry, numb to their regular life, and unable to leave behind traumatic moments that occurred during war time. Van der Kolk was instrumental in identifying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and creating strategies to help those afflicted by it....